Your Marketing Dollars Are Worth More Now

I just love it when marketing managers I sell to try to compare themselves to the Coca Cola and McDonalds of the advertising world. My clients typically have thousands of dollars in advertising/marketing budgets. Most of them spend it like it is their own money and I try to be respectful of how many hits we have to get in order to make their dollar stretch.
Convincing them that now is the time to spend rather then hold back is tough, but maybe you can send your accounting department a copy of this blog and see if this helps.
The hardest thing I have to explain is the big guys like Apple, IBM, Microsoft and the other Fortune companies have MILLIONS (still not with a “B”). This means they can make a lot of mistakes and still get seen. Also, when you spend MILLIONS, you get to show your stuff over and over and over because that is a lot of money even to NBC and CBS.
Marketing managers know the first thing that usually gets cut is your budget. It makes no sense. Business starts to get bad and the first thing the number crunchers do is cut back on the one thing that helps business get better sooner!
Look at the Apple Computer example.Skip to next paragraph Business is bad everywhere but Apple is increasing its advertising expenditure and taking on its competition. Apple reports that it has increased marketing and advertising during 4Q, 2008. Apple is showing it knows when to take advantage and it is continuing to bring new customers into its stores. Sales increases are following while everyone else in technology is crying and cutting out thousands of jobs (and I don’t mean Steve).

Here are the things you should start thinking about spending money on during these down times. These are the ideas that keep your company in the upper most minds of your existing and potential clients so when the purse strings to loosen up, guess who they will call first. You.

●Personalized gifts that say “thank you.” Something simple like an elegant pen with the recipient’s name engraved.
●A simple coaster or a mug that will be useful on your client’s desktop and boldly announce your availability to be of service when things settle.
●Calendars – yes, I know everyone has a computer and a cell phone with the date in it; but look around you. Every office has a calendar either sitting on a desk or hanging on the wall. For a dollar or two, you can purchase these with beautiful theme photography and get your name and tagline seen every single workday of the year!
●Magnifiers – these are more and more useful especially as our population of workers gets older and their eye sight gets weaker. Just think how appreciative your client will be every time he/she uses this gift.
Personal is always best. So let me help you decide the most appropriate way for you to stay in front of your prospects and clients during these budget cutting times. Contact me at Jay@InnMkting.com or visit our website www.InnMkting.com and type in some ideas in the search section and see how inexpensive it can be to promote your business in these tough times.