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Save Now, Pay Later
Why you shouldn’t stop advertising |
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Written by Michelle Brisebois
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If you cut your advertising budget now, the next time your customers pick up the phone to order flowers, you might not be the first florist that comes to mind.
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If you’ve been thinking about cutting your advertising budget, think again. While it may seem like an easy target when times are tight, there is evidence to suggest holding the course may be the best strategy. Life continues to go on and consumer needs must still be met – even during a recession. Families need to eat; children returning to schools need clothes and supplies; and people still want to celebrate life’s events with floral designs.
Those businesses that slash their promotions, only to sit and wait until the economy picks up, will find that they are a out on tremendous opportunities. Advertising is like a large jet – it takes less energy to keep it up in the air than it does to continually land and take off. Instead of disappearing altogether, you need to focus on choosing the most effective advertising venues.
Research shows that advertising in uncertain economic climates will pay off in the end. McGraw-Hill Research analyzed 600 companies in 16 different industries during recessionary periods. The results showed businesses that maintained or increased their advertising expenditures during a recession averaged significantly higher sales growth, both during the recession and for the following three years, more so than those that eliminated or decreased advertising. Aggressive recession advertisers saw sales rise 256 per cent over those that didn’t keep up with their advertising. “The first reaction is to cut, cut, cut, and advertising is one of the first things to go,” says Peter Fader, marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, adding that as companies slash advertising in a downturn, they leave empty space in consumers’ minds for persistent marketers to make strong inroads. Today’s economy “provides an unusual opportunity to differentiate yourself and stand out from the crowd.” Perhaps the real question at hand remains, is there a way to have the best of both worlds? Is it possible to cut advertising spending yet do more?
For Brian Vogt of BB Blooms in St. Catharines, Ont., the answer is yes. “We have cut back on our advertising since the recession hit yet we’ve also started to rely more heavily on those activities we feel are truly hitting the mark.” For BB Blooms that has meant looking at key sectors and then proceeding to find the most targeted and cost-efficient means of targeting that sector. “We know a big piece of our business is weddings,” confirms Vogt. “We have continued with print but in local bridal publications or wedding-focused newspaper supplements. We also continue to create arrangements for corporate events such as the recent Cuvée Wine Gala. Even though the signage doesn’t indicate that BB Blooms created the arrangements, those wineries pouring at the event and attending talk amongst themselves know who we are. When they need arrangements for other events, we’re top of mind.”
Lisa Lautenbach of The Watering Can, located in Ontario’s Niagara Region, also looks to the flowers themselves to be a key part of the advertising mix. “We find that our arrangements are the best form of advertising,” says Lautenbach. “When people receive an arrangement or see one on display – they often seek us out because it appealed to them. The flowers are our best ads.”
The Watering Can also leverages print advertising for specific targeted messages. “We have a series of workshops running all of the time so those are advertised in the local paper. The workshops have been a great form of outreach because participants tell others and bring friends. Co-workers are coming together as a team building exercise. We’ve had people bring elderly parents for mental stimulation. The smiles on their faces at the end of the session make us love what we do even more.”
One form of print advertising still in the mix remains the good old Yellow Pages listing. While being in the Yellow Pages may seem a given, the jury’s out as to whether or not an ad is required in addition to the listing. “We don’t have an ad in the Yellow Pages,” confirms Lautenbach. “We feel that most people are using the Internet to search for business listings anyway.” The statistics support her belief. As reported in the Toronto Star in April 2007: “The conventional wisdom is that traditional newspapers are a dying business, a victim principally of the Internet. And it’s true that readers have migrated to websites, and that the likes of Craigslist.com and Monster.com have skimmed off as much as one-third of the average big-city daily’s classified ads and career ads, respectively. In the United States, newspaper circulation peaked more than two decades ago, at 63 million, and now stands at 53 million. The number of U.S. dailies has dropped from that peak year of 1984 from about 1,600 titles to some 1,450 papers.” The numbers have been dwindling in Canada as well and have only gotten worse with the recent economic challenges facing the world. So if “e-advertising” is the wave of the future – how do we ride it?
Both The Watering Can and BB Blooms are in the midst of revamping and relaunching their websites. The Watering Can will also have online ordering capabilities right on the website, a section for promoting their workshops and an electronic newsletter. “Everything’s integrated with our POS system,” confirms Lautenbach. “We can capture the e-mail addresses as we’re processing orders. Obviously, it’s much more effective to target our marketing efforts to people who’ve indicated a desire to receive our messages.” One big advantage e-marketing tactics have over traditional advertising efforts is measurability. Google offers a service called Google Analytics, which is free. This service will allow you to see at a glance how many visitors you’re getting to your website, where they’re coming from and what key search terms they’re using to find you. It’s the closest thing you’ll get to a real peek inside your consumer’s brain. There are many talented freelance webmasters out there who can help you get set up on Google Analytics. There’s also a tutorial right on the site to show you how to do it yourself and an interactive forum for you to post questions if you run into problems. You can find these tools at www.google.com/analytics/ .
When budgets get tight, a trim of the advertising budget seems like an easy way to cut costs. Be careful here because a cut in spending may leave your customers wondering where you went. It’s all about fishing where the fish are and, most importantly, being clear in your own mind as to what kind of fish it is you’re after!
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