This is a comment I hear a lot, all over Australia, from businesses in every kind of industry imaginable. So why should you spend time and money marketing your business when you are already so busy you can barely cope?
Well there are a few answers to this question and I will endeavour to convince you of the importance of marketing all the time, in this article.
Consumers have so much choice now they are being constantly lured away
We live in a world of choice. Never before have there been so many ways for us to spend out money. As consumers we are easily distracted and lured to new businesses, making bigger and bolder offers that are more in line with what we want, or those that simply seem more appealing and fresh. We have to keep reinventing ourselves and putting our company name up in lights to ensure that we don’t wake up one day and find that all of our customers have deserted us for the bright lights of our competitors.
Our competitors are getting smarter and more actives.
There are some very smart, incredibly creative entrepreneurs starting business every minute of the day. They know they are entering highly competitive markets but that doesn’t deter them. Why not? Because they know that if they do it better than the rest and they connect with their targeted customers more effectively, they will win the business and make a lot of money. How do they communicate all of this – with marketing?
We need to do different marketing at different times.
If times are quiet we need to market you get the phone ringing. If we are busy but we want to increase the amount that people are spending we may need to market to our existing customers to tell them more about what we can do for them in an attempt to get them to spend more. Marketing is simply a form of communication and it needs to be varied depending on the message we are sending.
The marketing we do today pays for itself tomorrow.
This is an old saying in the marketing business and it is very true. I look at marketing as the best investment I can make. It has a much greater pay of than shares, property and certainly gambling at the casino! For every dollar I spend on marketing I can get a return of three to four dollars. Now that is an excellent investment in my mind. Market well today and your business will benefit tomorrow.
Out of site out of mind.
Never before has there been so much change in such a short period of time. Everything changes all of the time. For some people this change is challenging, for others it is fantastic. The reality is that with this rate of change, customers expect business owners to keep up and change with the times. If your business hides away in the background, slowly you will be forgotten. We must be constantly energising our business, reinventing ourselves, raising our profile and communicating powerfully with both our existing customers and our potential customers.
Whilst we are experiencing boom times I strongly suggest that any business owner reading this article think long and hard about their marketing. There is never the same urgency in the good times as there is in the bad times, but in my opinion the need is just as significant.
If your business is doing really well, spend the money to make it even stronger. Is it time to come up with a new brand and logo? Do you need some new brochures that are more current and professional? Is your signage a little faded? Maybe you should plan for a refit of your premises? Or perhaps that website finally gets an overhaul?
It is much better to be doing these things when you can afford them and when there isn’t an urgency to get the phone ringing. So when you think marketing, think today. It will be the best investment in the future of your business you can possibly make.
Hi Andrew
I’ve spent much recent time pondering the cost of marketing. A reframe to the cost of not marketing is what worked for me and motivated me to contact a marketer.
I have started to do things that I have never done before – previously the embarrassment factor has held me back. I now never go for coffee without leaving one of my business cards on the table. As you may remember, my business cards beg playing with, so they are a groovy and affordable marketing tool for the Talk Doctors at Imaginif.
Blogging is also a wonderfully cost effective marketing tool. I am sitting at number 9 Aussie Woman blogger and Number 34 Australian blogger. Not bad – a proud achievement for child protection.
I look forward to the day that other Aussies catch onto the corporate and social benefits of blogging.
Corporate social responsibility also has a degree of marketing leverage and I long to see other businesses consider their csr as an essential component of their marketing plans – if you and I did not consider it so important, we may not have met.
Was great yarning with you at Tatts and Tiaras Andrew – see you at The Edge for coffee and further talks sometime in the near future.
Thanks for your comments Megan and I agree totally. Also congrats on your incredible success with your blogging. Have a great day, see you sometime soon,
AG
Heya Im having problems looking for cheap affordable business cards. Any advice on a good website to buy a bunch ?