The coronavirus has changed, well, everything. Businesses have been asked to shut their doors until further notice. Americans are being asked to shelter at home and practice social distancing. It’s a world none of us could have imagined, but here we are. Every business, whether small or large are asking themselves, how do I position myself to bounce back after we get the okay to reopen our doors? And how do I bounce back after being shut down if we find ourselves in the midst of a recession when things open back up? “As businesses struggle to maintain connections with consumers, they need to tread lightly – this is not the time to appear opportunistic or insensitive” writes Janie Pollak, Director, for Integrated Marketing. She draws on her experience to craft some tips for businesses to follow in her recent article: How Advertising During a Recession Can Preserve Your Brand. Below are three highlights:
1. Rediscover the brand.
This could be an opportunity for you to think about your brand’s essence. What is it that makes you different from others? How can your service or product help your customers weather the recession better? What value does your brand bring your customers? Think customer first. A recession could be an opportunity for you to align your brand with your customers’ needs with focused product development. You want your customer to feel you are committed to them.
2. Stay balanced. Be smart.
Henry Ford famously said “A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time.” During a recession, most businesses will have a knee jerk reaction and think they need to pull advertising with customers to save money. We all get that. It’s hard to stay calm and not take a circle the wagons mentality. But brands that continue advertising and marketing during a recession will do best. This will help you protect your market share, your investment. Research has shown that businesses who cut advertising and communication budgets deeply during a recession, may end up paying four to five times as much as the cuts saved to regain share, once the economy turns. Of course, companies need to control spending, but reducing advertising could have costly and long term effects. A better strategy is to focus on your customers needs and go all in to show them you can help them.
3. Don’t overreact
“By leveraging the synergy from the use of multiple media (magazine, digital, TV, podcasts), businesses can yield a favorable advertising impact at reduced expense.” (Source: Leveraging Advertising Expenditures in a Challenging Economic Environment) Experts agree, the worst thing a business can do is go dark. If you have to cut your marketing and advertising budgets, be careful and get creative. Perhaps story telling is the perfect creative change you need. Barbara Corcoran with Shark Tank said: “storytelling is everything. Show me an MBA and your sales numbers, that’s fine. But tell me a great story about how you got started and your vision, and we’ll talk”. Stories inspire action and telling your stories across multiple platforms allows your customers to consume your content when, where and how they want.
Ink Publishing and Design is a magazine publishing company that focuses on creating publications for corporations and businesses of all sizes. We believe in the power of story telling to showcase expertise that consumers remember. We believe in the power of storytelling to ignite dreams in others. We believe in the power of storytelling to ignite passion. We believe the art of storytelling can drive change. We believe magazines are trusted by consumers and are powerful mediums to tell your story. Story telling is not something we do, it is who we are.
To discuss how magazines can be a great addition to your company’s story, email: blair@inkmagazines.com
