Have you ever seen a turtle when it’s completely in its shell? It can’t do anything.
When you pull back, cut your marketing budget and use the “I’ll wait to see if things get better before I do anything” strategy, you are slowly killing your business. Just like the turtle that is stuck, scared and pretty much useless inside his shell, your business becomes non-existent to your customers when you cut or stop marketing.
I completely understand that when the economy slows that there are less dollars to use to promote your business. You have rent, payroll, taxes etc. But you need to understand that marketing is the fuel that keeps your business going. The only reason your business exists is to find and keep customers. If that isn’t your purpose than you’re running a hobby, not a business.
There are dozens of low cost methods to market your business. One of the most overlooked is your existing customers. Do you know what your share of customer is? Share of customer is the amount of money you get from a customer based on the entire amount they spend on your category. For example if I spend $75 a month on pizza, that’s $900 a year. How much of that $900 do I spend at one pizza parlor? That is their share of customer (for me).
Increasing your share of customers is less expensive and far more effective than marketing that tries to find new customers. Your customers already know you and have had a good experience with you (hopfully).
What ever you do, don’t stop marketing. You may change the tactics, but never stop telling customers why they should do business with you.
Posted by triggermarketing 