Recession Marketing Guide

I can hear fear in their voices… Not a fear of me. Not a fear of themselves… but rather a fear of failure.

I have talked with dozens of people over the phone, in gas stations, at stores and a variety of other locations.

While people are out spending some money, many people are pretty much scared silly as to what may lay ahead in the near future.

From layoffs to foreclosures… fear is in the air this year.

Imagine this: Sales are down by 50%. What would you do?

Do you put off all your plans, put off your marketing campaigns and just hope for the best?

No. So what would you do if your football team was down by 50%? The other guys have 28 points while you only have 14 … and there’s only 8 minutes left in the game.

Do you give up? Or do you fight?

You fight! – You watch what the other team is doing and you find the right people, the right techniques, and the right strategy to win.

You’re in the heat of battle and the enemy is about to flank you. Do you face the enemy or do you give up?

You fight! You use intelligence, strategy, and experience to help guide you to success.
Why are so many people cowering behind the economy and low sales as their reason not to advertise, promote, and expand their brand?

It’s this time where it’s more important than ever before that you stand up and make things happen in your company. In some cases, now is the time to actually start your company.

1. During a recession, look for cost-cutting opportunities. Investigate your lease, your phone bill, and a variety of other expenses. Many of your vendors are willing to negotiate in order to retain your account.
2. Re-evaluate your products and services. Are they positioned and marketed correctly for these times? A1 changed their marketing from A1 Steak Sauce to… “A1, make your burger a steak burger” during a recession. While Starbucks closes 600 stores this year, McDonalds is selling more premium coffee drinks than ever.
3. Take a look at your clients, your advertising, and your marketing. Your best clients are always your existing clients. Your best advertising is typically direct mail or internet (both are easily traceable) and your best marketing is usually high-impact and low cost. Evaluate all of these and brainstorm for ways to reach your existing clients and your niche market more effectively.

Right now people just like you are fighting against the fear.
They are taking on the challenge and they are succeeding.

• A series of six studies conducted by the research firm Meldrum & Fewsmith showed that advertising aggressively during recessions not only increases sales but also increases profits.
• A 1990 Center for Research and Development study shows that aggressive advertisers gained 4.5 times the market share of competitors who didn’t increase advertising spending during a recession.

They know that recessions are temporary and that the people who fight the hardest, the fastest, and get out to the public the most often not only win now, but they will win time and time again.

• “Stopping your advertising to save money is much like stopping the clock to save time.” Library of Advertising, written in 1911 by Axel Petrus Johnson.

• “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark; you know what you are doing but nobody else does.” – Ed Howe

• “If your business is not worth advertising, then advertise it for sale.” - Unknown Author. First used in print in 1908. Cement World Page 350. Published by Cement World Co. V. 2 (Apr. 1908- Mar. 15, 1909.) New York Public Library.

One of the best way to fight fear is to fight it with the facts.

The Recession Marketing Guide is full of informative tips, techniques, and case studies showing how business owners that chose to succeed overcame the burdens, the excuses, and ultimately the recessions in order to achieve results in their companies.

The Recession Marketing Guide will give you a step-by-step plan of action to help you reduce cost, create opportunity, and promote your business cheaper than ever before.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve been in business 15 years or 15 minutes. The Recession Marketing Guide contains a great deal of innovative thinking to help you fight the fear at a time where it’s more important than ever before.