Marketing in a Volatile Market

By Gail S. Bower

Turbulent times usually cue the budget crunchers to slash the marketing budgets. Here are three reasons why that’s a bad idea.

1.  Customers, clients, constituents, and donors still need to find you. If they don’t, they’ll find your competitor. 

2.  Your competitor’s presence will be more visible. If you suspend marketing operations, you’re one less voice in the marketplace that your competitor has to shout over.

3.  You’ll need twice as much energy to relaunch. So you batten the hatches to weather the storm, and in the meantime, the marketplace changes because your competitors have a more dominant presence. Now you’ll need to incur more money, more effort, and more resources to recover. That’s not progress. That’s scrambling.

It’s better to maintain a consistent effort, even if you have to cut back a bit. Send your newsletter three times a year, if not quarterly, for example, but fill it with valuable information.

It’s also smart to modify your approach. Maybe more or different people need your services in a slower market. Or, the value proposition of your services may tell a different story in recessionary times than in bullish ones. 

Finally, it’s always more challenging to do more with less. Some of the greatest and most creative artists do this all the time.  Get creative.