Leave the light on

The budget for marketing is often the first to be hit by cuts during tough economic times, with many businesses seeing it as a non-essential activity. Most marketing experts would take the view, however, that drastically cutting or eliminating marketing spend altogether, or ‘going dark’, can have quite a damaging long-term impact on businesses and on brands.

 “We’ve noticed that a lot of companies have actually stopped marketing, which is a major mistake,” says Annmarie Hanlon, consultancy director of marketing company Evonomie, and author of Quick Win Marketing. “They’re assuming there’s no business happening at all, whereas there’s still a lot of business going on. We’ve noticed our own quantities of direct mail have dropped dramatically this whole year. A lot of the people we know who are buying are saying, ‘it would be great if somebody was trying to sell to me right now’.”

The good news, according to Hanlon, is that it is possible to continue promoting your business on a very limited budget in a number of key ways.

Talk to existing customers
Top of the list, she says, is to talk to existing customers. “That’s the really important one. You need to pick up the phone and ask them how things are going, what they’re doing at the moment and if there is any way you can help. They already do business with you – you don’t need to introduce yourself and tell them what you do. It’s just about having a conversation.

“Ask them if there’s anything your company can do differently or if there are opportunities that they haven’t spoken to you about. Or, is there something else going on that you really need to know about sooner rather than later?

“Not enough companies are doing that and I think it’s because they’re nervous. I think there’s a concern that if they call them, their customers are going to expect discounts. But the alternative might be that your competitors are taking the opportunity to talk to them,” she warns.

Network and meet new contacts
“Networking can be really useful,” says Hanlon. “It’s an opportunity to go and talk to other businesses, to get a particular skill or get some more knowledge in an area. There’s always something going on, wherever you are.”

If it’s not possible to network face to face, she recommends online networking. “You can use tools such as LinkedIn, which is an online professional network where you can connect with clients, suppliers, colleagues and people you used to work with.”

Visit key contacts
“Get out of the office and visit your key contacts,” says Hanlon. “That could just be a meet-up for lunch where you don’t even talk about business.”

Contacts may be able to introduce potential clients, she says, but they need to know who your ideal prospects are and how they can help. Hanlon points out, however, that you may need to return the favour at some stage.

Send out a newsletter
Newsletters can be a useful way of keeping customers informed about something new that’s happening in the company. “It doesn’t need to be a glossy, expensive newsletter,” she says. “It can even just be a letter with details about new hires, new contracts, product developments, and so on.”

An email newsletter is another option. “There are online tools you can use such as Constant Contact for online newsletters,” says Hanlon. “Just be sure to send the newsletter only to people with whom you’ve already got a relationship.

“Having a newsletter is part of building a brand. It’s part of demonstrating your expertise, but it’s also part of letting people know what you do. Quite often, people don’t actually remember what you do.”

Start a blog
According to Hanlon, starting a blog is one way of driving traffic to your website, where visitors can be converted into leads. “You could start a blog that you update on a fairly regular basis,” she explains. “That’s free if you use Blogger, Wordpress or some tool like that. You can plan it in advance. There are devices to schedule blog posts so that when you’re busy, out of the office or doing something else you can get the blog posts to appear. From that perspective, it’s easy to manage.”

Contribute to blogs
If you don’t have time to start your own blog, another tip is to contribute to other blogs. “If there’s a blog that’s relevant to what you do, it’s a good idea to read the posts regularly and add useful comments with a link back to your website,” she says, warning that care must be taken not to try to sell things directly in this way.

Start tweeting
If blogging sounds like too much effort, Hanlon suggests getting into micro-blogging. “With Twitter, you’re literally answering the question ‘what are you doing?’ with a very short sentence. The other thing with micro-blogging is if you have a BlackBerry or an iPhone you can use them to do it as well.”

Hanlon advises against overt selling through any of these media. “I think if you’re doing a hard sell anywhere, people will tune out of it - they dislike and disapprove of it.”

Respond to what people are saying
It’s important to know what people are saying about your business and to be able to respond to any criticisms that appear in blogs, on social-media sites or on Twitter. “To find out what people are saying about you, you can set up a Google Alert; this will send you an email if anybody mentions your company, brand name or even your own name on a blog or on a website,” says Hanlon. “You can manage the communication from that perspective, see what is being said about you and then respond to it. Likewise, you can set up alerts about your competitors to find out what people are saying about them and what they’re doing that’s new.”

Talk to staff
“One of the things that people often forget to do is to go out and speak with the staff,” says Hanlon. “Staff members generally have lots and lots of ideas. However, they may be worried about holding onto their jobs and therefore won’t want to suggest anything because they want to keep their heads down. One of the things that can be done is to allow staff make suggestions, maybe even to write them down on a piece of paper. You could even have a ‘boss for the day’ programme, whereby staff members are asked what they’d do if they were in charge for the day.”

Follow up on lost sales
It’s vital to understand why you’re failing to make sales in order to make changes for the future. Hanlon recommends talking to the last three customers who didn’t buy from you. “We often forget about lost sales,” she says. “If you’ve actually pitched for something and haven’t got it, finding out why is so important. It can be the most absurd or ridiculous things.”

Use PR
Hanlon suggests using PR as a way of getting your company and brand into the local press. You can prepare news releases about recent contract wins, new products or other successes that your company has achieved, and post these on your website and blog, as well as on online PR websites. You can also send the press release to relevant media outlets. 

“It’s got to be newsworthy,” she points out. “It’s got to be about something that’s new or a first. There definitely has to be an angle.

“You can do your own PR. The challenging thing is trying to maintain it. That’s where it’s a good idea to use a PR consultant because at least they will consistently deliver something all year round rather than just now and again when you’re not busy.”

Celebrate
Marking milestones, like business anniversaries or the signing up of a 1,000th customer, for example, is a good way of generating news, speaking to customers and boosting morale among staff members.

Do a survey
Another suggestion is to carry out a survey of existing or potential clients. “If you don’t have the budget to get someone to do the survey for you, find a buddy company where you call each other’s clients,” says Hanlon. “Find out what it is that clients really need and want right now. Life has changed and we’re living in a different world, so how have their needs changed and what are they doing differently?”

When businesses are in fire-fighting mode, it can be difficult to prioritise marketing. But those that manage to be innovative about how they promote themselves may find that this recession actually presents an opportunity to stand out and even strengthen their market position. 

This article first appeared in Owner Manager magazine