A Bigger Piece of a Smaller Pie

“We’re cutting the ad budget.”

I wish we had a quarter, (a nickel won’t cut it now due to inflation) for every time we’ve heard ‘cutting the budget’ over the last 20 years. Whenever there is a down business cycle, like the ugly one we’re in right now, it is always most tempting to sacrifice advertising dollars before anything else. But is that really the best strategy?

The most successful business owners and marketing directors we’ve worked with over the years, have had a somewhat contrarian approach; when the market is down, they buy. When you think about it, it’s a very effective strategy for picking up share.  In a down economy, the pie has just gotten smaller, that’s all.  Customers are still out there.  They still need your service, but there’s just fewer of them.

However, it’s more important than ever, when they are ready to buy, you are the one they think of. Now here is the secret; the herd cuts their budget.  But savvy opportunists take advantage of these cutbacks by becoming more visible in the media and picking up share during the down time.  This not only strengthens their business now, but will help them grow faster when the economy takes off again. The other secret is to have the right people negotiating and buying your budget.

If you have these two things right, you can get a bigger piece of the pie.

photo credit: Alan Cleaver via photo pin cc