Have you noticed a decline in the way clients are spending their marketing dollars this year because of the economy? What is your solution for your clients who don't want to spend money for marketing?

Well, even though I'm no super big shot exec or business owner, I've done a fair amount of freelance projects for 'clients' in order to gain experience and the like. I've also had the same general conversation with business owners at various networking events and the like so maybe I can contribute my ten cents (though my opinion is obviously weaker, so maybe my depreciated ten cents is only with a penny to you guys. :) )

At any rate, I just more or less explained the kinds of things all marketers learned early on, that Marketing is an investment. It may not show immediate results, but managing that 'investment' will in the long-run strengthen their firm.

If I am actually meeting with someone, I sit down and actually, in a way provide a 10 minute "Brand Equity 101" lecture to them, explaining what it is, what it is comprised of, and how it helps their firm. (They usually are impressed with the "increase of x percent of BE and the estimated y percent increase in profits")

Then, I explain that whatever service/program that I am offering/they need will achieve that end.

In essence, with smaller business owners (the vast majority of the people I've worked with) are merely not "in the know" or see Marketing as just advertising. So, 'educating' them is the best approach I've found.

But, then again- that's just me and what I have learned and done through my (admittedly limited) experience.

Here's a similar question, and a great way to make things "click" with a client...

Is a "down" market the good or bad time to invest?

It's the good time, right? Because you are buying stock at a value, when chances are very good that, over time, a general rebound will set you up with a really nice return.

When a client fears spending a buck on marketing, it's because they are (as Matthew says above) looking only at the "advertising" dollar spent and not at the projected gains in Brand Equity and profit after cost per target response. But in the stock market comparison, there is one more thing that should LEAP out and make your client hunger to invest all he can in a strong marketing campaign...

Market Share.

In a down economy, many biz owners pull in the guns and just coast on the customer base they already have. May not sink your ship, but it sure won't grow your crew. Meanwhile, your client can invest in reaching out, making appeals and offers, testing brokered lists or value-added promotions, etc. This is "Scientific Advertising," not just flinging money at billboards and magazines, hoping something will stick. That's the power of data-driven marketing.

The company that invests NOW gains market share at a value, and on the rebound side of this slump... stands out above his competitors who reeled it in, just to ride it out.

Like Matthew, when I have this conversation with a client or prospect, it usually doesn't just sway them to invest with me--it actually calms their broader concerns and puts a good zoom back in their entrepreneurial backbone. And boy, do they appreciate that.

Them's my two cents for today.

KG

P.S. Of course, going deep-sea fishing in a storm does carry a certain amount of risk. That's why I typically only preach this at those who I know aren't afraid of that.

Great comments from Matthew and Ken. Thanks so much for giving your "two cents." Great input.

I agree. It's important to educate the client about the value of marketing. The way the economy is on the downside, it is going to require creativity with our clients, sitting down with them to explain to them just how important marketing is to their business.

Any one else care to comment?

I agree to the point. It is about getting back to defining the company's existence (Vision and Mission). It is also a time to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the firm, and aligning the operation to them.

Marketing is about facilitating their exchange of products (goods and services) between the firm and the customer. The context is much broader than advertising and there are a lot of methods to do this. This takes at least a semester to learn and years to execute in certain industries.

In order to conserve the cash to get that working capital, only way to effectively conserve them is by aligning the operation to the purpose of company's existence(vision/mission). That is only way to down size properly. Otherwise, all that capacity planning and materials would become an excess.

But, when the market recovers, I think many US firms will be short with capacity(6 million people! Ouch! talking about that opportunity cost!!). I think it is worth considering to keep employees by implementing "work sharing policy" instead of just laying people off.

Have I noticed? They're really concerned and cutting back on everything...marketing seems to be the first place they cut.

One argument I have used semi-successfully: remind them that their competitors are doing the same thing...and that a well-thought out and very focused campaign might enable them to steal market share while others are hiding in their closets. It's actually true in many industries.

Dick Barnes