Making the most of a promotional budget

Businesses often complain that banks are fair-weather friends who will only lend you an umbrella when the sun is shining.

And yet, when it comes to lending to themselves, the same businesses often reveal themselves as fair-weather advertisers, happy to spend on publicity when times are good, yet making their promotional budget the first ‘economy’ when times are hard.

Some might say that’s a little hypocritical, if not short-sighted. Of course, as the crunch bites hard, the temptation to draw in one’s horns is understandable, but as a moment’s reflection will show, the key to survival is a more, rather than less, aggressive marketing stance.

Even in the short term there are benefits in maintaining, if not actually increasing, your promotional budget. The first is that, if others withdraw, your market presence will become more prominent and the competition is lessened, giving you ‘more bang for your bucks’ as our American friends would put it.

Another is that you’ll be well placed to negotiate better deals with the media, getting you wider or more frequent coverage for less.

Looking to the longer term, it’s important to see publicity not as especially in building long term relationships with customers.

Consider it this way: Who would you rather have as a friend – someone who you only saw when they wanted to touch you for a loan, or someone who cultivates your company on every occasion?

Now think of it in terms of your customers. Who would they rather buy from: A one-off cut price merchant they’ve never heard of, or an established and trusted supplier who maintains a regular and reassuring presence in their local newspaper or trade magazine?

The answer is obvious, as is the fact that earning that trust takes an ongoing investment in time and money.

“By far the best advice to nervous businesses is to consult a full service agency.”

Having said that, a downturn is a good time to look long and hard at how you’re spending your advertising budget. As has been famously said by John Wanamaker, the pioneering US retailer: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

The question, in other words, is not whether or not you should be engaging in promotional activity (you can’t afford not to!) but how and where you should spend to make your promotional budget work the most effectively. Note that I say ‘promotion’ rather than just advertising.

Advertising, public relations, direct response and web based advertising are all key elements in the promotional mix, and some will be of more relevance to some businesses than others.

Getting the mix right is crucial, and despite John Wanamaker’s reservations (which he made more than a century ago), it’s nowhere near as hit and miss as it used to be, especially with the sophisticated targeting and tracking facilities now available to advertisers.

By far the best advice to nervous businesses is to consult a full service agency. Specialists have a habit of recommending their speciality, which may or may not be appropriate to your needs.

A multi-disciplinary firm will have no vested interest in pushing you in a particular direction and can offer unbiased advice on the right marketing approach – or combination of approaches – for you.

Rick Taylor, Managing Director
Royston Simpson Creative