Marketing lead generation may be the last thing on the minds of business owners during a market slowdown as funding for lead generation services is not there. Along with customer service and quality assurance departments, marketing can be one of the first things to go from the budget. However, this is a risky move. Marketing is an investment to get clients. Without it, businesses will find themselves declining as the downturn ends and the market begins to lift again. By that time, a company’s lead generation will have fallen dangerously behind the competition, and businesses will struggle to resecure clients. Contrastingly, this means that during an economic slowdown, more competitive marketing-oriented companies can easily steal the business of other companies.
Surprisingly, history shows that maintaining, or even increasing, a marketing lead generation budget in a downturned economy can be the best investment a company ever makes to get clients. A 1982 study performed by Dr. Valerie Kijewski, in the wake of the early 80s recession, found that when firms spent aggressively on advertising and marketing during a recessionary period, they outperformed firms that cut spending by a margin close to 250%. Similarly, a McGraw-Hill study reviewed the performance of firms between 1980-1985. It found that firms that cut advertising during the recession increased sales by only 19% in the post-recession period, while firms that upped spending increased sales by 275%.
In order to prudently benefit from marketing initiatives during a downturned economy,companies must be mindful of some conditions. There need to already be marketing efforts in place prior to the recession, and a company also needs to make sure they can afford the extra marketing lead generation in order to get clients.
So what exactly should you do to stay ahead when money is tight?
First, spend time evaluating every area of your business, developing new leads to get clients, and building partnerships and customer relationships. All this is a better investment than keeping your money under the mattress when times are tough.
As far as marketing lead generation, you have a lot of options at your disposal, so choose lower-cost, more efficient marketing methods with online lead generation. Virtually every traditional marketing method has a corresponding online lead generation method:
- Direct Mail -> Email Campaign
- Telemarketing -> Online Advertising
- Yellow Page Directories -> Search Engine Optimization
- Live Conferences -> Web Seminars and White Papers
- Public Relations -> Blogs
- Printed Brochures -> Web sites
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Final Words
Online lead generation is faster, cheaper, and more efficient than the old methods, and thus is particularly well-suited to the dilemma of a recession.
All this research demonstrates how increasing market presence and marketing lead generation during slow periods can keep you on top when the market eventually picks up.
The effect of marketing efforts during a recession can compound at a time when other companies are cutting back, thus an opportunity arises ensuring your company has a real head start in a strengthening economy.
