NOW IS THE TIME TO STEP UP YOUR MARKETING.

Whilst business is quiet and staff skeletal now is MOST DEFINITELY the time to ensure marketing activity is maintained. 

Companies that panic by slashing their marketing will inevitably fall by the wayside of competition, cease to be front-of-mind and the long-term health of a company will be negatively affected. Momentum in marketing is of paramount importance.

There are studies to demonstrate the advantages of maintaining spend during an economic crisis and it is proven that those increasing spend increase sales and market share both during and after the crisis. 

Consistency and persistency in marketing is king as is having a good system in place to ensure all marketing is considered, measured, managed and quantifies return. A system also enables an organisation to make smart decisions on what to do less off, turn off but most importantly, what to do more of.

According to Forbes during the recession of the late 90’s Pizza Hut identified that McDonald’s had dropped marketing spend giving them an opportunity to cut-through, be seen and heard. As a result, Pizza Hut increased sales by 61%, and McDonald’s saw sales decline by 28%. 

Here are our top tips to retain visibility during these turbulent times:

• Allocate spend in advance - According to industry averages marketing spend should be around 7-11% of projected annual revenue 
• Plan activity by considering customer touchpoints (places where your prospective customers could come into contact with your messages) – whether it’s Social Media, Direct Mail, HTML Emails, Websites, Brochures, Digital Publications, Vlog’s, Online social media forums or webinars… the list goes on.
•  Create relevant, regular and on-point content.  Ensuring that your marketing talks effectively to your audience, is both tasteful and regular is key to reinforcing a common and consistent brand message. For your marketing activity to have the right effect it’s so key to share the right content at the right time.
• Agility is key – as this crisis unfolds ensure you are adapting your activity to support/compliment what is going on, topical and timely content resonates.

So many companies will fall foul of slashing their marketing activity during this crisis. ?If you’re confused as to what to do, which messages to share and how to continue to promote your business effectively please get in touch www.magnificentstuff.net