How to market during a downturn?

The number one rule for marketing during a downturn is simple: Keep Marketing! Companies typically do three things when faced with economic pressure. Layoff employees, reduce production costs (i.e. find cheaper raw goods and cut production quality, and they drastically reduce marketing costs. These are the three sure-fire ways to become yet another victim of the economy.

If you've based your marketing on producing quality goods, now is not the time cheapen up your product. You'll quickly find your core-customers are now your former customers. And now is not the time to quit marketing. If anything, you need to INCREASE your marketing. "But our budget is slashed!" you say! Take our slogan to heart: Advertising should make a fortune, not cost one.

Now is the time to take a close look at every aspect of your marketing strategy and advertising expenses and innovate. The old way of doing things is probably not going to work. That's where TBG can help. We've all heard the tired old saying, "work smarter, not harder." With almost two decades of experience, let TBG discover the smarter side of your marketing. At the very least, you will find a substantial increase in value with projects you do with TBG.

To get started, you may want to list all your brand touchpoints in these areas:

• Advertising
  print
  broadcast
  web
• Brochures
• Business Collateral
• Business Forms
• Civic Marketing
• Customer Service
  phone
  web
  print
  
• Direct Mail
• Email
• Environments
• Exhibits
• Employees
  official customer contact points
  unofficial contact points like social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc.
  satisfaction index: satisfied? happy? disgruntled?
• Incentives and Loyalty Programs
• Newsletters
• Networking
  face to face
  speeches
  online
• Packaging
• Press Release
• Products
• Proposals
• Sales Promotions
• Services
• P.O.P Displays
• Sales Force
  appearance
  official/unofficial literature
  demonstrations
  methods of contact
  
• Trade Shows
• Vehicles
• Voice Mail
• Websites
• Word of Mouth
• Web
  

Okay, that's a long list, and it could be even longer. The point is, your brand touches customers in many different ways and through a multitude of channels. Typically, overworked marketing managers focus on advertising, packaging, a few brochures and the web and call it good. Each business needs tight control over the entire spectrum of touchpoints. This will help ensure:

• Your mesage is consistent
• You can make informed decisisons
  
• You can find weak points and fix them
  
• You can build better a better marketing plan

And all this, in turn, allows you to find the areas that could use a "smarter approach." Call TBG for a free consultation and see where we can help you deliver a superior product into the hands of more people.