The weather – tornados and avalanches across the country – has dominated the news this morning. We’ve had so much rain here in NE Ohio, many people are dealing with floods.
Being prepared and knowing what to do makes a huge difference to the getting through it and the resulting outcome.
There’s a real analogy here with business.
Everyone who has ever done a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) knows that it’s inevitable that there will be ups and downs in the business cycle.
Being prepared with your marketing program helps you weather any economic storm.
If you plan for them, you’ll be less intimidated when the downs come and be able to not over forecast with the ups.
Many businesses decide to cut the marketing budget when times are bad. It’s one of the more “liquid” budgets. (It’s much harder to sell a building, tell someone they are laid off, or return excess inventory that you are hoping you’ll need in a few months.)
Is that how it works in your industry?
Or do you zig when others are zagging??
Other companies who have a plan in place that assumes if the competitors cut their marketing budget, there will be a lot less clutter reaching the target market. When the economy starts to grow again, because we kept our marketing program in tact, we will cut our sales cycle in half.
Why not put some contingency plans in your program so that you can continue with your marketing even when the economic storms are raging? Do you see a value in keeping up the communication with the target market when your competitors drop out?
Which philosophy does your business subscribe to?
Being prepared for “the flood/tornado/avalanche” means you can back to business faster and turn the your lemons into lemonade quicker.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Chris,
Great post. “Many businesses decide to cut the marketing budget when times are bad.” We have seen this time after time. Good communication with senior management and flexibility to achieve goals can help weather these storms. Too often we watch as marketers have a big win only to follow up with big looses. Keeping an even keel is key. Thanks for the great post.
-The Marketing Prowess Editorial Team
Cutting a marketing budget is not the only way that a company can cut costs. How many times does a business buy things that really they could do without, don’t really need. I know it doesn’t happen with all companies but I know it probably happens with a good portion.
Cutting costs in the wrong area is also cutting your profits. So that doesn’t make sense to me at all. A person should work on increasing revenue instead of cutting costs. My mentor James Brausch has a system he uses “Freedom Business System” that allows him to go on vacations and still have an income coming in. And it seems to have done him good.