Hatton Marketing

This month the news everywhere is that apparently the Recession is over. Woo hoo!! However, economists are predicting that we’re not going to make a full recovery until 2012… (Boo…!)

With this in mind, ensuring that every penny you spend on marketing really counts is ever more cruical. You’ve got through the worst of it, it would be a real shame to lose the battle now, right?

During the Recession we have found that our clients sit in one of three camps:

A. It’s been so tough that they are thinking of selling

B. They’ve battened down the hatches by cutting costs and are hoping they survive the storm

C. Going all out to fight and come out on top – a decisive choice to be pro-active

Which camp are you in?

A
I’m not sure we can help you… You’ve got your reasons but it sounds like you’ve already given up.

B
A straight question: do you honestly think there is nothing else you can do? Companies who are now our clients didn’t know what to do before they came to us either. They hadn’t experienced Recession before or were fortunate enough not to need to do any marketing. Up until late 2008, business had been like an orchard and apples had been falling into their laps or sat on the easy to reach branches for you to pick. Now you need to get to the apples from the topmost branches and that takes a new skill – one that may need to be learned.

C
Great…! But what have you been actually been doing get sales? Many companies spend so much time planning for activity but not enough time doing it. For the avoidance of doubt, booking a magazine advertisement every quarter isn’t a marketing plan. The trick is to find a balance.

You would never build a house without having plans drawn up so why would you start a business year without knowing what you are going to do to attract new customers? If you want your marketing activities to be effective and profitable then you need to create a marketing plan, something which has a huge amount of benefits to any organisation, whether you are a one man band or a large international organisation.

All too often though, businesses run on a ‘feast or famine’ style of marketing, only marketing when sales are low and stopping when they’re back on track. This is an unsustainable approach and often leads to unnecessary spending, inconclusive results and unmet goals.