Avoid Economic Squeeze by Advertising

Headline: Avoid Economic Squeeze by Advertising (opinion)

Summary: Businesses should use slow time to become more visible

By: Randy Mullikin

During slow periods or an economic downturn, businesses should look for creative ways to be more visible than ever.

This is the perfect opportunity to thrive instead of cutting back on your advertising and marketing efforts.

Proactive companies not only weather the storms, but history tells us they can also grow in times when their competitors decline.

I’ve seen the results of both advertising and not advertising during my years in the advertising business.

Those who cut back or cut their advertising and marketing budgets altogether are usually the first to go out of business. I’m always amazed that when a business goes under, they advertise it for sale.

Don’t make the critical mistake of pulling back on your level of marketing activity because of a decline in the economy. You should do just the opposite.

Increasing brand and product awareness is vital to customer retention and generating new business. Those who do advertise during these times are the ones that stand out and even increase market share.

To succeed during difficult times, you will need to be tenacious and creative. Engage your entire company or organization.

Make a commitment to do what it takes to succeed and take an aggressive approach to generate new business.

This might mean making some tough decisions and cutting back in certain areas, but it also means coming up with a plan to attract new business and keep your current clients happy and buying even more.

You can also accomplish this by hiring a professional company or by encouraging those you work with to develop new ideas and creative ways to set your business apart from your competitors.

You might even find that those ideas involve branching out to a different city, a neighboring state or even another country for new prospects.

Think of new ways to introduce your products and services to different industries or to give more attention to profitable niche markets.

By being smart and knowing what your target market is, you can often reach it under the radar screen of your competition through direct mail, e-postcards, newsletters or personally delivering information along with a desk item or two.

Advertising — when done correctly — will not result as an expense, but will add greatly to your return on investment.

When writing a speech several years ago called “The Top Ten Ways to Advertise!” I mentioned the need for hiring an advertising agency, graphic designer or production company to lend some expertise.

You might be an expert in your field, but not when it comes to advertising, public relations and marketing.

You wouldn’t hire a lawyer to fix a leaking faucet, nor would you hire a plumber to write a script for a television commercial.

So it just makes sense to hire someone who can help you put a strategic plan in place and implement that plan to bring you a nice return on your investment in the form of increased sales.

(Randy Mullikin is the owner of the Mullikin Agency, a full service advertising agency in Springdale. He may be reached at [email protected].)