Brand Building in an
Uncertain Economy:
Five ways to grow your brand while tightening your belt.
An economic downturn is no time to be wasting valuable marketing dollars, so you want to re-evaluate every dollar spent and do what’s necessary to tighten your belt. However, hard times are also the perfect time for brand building. That’s because everyone else in your marketplace will be tightening their belts, too. Many, if not most, will cut back too far on their marketing and advertising activities, and that gives you the opportunity to grow your market share.
Helping yourself to a bigger piece of the pie
An increase in share will help you sustain revenue in a shrinking market. If the pie is getting smaller, you compensate by taking a larger piece of that pie. This helps you ensure consistent income in recessionary times. But since tough times never last forever, this does something even more important. It positions you for robust growth as the overall economy – or your industry in particular – begins to pull out of the recession and expand. Suddenly, you find yourself with a stronger brand and a bigger slice of a growing market. You bounce back faster. And you enjoy a head start on all those other competitors who cut back and lost market share during the downturn.
Five ways to stretch your marketing dollars
Whether or not your industry is in a downturn, here are few simple things you can do that make sure your marketing dollars go further.
- Focus on the message, not the medium – Do you really need a 6-color, die cut, 16-page, glossy brochure to get your message across? Often the most effective marketing materials are also the most simple. Instead of spending out on production, focus your resources on getting the brand message right. You’d be surprised how effective a simple, short, 2-color brochure can be if it’s done right. (continue article)