When times are hard, it used to be that the first thing that went from the budget was that of marketing and promotion. However, this can be extremely counter-intuitive as when people are spending less money, you are going to need to attract as many customers as is possible.
Whilst the recent recession is allegedly behind us, with the many cuts announced by the new government, people are still watching what they spend, and the days of being able to squander money on whatever one pleased still seem like a long way away.
So, when times are hard how can you balance the need for advertising with the need to cut costs and run as streamlined a business as possible?
During harder times the last thing you want to do is stop advertising; instead you should simply change the focus of your advertising. Rather than spending huge amounts of money on costly campaigns, try looking into other options which might achieve the same effect without spending the same money. For instance, viral marketing and social networking is a much cheaper way of getting your message out there than with costly adverts in other mediums. Using the right social networking sites can even be done for the just the cost of the member of staff updating it.
Also, using promotional items at promotional events can be a great way to increase your presence. Having promotional products that bear your name or logo or even something mildly cryptic that people have to decipher in order to win prizes is a great way to not only have short-term promotion, but offer customers or clients something that they can keep for a long time and will therefore remind them of you over and over again.
The other great benefit of promotional products is that you can personalise them to whatever degree you feel necessary, whilst if you look in the right places you will also find that doing so is surprisingly cost-effective. You can take the tack of producing items that everyone needs on a day to day basis such as mugs and umbrellas, or you can get much more specific with your promotional items and produce something that is based around the type of work you do and therefore will remind people of you when they are performing a task that is linked to the services you offer.
When it comes to free things, offering free gifts is another great way to draw customers in without having to add too much in the way of overheads. Whether it is an outright free gift or simply an incentive plan to keep them coming back over and over again, the repeat custom will often be worth much more than the gifts you are offering in return. Not only that, but creating brand loyalty is hugely important, and if you play your cards right you can find yourself with customers for life.
There are many ways to promote your company when times are hard. It is simply a case of finding the best one for you.