The Economy is in the Gutter! Now What???

by Joshua Crumbaugh on August 2nd, 2008

Buy a car and get FREE Gas for a year! Buy a house and get Free Gas for a year! The list of gimmicks people are using to drive business goes on and on. Free Vacations, (which by the way every marketer should check out vestedtravels.com – tell them Joshua Crumbaugh sent you) Vegas Casino Cards, Gas Rebate Cards, Dinners and much more; you hear marketers offering incentives to get you to come to their business and spend money. These are great ways to drive business, but should you implement new strategy when the economy is suffering? I feel strongly against using these tactics now if you haven’t used them in the past and the numbers at the various companies I work with reflect this. During these times I forget about “out of the box” thinking and stick to the basics. It’s great to try new things, offer incentives and experiment with your marketing budget to see what tool will be most effective, but when you’re either struggling to keep traffic up or to keep sales up it’s not the time to be trying new things.

So… What do I do then???

I start by sticking to what I know works, focusing on my image and utilizing marketing venues that are already at my finger tips. Do you have a marketing blurb in all company emails that go out? Hotmail actually coined the term viral marketing by doing just that. Are you pushing your sales staff and providing them resources to enlarge each transaction. Clients don’t get offended when you ask them if they would also like “x” service/product. Have you tried running a regional ad in a national publication such as “Time Magazine” and then framing it and putting it all over your office (As seen in Time Magazine.) Clients flock to companies they trust when their pocket books are hurting, build trust not gimmicks.

Action Steps:

List five things you are doing now to earn extra consumer confidence and credibility.

List five additional things you can and will do to earn extra consumer confidence and credibility.

Put into writing exactly why your offerings provide exceptional value.

If you aren’t already begin marketing to your past customers to gain repeat business. (Vtiger CRM is a great FREE open source CRM) In most cases getting this set up will only cost you time.

I realize we are marketers not sales men/women, but the best marketers understand sales so I am going to leave you with this:

Don’t sell me things – Sell me what things can do

1. Don’t sell me tires – sell me freedom from worry and low cost per mile.
   
2. Don’t sell me clothes – sell me neat appearance, style, attractiveness.
   
3. Don’t sell me candy – sell me happiness and the pleasure of taste.
   
4. Don’t sell me property – sell me a home that has comfort, cleanliness, contentment
   
5. Don’t me books – sell me pleasant hours and profits of knowledge.
   
6. Don’t sell me toys – sell me playthings to make children happy.
   
7. Don’t sell me tools – sell me the pleasure and profit of making fine things.
   
8. Don’t sell me refrigerators – sell me the health and better flavor of fresh-kept food.
   
9. Don’t sell me plows – sell me green fields of waving wheat.
   
10. Don’t sell me things – sell me ideas, ideas, feelings, self respect, home life, happiness.

Check back soon I will be writing two more posts about marketing in a troubled economy. Also, I want to hear your comments