Maximizing Your Marketing Resources
Quite often changes in the economy or fluctuations in a particular market can cause companies to scale back on their marketing efforts, while at the same time, there is increasing pressure on their sales and marketing teams to perform. In times like these, it may seem like fewer resources and greater results just do not go hand in hand.
It is true that you should resist the temptation to slash budgets during a slow economy. Studies show in past recessions, companies who continued to aggressively market themselves realized an average sales growth of 275 percent over the next five years, versus a 19 percent growth rate of those who significantly cut marketing expenses. Still, using these tight times to gain efficiencies and cut the waste can help you weather the current situation and set yourself up for greater successes when the economy improves.
Follow these three key steps for maximizing your marketing resources:
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Have a strategy. A Marketing Plan establishes a solid foundation for your sales and marketing planning and helps maximize your resources. It validates your target market and competition, summarizes your sales and marketing plans so they are easy to share with staff and executives, and ensures your resources and budget are appropriate for your planned marketing activities. Once you've established this structure, all other sales and marketing efforts, whether they are strategic or tactical, become much more efficient and effective.
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Build lean teams with multi-faceted skill sets. Recruit and hire individuals with skill sets that cover a broad range of experience, rather than a small niche of expertise. Individuals who have the know-how (and initiative) to jump in and help out in a variety of roles within the marketing department will serve you well when resources are in short supply—either due to cutbacks or a hot economy.
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Leverage promotional offerings through a marketing mix. Rather than implementing "one-off" promotional campaigns, leverage each activity and vehicle against each other to achieve maximum impact. It is easy to integrate a similar campaign into your direct mail, advertising, web, and other activities to create a more noticeable impression. Read Three Elements EVERY Marketing Mix Should Have.
Remember, as a marketing professional—regardless of the economy or the market for your product or service—your job is to deliver results. These results, possibly more than any other, directly and significantly impact your organization's bottom line. For the highest payoff, focus on strategy and efficient use of resources and you'll weather any storm.
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The Sales and Marketing Toolkits BUNDLED contains:
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Over 60 sales and marketing templates (DOC, XLS, PPT, and PDFs)
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Loads of "how-to" articles and examples
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8 Training sessions (MP3 audio files) for your computer or iPod
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