Think Marketing is an Expense? Think Again.

You have a proven product or service that is in demand. The recession has caused the demand to diminish by 10%. You reduced your marketing spend by 25%. Your new business is now declining 50%. Marketing is where many business owners and CEOs look to cut costs when the economy slides. If you are cutting marketing by a percentage that is disproportional to the decreased demand for your offering, it is very likely that your marketing program was either ineffective and not optimized to begin with (in which case you need to get a better grasp on your marketing return on investment), or that your organization is making a major strategic mistake that will end up costing clients and revenue.

I have a business colleague named Elliot Stone, who is the CEO of a firm called MedQuest MedQuest, a highly successful litigation support service company. His firm offers Medical Expert Services, Sanction Databases, Record Retrieval and other resources. Elliot deserves mention, because he put his foot on the pedal hard when the economy slowed and others who were similarly situated fell asleep at the wheel.

By increasing his marketing and even bringing on marketing resources when others pulled back, Elliot was able to take advantage of the reduction in noise to deliver his messages and is reaping the rewards in increased customers. This is not about the demand for his services increasing dramatically, rather about outperforming competitors through smart, timely and consistent marketing.

Can't find sufficient money to market? Cut your operating expenses. Want to know how, send me a note at jzissu1-litigation@yahoo.com and I will gladly discuss with you what your organization can do to cut operating costs in order to free up marketing investment dollars. Tip: Recession is a time to trim fat, but trimming productive marketing resources is a one-way ticket to lost marketshare.

More Recession Wisdom

I came across a very interesting report on marketing during a recession. It is a more elaborate and substantiated take on some points I had made in a recent post.

http://www.mb-blog.com/Images/Recession_POV1_Final.pdf

Whether you are a law firm or vendor in the space, putting the brakes on your marketing during the recession will cripple your business in the long term, particularly if you are operating in a highly competitive environment.

If you are a vendor and are in the business of cost savings, or directly helping firms acquire or retain business, there is no better time to get aggressive than now. If you can tie your offering to a concrete financial value proposition you will greatly improve your chances of getting the business.