A Slow Economy May Be Just the Time to Increase Marketing Efforts

Textbooks tout the three rules of marketing: Advertise! Advertise! Advertise! But in a slow economy or times of international crisis, the gut instinct is to slash the marketing budget and wait out the storm.

But many savvy business owners are actually increasing advertising, while others are becoming more creative in developing partnerships and focusing on customer relationships. Businesses are battening down the hatches, but making it a priority to stay on their customers' radar screens.

A McGraw-Hill study reviewed the performance of firms in the1980-1985 period. It found that firms that cut advertising during the 1981-1982 recession increased sales by only 19 percent in the 1980-1985 period, while firms that increased spending during the recession increased sales by 275 percent in the same post-recession period.

In an economy like this, it's even more important to keep your message out there, because when the economy does improve, you want to be top of mind. It's an opportunity to have a greater presence, because others might be cutting back on their advertising.

www.allbusiness.com/north-america/united-states-wisconsin/924087


Are Your Print Ads Getting You Customers? Find Out What's Wrong and What to Do About It

If you can't run it at least 9 or more times, then save your money. Frequency is one of the most important factors in advertising. Just because you place an ad today does not mean that the customer is ready to buy today. You have to keep it in.

All of your ads should have a strong benefit-based headline that speaks to the reader's emotions. Of all the information you present in your ad, customers mainly care about what’s in it for them.

Use the right images. Create your ad with your customer demographic in mind. Once you know your demographic, then use an image to reflect that type of customer. If your demographic is women between the ages of 35 – 45 with kids, then find an image with a woman 35 – 45 years of age with kids. If you have an actual product picture, then also use that in the ad with a caption of what it is. Many people just read the headline, caption and call to action.

Don't be afraid to use a lot of benefit-based copy. When you write the text for your ad it must contain benefit-based copy. Most people do not purchase anything based on the features. The benefits that the features produce are what they are buying. So if you need an extra couple of words to get that across, then do it. Less is not more in advertising.

Use a strong call to action. Call today! Call now! Supplies are limited, call today! Be the first of 25 callers and get a free (put something here)! You get the idea.

Make sure your website address is clear. In addition, you should always try to have a dot com.  

Create a strong brand campaign, not just an ad. In my experience, clients that have a consistent look and feel to their ad campaign almost always do better than those that do not. Colors and design matter.

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