Tuesday, November 03, 2009

The proof is in the research: advertise in challenging times!

We’ve blogged about it before and we’ll blog about it again: It pays to advertise in challenging times. We came across yet another article on this topic—granted it was of a self-promotional nature—in Business Edge Magazine. We felt it was worth sharing, however, as it contains some powerful statistics. A study by McGraw-Hill Research of 600 companies in 16 industries conducted during North America's last major recession revealed that companies that maintained or increased their marketing exposure during the recession averaged a 275% increase in sales in the third year following the recession. On the other hand, companies that reduced or eliminated their advertising showed an increase of only 19% that year.

Upping your marketing efforts while revenues are dive-bombing is not the easiest thing to do, for sure. But, like this article points out, it’s all about getting bang for your buck. Any advertising mediums that are expensive and not effective to a good degree of certainty should be immediately cut. (E.g. A beautiful, glossy magazine ad in a national publication is a complete waste if your best customers are local.) Instead, focus in on your most important target group(s) and figure how to talk to them in an affordable, meaningful, regular way. This could be via newsletters, which someone like you, or better still, someone like us could write. Cheap and effective, you can’t beat that!

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