How to Recover from a Steep Drop in Revenues and Sales
While we try not to dwell in the past, the reality is that a lot of buisnesses experienced a steep drop in their 2010 sales. The year before was one of the worst recessions in the last 50 years, the affects of which lasted well into 2010. Thankfully, we have reason to believe that the economy is on the verge of coming back. Now businesses are asking what their next move should be? The reality is that businesses need to be more aggressive with marketing and smarter with how they spend their marketing budgets.
Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight, told 2000 attendees of the Grainger MRO conference that many businesses experienced a 65% drop in sales in 2009. This is a staggering amount to try and absorb regardless of the size of business, and as a result has severely weakened many businesses.
It is clear that, in 2009, almost all businesses and individuals reduced spending. This means there are less people who have money to buy your products or services. And a large chunk of the middle class had a reduced disposable income.
Businesses that have a good economic strategy are doing more marketing during a recession not less. Companies that reduce marketing efforts, tend to see a decrease in revenues and therefore the collapse of the company financially. Companies which reduce marketing efforts, tend to loose market share and extend the downward spiral of sales. If this continues long enough it leads to their collapse.
It may cost you more to get the same amount of sales but, you must maintain sales. This is unfortunate but, it is result of the recession. It is something all businesses are experiencing. The result of decreasing revenues creates future cash flow problems. The most critical aspect is making sure you do what is needed to keep your revenues up. It means expanding into areas where you can drive more sales, being creative and looking for additional opportunities.
Good business economics means that you need to look at ways to market your company so you are in front of more potential customers. Evaluate your marketing programs. Where you get a good return for the marketing dollar invested, keep doing what works. Look for areas where your payback doesn’t measure up. Shift that money to opportunities, where you get a bigger sales impact for what you’re spending. Try and find marketing methods where you can focus on the individuals most likely to use your goods or services don’t just keep doing it because we’ve always done it this way and don’t follow others like sheep.
One suggestion is to shift part of your efforts into Search Engine Marketing. The fact that someone is seeking out information on similar products to yours changes the person’s status hugely. They are no longer just one among the billions of possible customers on earth. They are a specific candidate for your sale. You no longer have to spend hundreds, thousands or millions of dollars to find this one guy who wants what you have. They self identify out of the crowd as interested in you. They do it by typing in a query to a search engine. They are actively seeking you out. Sending up a rocket saying I want this. The question is did they find you? A Search Engine Optimizing company can make sure they do.
Try and experiment. Go to your favorite search engine. Type in a query about your major product. Who comes up? You or your competitor? Who do you want to be in business after the recession?
The cost of Search Engine Optimization marketing is trivial compared to the more conventional marketing most companies use. By shifting just a fraction of your budget you could have a major impact on your sales.
We are not saying search engine marketing is the only option available but it is without a doubt one of the lowest cost forms of marketing available, and it has the ability to reach the largest number of potential clients of any means of marketing.
Do some research on ‘recession business economics’ you will find that there are advantages to doing more marketing during a recession? If you look at most large companies that have experts advising them, they are increasing spending on marketing during the recession. Many of the largest companies today are successful due to the marketing they did during previous recessions. You will find experts are saying the same thing and recommending their clients increase their marketing to maintain revenues.
You will see some of your competitors who have poor marketing strategies will not be able to maintain revenues. Some might even disappear all together.
This gives you an advantage that you don’t often get. Many businesses see marketing as an easy place to cut expenses. This is like not putting gas in your car and wondering why it doesn’t drive anymore. Reducing marketing is a common but, serious mistake a lot of businesses make. This gives you an opportunity over your competitors, who previously were too strong for you to get ahead of. In most markets there is a finite number of sales out there. Increasing marketing helps to weaken competition, because every additional sale you make, results in a sale lost for your competitor. This is a benefit that the smartest businesses are taking advantage of. As the recession subsides your company will be stronger than your competitors.
Try to ensure you look at different options and decide what the various options are and how to approach them. Be creative and expect to put some of your own or your staffs time and effort into your marketing. I am always amazed at how many businesses are just waiting for things to improve on their own. You have an opportunity at this point to get ahead, grasp the opportunity and move on it.
Chris Genge is the President of 1st on the List Promotion Inc, a website promotion firm that specializes in search engine optimization and pay per click management. Chris writes on current and emerging search engine marketing theories and has been involved in the SEO industry since 1997. He and his team focus on researching and implementing the most effective search engine optimization techniques.
To learn more about how 1st on the List can help you succeed in this post-recession economy you can reach us through our Contact Form or by calling our Sales Department.
Call Toll Free at 1-888-262-6687 (ext. 705). Learn more about our Search Engine Optimization services by visiting our website.
