Marketing Mindset When Times are Tough
Marketing Mindset When Times are Tough
As an entrepreneur, I'll bet that you, too, are tempted to scale back on your marketing activities. When you're in unchartered waters, it's a natural reaction to do what everyone is doing. If you're new to business, and you see all your competitors cutting back on marketing, you automatically assume that's the right thing to do.
And marketing when times are tough can feel just plain ol' "icky". You see people around you struggling, you hear about job layoffs and house foreclosures and constant doom and gloom, and it feels a little weird to ask people to do business with you.
But that's because you're looking at marketing wrong. Instead of a "you give me money" attitude, you need to adopt an "I give you value" attitude.
I'm sure you've heard it before - and you've probably noticed it yourself - even in these "tough times" people are still spending money. And they're spending on more than just the essentials. In fact, a few weeks ago when I took a trip to the Indianapolis Zoo, it was absolutely jam packed. There were so many people there, we couldn't even find a place to sit down at lunch time. We had to get to the dolphin show 30 minutes early just to make sure we could get in. And you can hardly call a trip to the zoo a necessary purchase. In fact, by the time you add up parking, entrance tickets, overpriced lunch, show tickets, souvenirs... it can almost qualify as a luxury purchase.
So why was the zoo so crowded? Well, it was early spring, the weather was starting to get nice, people were looking for an excuse to get out of the house, and the zoo had recently run an amazing advertising campaign. Every other attraction in town had cut back on advertising, so when it came time to choose an activity, the Zoo was forefront on everyone's mind.
You see, when everyone else around you is reducing their marketing for "budgetary" reasons, increasing your marketing by a mere 10% will make you rise so far above the crowd, there will be no competition. When a prospect needs your services, you will be the only option she considers, since you will be the only option in front of her.
During tough times, you might be tempted to lower your price to make your marketing feel less invasive. But don't do it! There are so many reasons not to lower your price, I could turn that discussion into an entire book. Rather than focusing on price, focus on value.
The majority of shoppers do not buy based on price alone. Remember, there are many more stores out there that are *not* Walmart. What your customer is really looking for is value.
I heard a great explanation of value given by Don Taylor of Minding Your Own Business. As he explains it, value is like a seesaw. Price is one side and quality and quantity are on the other. As long as you can balance the seesaw, or tip it toward the quality end, your customers will buy.
Your job as an entrepreneur is to create value. And then promote that value. And then promote that value just a little bit more, especially as your competitors are cutting back. You'll soon rise above the crowd and your business will flourish.
Now, go find some more clients!
Marketing Mindset When Times are Tough - To learn more about this author, visit Karen Scharf's Website.
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When the economy gets tough, an ironic thing happens... people stop marketing their business and services. I call it ironic because now is the best time to ramp up your marketing, not cut back on it.
As an entrepreneur, I'll bet that you, too, are tempted to scale back on your marketing activities. When you're in unchartered waters, it's a natural reaction to do what everyone is doing. If you're new to business, and you see all your competitors cutting back on marketing, you automatically assume that's the right thing to do.
And marketing when times are tough can feel just plain ol' "icky". You see people around you struggling, you hear about job layoffs and house foreclosures and constant doom and gloom, and it feels a little weird to ask people to do business with you.
But that's because you're looking at marketing wrong. Instead of a "you give me money" attitude, you need to adopt an "I give you value" attitude.
I'm sure you've heard it before - and you've probably noticed it yourself - even in these "tough times" people are still spending money. And they're spending on more than just the essentials. In fact, a few weeks ago when I took a trip to the Indianapolis Zoo, it was absolutely jam packed. There were so many people there, we couldn't even find a place to sit down at lunch time. We had to get to the dolphin show 30 minutes early just to make sure we could get in. And you can hardly call a trip to the zoo a necessary purchase. In fact, by the time you add up parking, entrance tickets, overpriced lunch, show tickets, souvenirs... it can almost qualify as a luxury purchase.
So why was the zoo so crowded? Well, it was early spring, the weather was starting to get nice, people were looking for an excuse to get out of the house, and the zoo had recently run an amazing advertising campaign. Every other attraction in town had cut back on advertising, so when it came time to choose an activity, the Zoo was forefront on everyone's mind.
You see, when everyone else around you is reducing their marketing for "budgetary" reasons, increasing your marketing by a mere 10% will make you rise so far above the crowd, there will be no competition. When a prospect needs your services, you will be the only option she considers, since you will be the only option in front of her.
During tough times, you might be tempted to lower your price to make your marketing feel less invasive. But don't do it! There are so many reasons not to lower your price, I could turn that discussion into an entire book. Rather than focusing on price, focus on value.
The majority of shoppers do not buy based on price alone. Remember, there are many more stores out there that are *not* Walmart. What your customer is really looking for is value.
I heard a great explanation of value given by Don Taylor of Minding Your Own Business. As he explains it, value is like a seesaw. Price is one side and quality and quantity are on the other. As long as you can balance the seesaw, or tip it toward the quality end, your customers will buy.
Your job as an entrepreneur is to create value. And then promote that value. And then promote that value just a little bit more, especially as your competitors are cutting back. You'll soon rise above the crowd and your business will flourish.
Now, go find some more clients!
Marketing Mindset When Times are Tough - To learn more about this author, visit Karen Scharf's Website.
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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