We can read the reports and studies and endless stats that all tell us the obvious – interactive spend is up, traditional marketing spend is down. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah – we all get that because we’re all doing it. Why? Because we’re the people in the stats! But unfortunately – we’re giving up more than we realize.
Alas, we’re now in the age of extreme measurement. Not that it’s a bad thing, but with our tunnel vision on trackable ROI, we may be losing site of traditional marketing elements that serve as the background to all the measurable stuff we have to do; specifically branding! Tell me - why do organizations think its okay to sacrifice their brand when that thing you worked so hard to build – remember trust & loyalty - is your sales leverage in the first place? Particularly, in this economy where fear and doubt rule, trust and loyalty is a key table stake in making (or breaking) a deal.
So maybe – just maybe – this is the time to – dare I say it - spend more! Now before you roll your eyes and click to another page – survey the landscape. All of your fellow marketers are cutting back. Some are spending just enough to be wasteful and some have taken themselves out of play all together. If this happened in a good economy, you would be all over this opportunity, right? All of your marketing life you’ve wanted to stand out from the crowd and NOW is your chance. Your competitors are now on the sidelines and you can take centerfield. It’s your choice to go for it or be like everybody else and wait.
The fact is your potential customers are still reading the same publications, their still experiencing the same problems and they are still looking for solutions to help solve those problems, particularly for B2B. The deal may be harder to get, but despite resources and budgets being cut – the workload has not waned. In fact, it’s become even more apparent that they need your solution. Whether they buy today or they buy tomorrow – they still need to buy. This is your chance to make yourself known when your competitors have unwittingly left the door wide open for you to take the lead.
The fact is the economy WILL get better. Confidence will rise and companies will start hiring and upping their marketing budgets. And as a result media outlets will raise their prices again. Consequently, companies who made cuts will scramble to get back on top. Don’t wait for the shift to happen. Hustle now and make it happen big for yourself. You can walk through the door of opportunity or let it hit you on the way out. So simply put you have a choice to make. Do you want to be a scrambler or a hustler?
