Will your company be a big winner in 2011? Chances are you are close to finishing your company budget for next year. Are you investing in marketing? Does your marketing budget reflect a company that wants to eat its competitors’ lunch, or have you plugged in that bare minimum number to say you are spending on marketing?
The timing may be right for aggressive business and marketing moves. After collapsing a couple years ago, business lending has stabilized. You likely have a much better footing now with your credit partner than you did a year ago today. Similarly, consumers and other businesses you may be looking to sell your products or services to also have more confidence in their future, at least likely more than they did a year ago (and yes, this is the new normal). In essence, the dust of the Great Recession has settled and has created a guarded consumer optimism. With this improved climate, the timing to ramp up your investment in marketing is here.
If the blood of your company is still pumping, there is a very good chance that the recession, followed by a slow recovery, has weakened your competitors and their ability to wage an effective marketing program of their own. Business is about seeing opportunities and leveraging them. Making a big investment now can help you further weaken the competition and grow market share. If you are the only one talking, or at least the one talking the loudest, that will increase your chances for growth. Drowning out a weak competitor with ramped-up advertising can increase your book of business, and even give you some elbow room in your industry with less competitors.
When planning your marketing budget, try not to start with a budget number and figure out what you can do with it. Certainly, you may end up doing that, but it is a good exercise to start by determining your goals, audiences, key messages and how to best reach your market. Employing assistance in this area from a marketing professional can help you leverage your resources in the best ways and also help your advertising stand out in a cluttered market place.
The crawl out of the recession is taking longer than we would like. But it is getting better for many of us. The timing may be perfect for you to double down on your marketing.
Josh Sommers is president and CEO of Focus Media, a leading Hudson Valley advertising and public relations agency. He can be reached at josh@advertisingandpr.com or 294-3342, ext. 303. Read his blog at www.advertisingandpr.com. His column appears Fridays.
