The economic outlook for 2009 appears to be the worst in recent memory. The housing market is still very slow, home foreclosures are at record highs, credit sources have dried up and banks continue to absorb millions of dollars in losses due to bad mortgages; to say the least there is widespread panic.
While it may be smart business to cut back during tough economic times the first area most companies reduce is their marketing budget in order to save money and try to keep a normal level of profitability.
A common assumption is because money is tight everywhere, customers will be spending less; and therefore, money spent on advertising will be wasted. The fact is families will continue to eat, entertain themselves and buy other goods and services.
History has proven that business success can still be had during a recession, with a sound advertising strategy. Businesses that aggressively increased media advertising expenditures during the last recession (just 25% of all businesses) increased their market share 2 ½ times the average for all businesses in the post recession period (CARR Report, Aug 13 2001). More recently, Hershey’s 2008 fourth quarter profit was up 51% after increasing their ad investments by 23% for fourth quarter and 26% for the year.
But it’s more than simply maintaining or increasing advertising investments, you must have a sound strategy.
Here are a few tips to consider when analyzing your marketing plans for the remainder of 2009.
