Only cut the stuff that doesn’t work

June 24, 2009 by Matt Eve
Filed under: General Rants, Ireland Marketing Tips 

Cutting marketing costs might be the first reaction to a downturn. But, those that thrive during tough times take advantage of the fact that their competition is cutting back.  They actually forge forward and spend more on marketing (only on stuff they know works) in order to eat up market share while others are struggling.

I bring this up because I’m curious about what you are doing during the recession. What specific actions you’re taking to increase sales in these tougher times?

The recession can actually give you  the benefit of lower advertising and marketing costs which allow you to test different marketing strategies more cost effectively so that when the recession ends you will be in a strong position to know what works for your business.

Note that I also said only to spend on marketing that works. All to often business owners are not aware of which marketing they are doing which produces a positive ROI. One part of gettting smarter with your marketing is learning how to properly measure and track what you are doing. It doesn’t have to be complicated but unless you do it you are shooting in the dark.

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One Comment on Only cut the stuff that doesn’t work

  1. True North Metrics on Wed, 26th Aug 2009 11:50 am

    2. I think you are right in saying only to invest your marketing euros into something that works, and bang on the button again when you say that marketers often have little idea about which activities they are engaging in are actually producing results.

    Reminds me of the John Wanamaker phrase “Have the money I spend on advertising is wasted, the problem is that I don’t know which half”

    My company offer mobile marketing solutions for both small (corner shop) and large (Sandwich chains) operators and one of the main benefits of SMS marketing is precisely its measurability.
    Each prospective customer on the database can be sent a unique promo code, and each promotion in turn can have unique phrases, keywords and codes attached to it making tracking what does and doesn’t work much easier.

    I guess in times like these its all about measurability – “punting on it” or “winging it” just isn’t an option anymore.

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