Don’t cut your marketing budget, just make it work harder for you!
(Qballyhoo article in the Sherborne Community Times, Dorset in May 2009)
As a company you may be tempted to cut your marketing spend when there’s a downturn in the economy; however this can have give competitors an opportunity to steal your thunder and your customers. Your customer’s needs and priorities will be changing with their purse strings, so make sure you are flexible to change with them and increase your return on your current marketing investment.
Here are 5 quick tips to help you stay ahead of the competition:
Make it all about your customer
Make sure that all of your promotional materials are telling your customers what they’re going to get rather than what you’re going to give. The language you use needs to have lots of “you” statements rather than “we”; this ensures that you’re looking at your customer’s point of view rather than your company’s.
Look after your existing customers
Your existing customers are your greatest asset so make sure they know you value them by rewarding their loyalty and making sure every experience they have with you is a great one. The biggest mistake a company can make is to promise the earth and then under deliver. Be honest with what your customer is going to receive and then just keep up the standards of service from the beginning right through to follow-up promotion. This will help both retain customers and encourage them to refer other customers to you.
Join forces with complementary businesses
Give your customer more by joining forces with trusted partner companies to offer a complete package – this saves your customer time and you can combine marketing effort for greater effect.
Don’t flog a dead horse
Just because you’ve always marketed in a particular way doesn’t mean it’s what brings your current customers through the door, make sure you can measure what is attracting customers and fix or ditch methods that aren’t.
Be straightforward
In a downturn people want companies to be honest and dependable, they don’t need jazzed up metaphors or teaser campaigns. However that doesn’t mean that messages need to avoid being fun, in these tough times raising a smile on someone’s face can make all the difference between winning and losing a prospective customer.
Tags: budget