Are Marketing budgets shrinking? 

Are Marketing budgets shrinking?

According to Marketing Week columnist Mark Ritson, they’re actually something that starts with F and ends in, well you can guess the rest.

Us marketing professionals have seen most of it all before. We’re amid a period of complete economic turmoil and dare we say the R word [recession] is ever looming. The Guardian are telling us that British shoppers are likely to spend £4.4bn less on non-essentials during the Christmas period, the latest IPA Bellwether Report predicts that there could be four years of cuts to UK advertising budgets with 13.4% of British companies reporting cuts to their budgets already.

We’re bracing ourselves, we know that marketing budgets are always the first to be scrutinised when uncertainty hits, but will this have an impact on your business and can you really afford to slash that budget in an increasingly competitive world?

We know what you’re thinking, of course a marketing agency is going to advise we continue with our marketing spend we get it, but trust us when we say don’t cut it!! Let’s be honest, it’s not the first time we’ve experienced an economic downturn, it’s not the first time we’ve faced recession and we’re pretty sure it won’t be the last. Cutting marketing costs will decrease brand awareness, search result ranking, and brand loyalty. This leaves plenty of room for competitors to fill the void and take the lead in the market. The landscape might change, but there are plenty of opportunities to build customer loyalty and to gain new leads.

So what’s the advice?

It’s really important to observe and understand how consumers are spending and where they’re saving. What can your business offer customers to give them peace of mind during challenging times? How do you change your marketing strategy to better suit their needs?

Rather than cutting the marketing budget, get innovative with your strategy for effective recession advertising. If you make calculated decisions, you can stay profitable or even increase profits during a recession.

Here are a few tips for what you should do during a recession:

• Pay attention to how consumers and customers are spending
• Don’t cut the marketing budget, increase it instead
• Explore new marketing strategies to target both existing and new customers
• Build upon customer loyalty
• Invest in content marketing
• Stay relevant to your customers
• Consumers will need change so your campaigns will need to evolve

Recessions bring fear and uncertainty to both businesses and consumers. Making knee-jerk business decisions can be harmful in the long run. Remember, a recession is temporary. Take time to analyse how consumers spend, review your current marketing budget and strategy, and as always be open to change.