Bad Time to Brand?

The economy is tough, spending marketing dollars even tougher.
8 ways to market smarter through rough times.

By Angela Asmus
Johnson Direct

There is plenty of talk these days about the tough economy. According to MarketingCharts.com, approximately 85% of US consumers believe we are already in a recession, and the economy continues to remain the biggest concern. As consumers continue to cut their discretionary spending, companies will be forced to examine their budgets, and it’s likely that many will be inclined or forced to start cutting back on marketing.

But that’s not the answer.

Smart business owners and executives recognize that now is not the time to STOP marketing, it’s the time to market SMARTER. Marketing in tough times must be viewed as an investment in current and future profits – not considered a drain on resources.

Marketing smarter means looking at the fundamentals and understanding best practices in good times and bad – and if you understand this, you will prevail in the long run.

1. Know who your customers are
Ask yourself this question – do you know who your customers are? What are the shared characteristics of the people that are buying your products or service? Many of our clients think that they do, and they probably do have some general idea of their composition. But in today’s economy, with high gas prices and increased postage and paper costs, you cannot afford to keep mailing high volumes of direct mail to people that you think resemble your current buyers. You must know for sure – and it’s easier than you think.

By creating a customer profile and model, we can tell you exactly who is buying your product – how old they are, where they live, what their income range is, and other valuable characteristics that they share. Not only will this help us to locate additional prospects that fit this profile, but we can also create your next year’s marketing plan around it.

2. Perform regular data hygiene
Increase your ROI and eliminate the waste of inaccurate or incomplete data. We frequently see clients who aren’t using clean lists, resulting in either undeliverable mail, a longer sell cycle (due to delays in mail), and mailing to individual customers who don’t want or qualify for your product or service. Not wise at a time when every dollar counts.

Here are three simple, common list hygiene techniques that you need to perform routinely:

Clean lists will allow you to utilize the data to the fullest, which means you’ll sell deeper, service better and ultimately increase your return on investment. Can you really afford not to clean your data?

3. Motivate your audience
In direct marketing, the offer is one of the most important components and should be incorporated no matter what channel you are using. That said, this can often be the biggest challenge in planning a campaign. Many companies are inclined to use an offer that its own decision-makers would want. Instead, the offer should resonate with the target audiences’ interests, to motivate him/her to respond now. Therefore, it needs to be about the buyer/customer, not you or your company.

During tough times, it’s important to remember that the offer needs to help persuade your target audiences to take action in a time when they are trying to conserve their own financial resources.

Consider the following tips to help assure that you are utilizing a compelling offer:

Try testing multiple offers to see what will make them respond. The key is to be certain that your offer is so compelling that the reader will stop what they are doing and take action right now! Here is a list of common categories of offers for consideration:

4. Compel them to act
Yes, this is done largely in part by the appeal of your product or service and the offer, but it’s also done by enticing your audience throughout the entire campaign. As the economy changes, people’s motivations change. For example, with the current economic conditions as well as the concern for the environment, people want to save money and be viewed as socially responsible. You must understand how this may impact your audience and address their concerns in your messaging. Regardless of the changing economy, there are a few motivators that continue to work:

After you have convinced your audience to react, state your call-to-action and be clear as to what you want them to do. Give them multiple and convenient options to respond; 800 number, online, a reply device – the more the better! And be sure that you repeat this throughout your copy. Tell your readers exactly what you want them to do, and that’s to act now!

5. Test, test, and retest
People always forget the importance of testing and everyone is guilty of relying too heavily on what works now. But there is no better time than now to get back into the habit of testing. In these tough times, there can be no component exempt from review. It is essential that you understand all the drivers of your program and their impact on results. Take a look at your current program and ask yourself: when the last time you updated them? Could your design formats that may not have worked in the past work now? What about key messages that didn’t resonate with your audience that now may be compelling? Leave no leaf unturned!

Testing doesn’t have to mean an increased budget. Consider these cost-saving tips:

7. Explore social media
Social media integrates technology and social interaction and takes many forms including Internet forums, podcasts, blogs, message boards, MySpace, Facebook and YouTube, to name only a few. Many marketers still consider social media experimental, but as the economy continues to remain in this state, more will be accepting this channel. Not only can it be inexpensive (or even free), but in a time of consumer wariness, consumers are less likely to be influenced by slick TV ads than social media. Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are commonly accepted and consumers are spending more and more time on them – Facebook touts 80 million active users according to their website. The benefit is that this channel is effective at carrying the voice of the customer through word-of-mouth (WOM) social channels, creating higher resonance in the marketplace than traditional media.

8. Create a marketing plan
We continue to see our clients lose the most money when they execute hurried plans that haven’t been well thought out. Without a marketing plan, it’s easy to sneak in programs that aren’t in line with your company’s strategic goals because oftentimes the appropriate time wasn’t spent upfront evaluating their need. At Johnson Direct, we can help you to create a yearly marketing plan that keeps your company’s marketing efforts inline with your strategic goals.