8 REASONS TO ADVERTISE IN TOUGH TIMES

Published On: July 13th, 2020

You may have read that you shouldn’t pull back on your advertising when the market is soft and sales are slow. But let’s be honest: when cash is tight, that’s the first thing you might do. But while pulling back on advertising produces a short-term gain for cash flow, it can easily create a long-term problem for your brand and the life of your business.

Why keep advertising during tough times?

Here are 8 easy good reasons to keep your campaigns going.

Because you’re open for business. Simply put, if you’re open for business, you need to be seen i.e. Market your business. If you stop advertising, customers can easily forget about you and even assume you’re no longer around. If you’re not visible in print or online, you may not even be considered as a choice when your customers are buying.

Because tough times = Good opportunities. In a tough economy, some of your competitors will likely pull back on their advertising/marketing or downsize, or even seize to trade anymore. When the pie gets smaller, your slice will become comparatively bigger, and your odds of securing new customers much greater. Did a competitor’s closure from the market leave an attractive client needing your services?

Because repetition works best. Consumers don’t fully recall brands until they’ve seen them several times either in print, online, social media or on the telly. Without realizing it, people tend to drift over ads that are less familiar and linger on ads they recognize—so don’t advertise once or twice and expect to see direct results. Even unsightly and irritating ads, jingles get locked into peoples’ brains if they’re repeated over and over again, and the recall they produce converts into sales down the line. Start the funnel now, so that even if your customers aren’t buying today, you’ll be in their minds for when they are.

Because confidence is key. Advertising in particularly in a well-known local publication, indicates confidence in your business. Your visibility in the marketplace lends credibility to your brand and makes people feel secure about doing business with you. Customers want to do business with trusted local businesses.

Because you’re good at what you do. Consumers tend to research their purchases more during tough times. They’ll pay more attention to print advertising and take the time to read the small print. Don’t be left out of consideration make more of an effort to let the public know you’re a safe bet.

Because tough times make tough customers. The economy may be tough at the moment, but until the outlook is more posative, many consumers will pull back on their wants and focus more on their needs. Can you convince your target audience that your particular product or services are something they really need? Look at your messaging and see if you can eplain all the vital benefits of your business. Can you offer long-term benefits or short-term gain? Either of these will make a point for buying now. And even in this awkward time, people still use services and products. Can you gain from this?

Because customers love to jump on a great deal. If you’ve steered away from offering discounts and sales incentives in the past, this may be a good time to test the waters on this tactic. The added urgency of these deals creates a quick blast of excitement for your business. Will this tactic destroy your brand value? As long as your brand/business is strong, there’s a very good chance that your customers won’t question your quality services because you’re offering a one off discount; instead they’ll feel good that they’re getting a “deal” on something they need.

Because you have lots of advertising choices. If cash flow is a problem, you may need to be more creative and take advantage of the growing multitude of advertising choices such as local magazines to keep your business visible. If you need to pull back on expensive media, replace it with less-expensive alternatives. You might find that moving outside your normal marketing media that this may present new opportunities and attracts new audiences. Print advertising, email marketing, e-commerce websites and digital marketing tactics are ways tried and tested ways to keep advertising your business… and keep your business moving forward.

Contact us at Direct Local Bristol for all your print and digital marketing needs and keep it all in one place!
www.directlocalbristol.co.uk
www.directlocalwebsites.co.uk
Tel: 0117 325 8029
Tel: 0750 001 7236