Let’s face it: flat is the new up. There is business out there, but you must now compete twice as hard for a smaller pool of prospects. If you maintain top-of-mind awareness with your target audiences today, you’ll emerge stronger in the coming months and years. Things will get better, but not everyone will survive.

History has taught us that companies who market aggressively during recession often emerge stronger than their competitors who don’t. However, this is a much different world than the 1930s.

I see two ways companies are managing their marketing in these times:

• Those who pull back, cut budgets, and retreat to the safety of past experience. They tell themselves “it’s worked for us for XX years, so now is not the time to change behaviors.” They tell their people to work twice as hard with fewer resources, without changing old habits.
• Those who embrace new techniques and technology, and aggressively pursue every drop of new business that’s out there. They’re nimble and flexible—regardless of their size—and believe that sales and marketing is part of EVERYONE’s job description.

Here are six suggestions to help you remain strong today, and prosper tomorrow.

• Database Marketing: I’ve repeated this over-and-over, and will continue to harp on it. If you’re not making full use of your existing assets, you’re missing the best opportunities and the highest ROIs. The list of ways to use a database is infinite. Build one single, master, up-to-date, in-house database: every customer (past and present), every prospect, every suspect, and every business associate who might help you. Give each one a code to define them, and send them relevant messages—frequently. Learn more about Database Marketing.
• Benefit-Focused Messaging: your customers’ attention span is growing shorter as we speak. Eliminate puffery, and reduce the paragraphs of feel-good branding copy. Tell them what you’ll do for them—quickly.
• Social Media: you’ve heard it all before, but you must participate in Social Media such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and the thousands of industry-specific blog spots. It’s the future, and businesses of all types are becoming deeply engaged.
• Email Marketing: a rapidly-growing medium with the highest ROI (according to the Direct Marketing Association.) This isn’t “spamming”—it’s involves carefully-crafted messages to your audiences that are highly-relevant, frequent and measurable. Learn more about Email Marketing.
• Google Analytics and AdWords: is your company making the most of these free tools? If not, you won’t believe the volumes of actionable marketing data you can glean from them. And since they’re free (other than the optional costs for AdWords bids), why would you NOT use Analytics and AdWords?
• Everyone’s a Marketer: break down silos between departments, divisions, and—most importantly—between sales and marketing. Make marketing activities part of everyone’s continued employment. I have one client who—rather than lay off field service reps—put them on the phones with sales scripts. They hate it, but they are still employed. And the client’s business is growing.

I can help you analyze and implement any of these marketing tools. Call me at 717-368-5143 or email me now.