Getting Ready for the Recovery
“A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time.” – Henry Ford
According to some of the latest economic figures, we are in the beginning stages of economic recovery. I’m sure this is a relief to all of us even if unemployment figures are still way too high. Employment always lags behind in a recovery.
It may be a slow road back, but at least we are moving in a positive direction. Sadly some businesses have not been able to survive the downturn, but those that have will have an unprecedented opportunity for growth in the coming years.
What does all this mean to your business?
You have to plan for the future now. If you are in the business of selling real estate as an investor, builder or Realtor®, or if you sell cars, trucks, boats or any number of large items, your competition has become more national in scope over the past few years. If you are any other business – one in which products or services that can be shipped, your competition has become more national… or even international and is about to become more so.
A few years ago, it was possible for a small, local business to have a Yellow Pages ad, maybe an ad in the local newspaper or on local radio and exist in an isolated geographical environment. These days are gone.
This is an uncomfortable truth, but it must be said. Nobody uses the Yellow Pages anymore, local newspapers are dead even if they don’t know it yet. Local radio still performs a useful service, but their power is diminishing in most places.
During the Great Depression in the 1930′s, some businesses thrived, mostly through direct marketing, often making use of the new technology of the time… radio.
Some of them grew to be household names. For example, Allstate insurance was founded at the height of the Depression and built a huge business providing people with direct access to affordable insurance.
Today’s technologies for tomorrow’s champions
Making use of the newest direct marketing technologies will produce many winners in today’s business climate. Those that don’t learn to use these new strategies will lag behind and eventually wither and die.
What new technologies are we talking about?
Things change at a much faster pace now than they did in 1933. Radio and newspapers held sway for many years. New technologies will most likely have a shorter lifespan. But the technologies themselves are relatively unimportant. You use them while they work, then discard them in favor of newer ones.
But all technologies, new and old, have the same underlying root of success – direct marketing.
From an online marketing standpoint, whether you are using email, social networking, video or some combination of the three, you stand to gain from a plan or strategy of consistency.
Boom economic times have one perverse feature – they camouflage the weak. During market booms, marginal businesses and business models produce enough output to justify their existence.
But when times are tough, their weaknesses are exposed and they are often the first to fail.
As the recovery progresses, new businesses will be formed that will replace the one’s that have disappeared. Often these new businesses are more in tune with the times and use the latest technologies to attract customers cheaply.
These new businesses are your future competition and you’d better prepare for them now.
So let’s run down a small checklist to see how your business in competing on the playing fields of tomorrow:
Do you have a system for collecting your customers email addresses and a way of sending them information about your business, notifying them of sales and special events, etc.? Do you have am email system in place that allows you to send them individual, personalized emails? If you’re sending from Outlook, you’re missing the boat and your email might not even get delivered. With a properly setup email marketing program, you can stimulate business any time you want. The Direct Marketing Association says an email marketing campaign will bring in $46.32 for EACH $1 spent!
Do you have a Facebook account for yourself and a Facebook Fan page for your business? Many businesses that have cultivated a following on Facebook have found that they can stimulate business with a status update to their personal or Fan page. Over 320 million people have Facebook accounts, more than one for every man, woman and child in the U.S. in 2008. Can you afford to ignore them? Sign up for Facebook here and join us as a friend or follow us as a fan.
Do you have a Twitter account? Twitter introduced the concept of micro-blogging (messages of up to 140 characters) and had grown to over 7 million members in February 2009. It has grown astronomically since. A lot of “Tweets” (as Twitter messages are called) are pointless drivel, but small and large businesses alike have learned to use Twitter to deliver customer service, inform customers of daily menus, sales, events or specials and a million other uses. Follow us on Twitter and we’ll follow you back automatically.
Do you have a LinkedIn account? Having an account on LinkedIn is especially important for those in white collar and new media businesses, but almost anyone can benefit from the networking. On LinkedIn, you make contact with (aptly named) “Connections” within and outside your industry. Building quality Connections has resulted in making business deals and employers connecting with new employees. Connect with me on LinkedIn.
Now is the time to put your “new tech” marketing strategy into place. Once the recovery build some steam, things will happen very quickly. You’ll either be driving the in the lead or eating other’s dust… your choice.
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