A brief scan of advertisements in a business magazine or a visit to any number of websites serving small businesses will likely reveal an unrealistic portrayal of small business owners. Images of small business owners often show them as sharply dressed urban professionals who appear ready for a day in court rather than a day in the life of a small business owner. In January 2010, The Enterprise Council on Small Business decided to ask small business owners themselves what they wear to work every day and discovered that the common portrayal of small business owners couldn’t be more wrong. A total of 91% of business owners report wearing casual or business casual clothing to work each day and only 5% say they wear a suit. Demonstrate that you understand small business owners by more accurately reflecting them in your choice of imagery. In addition to dropping the tie and showing business owners in proper attire, be sure to accurately represent their age. The average age of business owners is 45 to 63, so marketers should avoid images of business owners in their 20s.
Advertising during a recession is one of the best investments a company can make.
In 1929, rival cereal makers Kellogg’s and Post were in a close race for leadership of the breakfast cereal market. When the Great Depression started, Kellogg’s maintained their advertising spending while rival Post cut back. At the end of the Depression, Kellogg’s had achieved a category dominance that they maintain to this day.
In a study of U.S. recessions, McGraw-Hill Research found that business-to-business firms that maintained or increased their advertising expenditures averaged significantly higher sales growth, both during the recession and for years afterward, than firms that eliminated or decreased advertising. Three years after the end of the recession, sales of companies that continued advertising had risen 256% over those that decreased advertising. A Harvard Business Review report of 200 companies found that the largest sales increases coming out of recessions were reported by companies that advertised the most during recessionary years.
Just because your customers are not buying at recent levels does not mean they have stopped buying. Nor have they stopped reading, thinking, or formulating opinions about the companies and brands they buy from and will partner with for the rest of their careers.
Your marketing dollars need to work harder in slow times and there’s nothing more efficient than advertising for reaching a large percentage of your prospects affordably and effectively. In addition, your competition is likely to be less active than usual, making this a good time to steal market share and build preference among prospects you can turn into customers for many years to come. Advertising during a recession:
Remember, advertising in not a cost so much as an investment in future revenue. Consequently, the best reason to advertise in 2009 is to ensure a strong 2010.
Thanks to Josh Gordon, http://jgordon5.typepad.com/sales_traning_blog/
