As business owners, we all feel pressure to cut costs. Unfortunately, many business owners focus so much on cutting costs that they lose sight of the strategic vision. This makes it difficult for a business to grow, let alone survive, during a recession. Cutting your marketing budget without losing sight of your long-term strategic vision is easier than you think.
Here are 5 ways to do this.
1. Eliminate waste
Over the years I have observed hundreds of marketing programs and I can honestly tell you that almost all of them are flawed with wasting money in a few places.
Before you cut anything, understand what you’re doing. Are those programs not delivering the results you anticipated? Fix them and abandon them.
Is there anything that can't be done to increase sales? If you don't have enough money, now is not the time to spend money on marketing efforts that won't bring in a return.
2. Make a few mistakes
Marketing – a never-so-simple task – has changed a lot in the past few years. Customers have changed too. They search for businesses online. If a business does not have access to the Internet, it is impossible for that business to participate in the competitive market.
I admire business owners who have tried to figure out how to market themselves, even though it takes a lot of time and there are a few mistakes that could have been avoided with some experience.
3. Nurture what you have
Think about the profitable activities you have done: Research, email, advertising, telemarketing, networking, trade shows. But just because people have bought something from you, doesn't mean they will continue to do business with you for a long time.
Businesses need to focus on gaining customer loyalty. Because retaining existing customers is less expensive than finding new customers.
4. Consider outsourcing
To have a successful marketing program today, businesses need skills in many areas. For example, website strategy, search engine optimization, paid marketing research…
If you do not have the necessary skills and are not able to implement a marketing program, find an outsourcing company or a group of individuals to do it for you. They are professional, effective and not too expensive.
