Advertising in a soft economy.

So the economy is tanking, and your budget is slim.  What do you do?   You cut back.  And advertising is one of the first things to go.

Smart, right?  Uh, uh!

That’s what your competitors are doing.

It would be smart to take an assessment of your advertising.  Make sure that it is reaching the people you want to reach, and that you are doing it efficiently and effectively. 

Make sure you that your choice of media is really working for you.  Newspapers are tanking these days and their revenues are dropping rapidly.  There’s a reason.  Newspaper advertising is expensive and some people, like me, think it is not efficient for most advertisers.  But if you have a car dealership, and you have advertised in the newspaper for years, dropping it feels a little like walking a tight rope without a net, right? 

At the same time, if you buy advertising on a radio station just because it has the “numbers” in the demographic you want, you may want to consider another station whose rates are lower, but perhaps makes up for it in station loyalty.  There is a reason why some marketers make it a habit to buy lesser rated stations and advertise on them with consistency.

Truth be told, you could have taken a closer look at how you spent your advertising dollar when things were flush.  But things were flush so you didn’t apply the discipline.

So by taking closer look at your advertising dollars and the media you use, you will save money and your advertising will probably be more effective now, and when the economy starts moving up.

There are several ways in which you’ll benefit.  I don’t want to pretend that I can list them all in this blog, but let me throw out two that may get you thinking. 

First, consider this, while you sharpen up your approach to advertising, your competitor has cut back.  And when the inevitable up-tick arrives, you will have positioned yourself to have a larger market share.
Second, remember that a down-turn in the economy affects the very people you are advertising with, radio stations, TV stations, newspapers and magazines are quite vulnerable to an economic slump.  They need revenue, too.  Check out how much they have cut their rates, and pressure them to cut them even more.  My bet is that they will bend a little, or maybe even a lot.

There are many ways in which you can take advantage of a bad economy, and with a little work, you can find those customers and make those sales. I’ll look at more of them in future blogs.