No.
Well, I would say that, wouldn’t I?
There are actually many, many research reports over the years that have proved conclusively that businesses who continue to invest in marketing always (always) come out of a recession stronger than their competitors. Thanks to my friends at Designated Group who sent me a link a few days ago, that reminded me about this.
The biggest issue for the business community at the moment is mounting fear. Whether that’s fear as to how the virus will impact the health of valued employees or fear as to whether UK businesses will be able to survive these ‘unprecedented’ times. As a result, many have started to cut costs, pause spend and retreat from day to day operations. For many, the first budget cut when facing times of adversity is marketing, and for the majority of business owners reading this article, this will come as no surprise. However, doing this makes no sense and here are five reasons why:
1. You always need sales and marketing to run your business
Sales and marketing don’t just drive business growth, they drive business stability. No marketing = no sales, which means that your business will inevitably grind to a halt.
2. Your competitors will pull back due to fear
So many of your industry competitors will be withdrawing their marketing spend due to fear. Situations like this provide you with the opportunity to scale and maximise market share.
3. More people than ever are spending time online
More and more people are searching for news updates, engaging with social media and maximising tools like LinkedIn than ever before. If there has ever been a time to have a strong digital presence, it’s now.
4. Don’t cut your marketing spend, change your focus
So many businesses will pause or cut marketing spend, without thinking about how they can change their focus first.
5. It’s time to sink or swim
The coronavirus has certainly presented what is likely to be the biggest challenge of this generation, but if you let the fear of the unknown take over, you will inevitably fail. During the recession of 2008/09, the business sector divided into two. Those who retreated and failed and those who fought back and survived.
Times of adversity provides the opportunity to disrupt, to dominate and to transform your industry sector. This period of uncertainty will not last forever – and those who maintain their marketing budget are far more likely to swim.