There aren’t many positives about doing business in a challenging economy. Business is tough, cash-flow is tight, and consumers rein in spending.
Thus many business leaders react accordingly. Anticipating reduced sales, they cut back on variable costs, including marketing, in order to deliver on their financial expectations.
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In a challenging economy, consumers become value oriented, set stricter priorities, and reduce their spending. Although it’s wise to contain costs, this is not the time for your organization to stop spending on marketing. Rather it’s the time to put customer needs under the microscope to understand how they have changed, and nimbly adjust your strategies, tactics, and product offerings to the new reality.
Organizations may forget that, in prosperous times, rising sales are not caused by clever advertising and appealing products and services alone. Purchases depend on consumers’ having disposable income, feeling confident about their future, and trusting in business and the economy. In a challenging economy, these things have changed for the consumer. (more…)