In times of economic slowdown – invest more in marketing, not less!

It’s currently all doom and gloom in our economy at the moment, you only have to turn on the TV or read the news to learn another depressing fact about the state of our economy. There’s the credit crunch, falling house prices, the weak £ against the Euro and reports of increases in the average cost of living. And unfortunately when the economy is in danger, marketing budgets are among the first to be cut…But, ironically in times of trouble, businesses need to invest more in their marketing efforts – not less.

John Wanamaker, considered the father of modern advertising, famously said “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” At times when greater scrutiny is put on marketing budgets, knowing your ROI is invaluable.
One of the best media channels to provide visibility on the so-called ‘wasted half’ is online marketing. Accountability is one of its key strengths and with fears of a recession, search marketing in particular, is the most recession-proof medium in the ad world.

Playing to Digital Media’s Strengths…

Accountability – It is far easier to defend your marketing budgets when you know what your ROI is and where your leads and conversions are coming from. Correlating direct sales from advertising activity is easy with online analytics and third party ad serving software.

Flexible Pay Per Click - Monitor search volumes and spend on a daily basis and lower CPCs accordingly as other advertisers drop out of the market.

Broad Reach at Cheaper Costs – Consider trialling the search engines’ content networks for a more cost efficient, broad reach advertising strategy. For instance, Google’s Adsense network has an 80% reach of UK internet users, which in traditional terms means more eyeballs than terrestrial TV or press!

Understanding the Needs of your Consumer – Analyse behaviour patterns and needs of your consumer – where do they go for information, how do they research, why do they visit a website, how do they use it? The Internet contains a wealth of behaviour based research that can help define and target your consumer in the most efficient way.

Behaviour to Watch Out For…

Consider a contrary strategy – Many of your competitors are likely to adopt a streamlined version of their marketing strategy, limiting their resources to a few media channels and tightening up spend. Naturally, this is what instinct tells you to do, however there could be greater dividends to be won from doing the opposite.
Buying more advertising space during a downturn to grab market share could have some positive effects.

Editorial vs Advertorial – Consumers propensity to purchase is reduced during tougher times so focus more on content rich placements than hard sell techniques and your brand will be viewed more favourably.

The Researcher – In harder financial times, consumers are more price-sensitive. With the wealth of information available on the Internet they will spend more time comparing products and services online and deciding if they really need the item in question. Any business which does not actively engage in this research process will miss out.

And Finally, the Ultimate Recession-Proof Medium…

Search engine marketing provides advertisers with the most cost-controlled and targeted form of advertising. Daily budget caps, day-parting, geo-graphic targeting and site exclusions give marketers unprecedented flexibility over investment and visibility. In simple terms, pay per click advertising is pay-as-you go advertising. You can spend as little or as much as you want and changes can be made instantly, so you won’t waste money on what isn’t working.

To conclude, if marketing budgets become squeezed don’t pull your investment in online…just become more savvy and innovative with it. Maintain your presence on search engines and keep an eye on what the competition & your consumers are doing.
If you’re new to online, now is the best time to transfer your marketing spend to the Internet - when you can prove your ROI you’ll be sure to keep your marketing budgets in this period of economic uncertainty.

If you’d like to know more about search engine marketing, and how to harness the power of the Internet, register your interest for one of our seminar days. To find out more click here