Marketing and The Economic Meltdown

By Carl Woolston • February 16th, 2009 • Email This Post • Print This Post

Times are different than they used to be.  Marketing is no exception! 

I was talking last week with a friend of mine who works for an ad agency.  We were discussing marketing in general and how much more difficult it is to catch the eyes of the consumer nowadays.  You can’t just put an ad in a newspaper or even on the internet and expect great results.  You might get okay results, but not great results. 

This trend is only going to get worse.  It’s going to get tougher and tougher to get someone to buy.  The economic meltdown has sped up this trend.

Here is how the economy is going to make it even worse:

1)       Consumers are hunkering down: When cash is tight and job loss a real concern, consumers aren’t going to spend any money on frivolous things.  They aren’t going to make rash decisions like they used to.  They’ll look for reasons not to spend money.

2)      Fear is a daily emotion: With shrinking retirement funds, economic meltdown, and with the media feeding the frenzy like pouring gasoline on a hot flame, fear is a part of the economic terrain.

3)       The shrinking economy: With cash flow tighter and profits down, businesses need to decide where to cut.  Some are cutting jobs, some their marketing budgets and some are removing perks and “the extras.”

What do you do about it?  Three tips:

1)      Capture every possible eyeball: Get their permission to stay in contact with them.  Whether it is a lunch appointment, a speaking engagement, or just a web visitor.  You can’t afford not to build your database.

2)      What can you do to give them hope?  What can you do to lead?  When times are tough, a positive, optimistic voice stands out.  What do you offer that will bring solutions to what they are experiencing right now.

3)      Don’t oversell.  Just because you are desperate doesn’t mean you need to abuse your base.  They have given you their trust.  If you abuse it, you’ll need to find new eyeballs.  They will move on.

With the speed of transactions and consumers picking what information they want, and where to get it, once you have a consumer you have to keep them.  The economic meltdown has only made this strategy even more essential.

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