The Value of Marketing During the Cost-of-Living Crisis

The cost-of-living crisis seems to have been around for a long time, causing us all to feel the pinch, but this austerity isn’t just reserved for our personal lives, many SMEs and independents are falling by the wayside as others look for ways to protect their value. So, what to do about your marketing during leaner times. There are typically two directions people will choose to take, and both come with a large element of risk – but what if there was a third option?  

Reduce your marketing spend to save money

When we see our business costs increasing and our bottom-line descending, the natural reaction is to tighten belts – but how is this practice going to safeguard your business for years to come? It is commonly considered a race to the bottom, and it takes a strong CEO to stay true to their business model and implement strategies to increase revenue, instead of knee-jerk reactions like suspending or cancelling your digital content marketing agency. 

Navigating your business during this cost-of-living crisis is no different to what has gone before, during the recessions of 1974 and 1981. Companies that continued marketing, experienced greater growth and came out the other end in a much stronger position than competitors who reduced their advertising spend. 

‘In the recessions of 1981-82 and 1974-75, companies that continued to invest in advertising saw more growth than their competitors that shrunk or eliminated their budgets – and in 1981-82, that growth was a staggering 256%. In the 2008 recession, many businesses debated whether to trust the economy, and advertising expenditure dropped by 13%. Yet statistics showed 3.5 times more brand visibility for companies and organisations that maintained their marketing output.’ – Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales 

Increase your marketing spend to boost sales

The saying ‘speculate to accumulate’ has its origins in the mid-20^th century, and it refers to the need to invest to aid business growth with an element of risk. Companies that survived through the recessions of 1974 and 1981 are testament to this method, as they left many of their risk-averse competitors behind and powered through to new heights.  

Times of financial hardship bring fresh concerns for consumers, motivating them to shop around, which can offer your business the opportunity to gain many new customers – as long as they can find you! 

Switch marketing agencies

We have all been on the receiving end of a pitch from a digital content marketing agency that is full of creativity, ideas and an enthusiasm to provide results, delivered with the eagerness of an excitable puppy with a toy, and we buy into it. However, much like the puppy finding a new toy, the agency will move on to new and exciting customers within a couple of years and we will just be that old toy at the bottom of the basket. Our once great sales trajectory will plateau and stagnate, quarter after quarter, year after year.  

Communication will become less and marketing reports few and far between, our account manager will have moved on and we will be left in the dark as to who is actually implementing our marketing strategies. We have become just another number to the agency that once dazzled us to win our business – and we can’t afford to let that happen during a cost-of-living crisis.  

So, what do you do? Stick with your current digital content marketing agency that has long forgotten you, perhaps even further lining their pockets in the vain hope of reigniting their spark and invigorating your ROI? or shop around for a new agency to partner with – a hungrier, fresher collective of marketing experts and content creators that will value your business the way they value theirs.  

Your Options 

Much like a game of cards, your options are to stick, raise or twist. If you stick, you stay where you are, if you raise then you risk further losses and if you twist, you step into the unknown.

Perhaps it is time to think like the casino and stack the odds in your favour by educating yourself on the possibilities of the twist.

In this situation, we believe you should always twist, but what choice would you make? 

• Reduce your marketing budget -You could tighten your belt to improve your bottom-line for the time being, but where will that leave you when costs go up again and you keep losing potential customers to your competitors? 
• Throw money at the problem – your current digital content marketing agency may not have generated any improvements to your visibility in a long while, so why offer them more money? If they are not fulfilling their promises on the agreement in place, then why would you trust them not to become complacent a few months further down the line – just at a higher cost to you? 

Make changes – we believe the way forward for businesses in times of financial insecurity is to ensure you align yourselves with a reputable marketing agency that understands your business ethos and goals, and sees itself, not as an outsourcing company, but as your marketing department. Don’t just listen to us though, hear what all our happy customers have to say, or view our porfolio.