The Recessionary Marketing Myth

“If you do some marketing now you’ll be in a better place when the recession ends.”

I’ve heard this a lot recently – I’m sure you will have done too – and it’s troubling me. Please be very wary of this phrase, particularly if it comes from someone who’s trying to sell you advertising, sales or marketing advice, or anything else ‘results’-related.

Why does the phrase trouble me? For two reasons:


1, It sets the expectation in your mind that whatever you do now you won’t see any benefit from for months (if not years). It pats on the back the bit of you that wants self praise for actually doing something, but ignores the bit of you that’s thinking ‘I need a result’. And if you accept it as a truth you’re diminishing your ability to make fundamentally sound judgements on your business’ marketing – and that’s going to cost you.


2, Anyone who’s trying to sell you something by using this is not a good marketer and/or they’re assuming you’re not. They’re assuming you’re daft enough to spend money now and not want a return for months (or years). Using this line conveniently hides poor results which is likely what you’re about to get.


Of course if you’re working on properly organised marketing now then you will be in a better place when the recession ends, but only because you’re ensuring you get the returns now whilst it’s in town.

Happy Marketing.

A Different Perspective on Your Clients' Attention

Imagine that the people you wanted to present to; the buyers, decision makers or budget holders that you want to be in front of to make sales, sold you their time. So rather than making appointments in the ways that you currently do – through whichever sales & marketing approaches you’re currently using – you just had to book and pay for their undivided attention whenever you wanted it. Kind of like an ‘Attention Credit’.

You’d have to think about whose time you wanted to buy the most and at which price points, so you’d pick your target audience very accurately to suit your proposition and your likely lifetime profitability. You certainly wouldn’t go and make dozens of poorly researched appointments or pay over the top to sit in front of people who wouldn’t be interested in what you do.

These Attention Credits would not be cheap to buy either, so you’d be forced to think about how well you’re going to communicate when you get there. Why would you pay for an hour and a half’s worth of blabber when you could communicate everything so much better in 45 minutes?

If buyers sold you Attention Credits it would pay you to properly target your marketing, to research your clients properly before you met them, to communicate in the most effective manner possible, and to continually test and measure what you’re doing. You’d create an outstanding process to ensure you were getting the very best return on your investment.

Not so different to what’s happening in the real world then. Shame that we just don’t feel the pain of the marketing cost & the poor communication in the same immediate way that we do the pain of a ticking meter.

It's Snow Excuse Not to be Selling

Is it deep and crisp and even where you are?

Snow has covered much of the UK overnight and more is forecast. Of course this causes major disruption to all our normal activities but it does provide big sales and marketing opportunities (not least, of course, if you’re stocking shovels). If it hasn’t affected you where you are it may well be that it’s affected some of your customers.

Many people who are usually in a busy office may be at home today and will have only their inbox and their mobile to keep them company (apart from perhaps overly-excitable, off-school children). No colleagues by the water machine or office politics issues to take their attention. Even in full offices today, normal business won’t happen in quite the same way. Customers will be away, deliveries and meetings won’t take place, and there will be a very different atmosphere.

So take advantage. What can you do to keep in touch with your customers today? What can you do to help them? Could today be the day when you just call the people you need to keep in touch with but never seem to get round to doing? Could you review your marketing plan or your sales pipeline? Could you send a relevant, personal email to people? Could you write that direct mail letter you’ve not got round to? Could you do a sales plan that helps you with your major objections? These are the days when you can gain a real advantage over lazier competitors.

The other big advantage you have is that people remember the conversations they had and the things they did on days like this. So if your customers have snow – even if you don’t – they are far more likely to remember whatever you do today.

Take advantage.

Then go tobogganing in your lunch hour.