People are in quarantine, businesses are shut down or in partial operation, demand is down and sales are not flowing like it used to. So what do many businesses do? They cut back. Cut back operations, hours, employees, marketing and anything else considered non-essential.

One of the things that many businesses cut back on that they should not is marketing. It may seem counterintuitive in the face of economic uncertainty but history shows that those that continue to market even during the depression reap huge rewards in the future, if not during the present as well.

And you don’t have to spend a lot of money if any to do so. But you will definitely need to spend time.

What Is Marketing?

First of all you need to understand that marketing is about building and strengthening relationships between you and your customers. And that takes time. Like any other relationship, the more you put into it the more you get out of it.

Benefits of Marketing During a Recession

According to McGraw-Hill Research’s look at the 1985 recession, companies that either maintained or increased their ad budgets during that time experienced a 256 percent increase in sales versus companies that cut their ad budgets.

These companies also took up market share left vacant by businesses that weren’t continuing to market.

This type of scenario happens during every recession or economic downturn.

How Can You Grow When People Aren’t Buying?

Three reasons:

1. Customers are still buying...somewhere - Unless the industry is totally shut down people are still buying. Maybe not as much as before but they’re still buying somewhere. Even in this unique time very few industries are in total shutdown.

2. Stand up above the crowd- Success in marketing comes when you can cut through the noise and be recognized by your customers. Many of your competitors are scaling back their marketing so there is less noise in the marketplace. Even if you don’t scale back your marketing efforts, you will stand up above the rest simply by default.

3. Reap big later - If you happen to be in an industry that is totally shut down then you’ll reap the reward when lockdown lifts due to pent up demand. So the gold rush of customers will go to the brands customers remember.

Marketing Cost Go Down, ROI Goes Up

Lastly, as everyone else is scaling back their marketing effort the cost of marketing goes down.

How? It’s simple supply and demand. When demand for advertising goes down and supply stays the same, so do the costs.

The cost of Facebook ads for starters has gone down 40%!

So, you’ll get more for your advertising dollars and get better results because you’re competing against less in your industry. Higher ROI.

Lastly

I hope and pray you take these illustrations and principles to heart. As I mentioned earlier, you don’t have to spend money in marketing if you don’t have it. Just pick up the phone, send an email or text.

Let your customers know you care.

This isn’t the first nor will it be the last crisis we deal with as business owners. But it’s how you deal with it in the moment will determine how you come out of it in the future.

God bless and be safe!

Author: Robert Fukui is the president of i61, inc. He and his wife Kay Lee run a business consulting firm specializing in assisting privately held, family run companies with their growth strategies. Before running his own company, Robert accumulated over 25 years experience in marketing/sales with several Fortune 100 companies. https://www.powercouplesbydesign.com/

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