Surviving the turbulent landscape of Covid-19 may well prove to be the greatest challenge of our generation, and we’re all scrambling for ways to work smarter and bring in new business.
Many organizations in their haste to cut costs will be tempted to slash their marketing & advertising budgets but is it really such a good idea? We urge caution, as the following reasons demonstrate.
It is often cheaper to retain client interest
than to buy it back later
As case studies have shown, cutting your marketing budget will not only force you to increase it down the track to re-connect with customers you’ve lost, but getting them back onboard is no easy process that may well be slow and expensive.
It’s actually far cheaper and easier to remain in touch with clients, even prospective ones, and be rewarded with more business in the meantime.
You may decide to stop marketing,
but will your competitors?
The onset of crisis doesn’t affect all businesses equally and your position in the market is far from assured. If you cut your marketing budget and your competitors don’t, surviving the crisis may be the best you can hope for as you’re reduced to a bit player in a market you once dominated.
That was the mistake Post Cereals (never heard of them? that’s the point) made during the last depression when Kellogg’s continued to advertise and relegated them to a footnote of history.
Email Marketing is yielding higher ROI
than ever before
Challenging though it is, if Covid-19 has one silver lining its that consumers & business owners are more likely to open & read emails than ever before.
Email was already the most cost-effective marketing tool before Covid-19, but now many of us are finding much more time to read longer emails & articles.
Cutting your marketing budget
will actually make the situation worse
Saving your way to profitability is almost impossible. Its a harsh truth when you’re in the middle of a pandemic but generating sales is your only guarantee of survival.
Unfortunately none of us know how long these tough times will last, so holding our breath and hoping sales will pick up on their own is a strategy akin to the deer who lays down before the hunter hoping he fires no more bullets.
Many cost cutting alternatives exist
Reducing your advertising budget will hurt your business in both the short and long term, so what are some less-descructive alternatives?
Talent loaning and shifting your operations online if you haven’t already can save you signficantly, as could negotiating with suppliers or landlords for deferred payments, shifting expenses from fixed terms to pay-as-you-use, and investigating cheaper alternatives in areas like software subscriptions, utilities and insurance are all worth considering.
Managing Covid is a day-to-day challenge, but remaining stern in the face of that challenge by continuing to remind others why they should be in business with us is a committment our future selves will thank us for.
Please Contact Us for advice or help with your next marketing campaign.