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Yes, You Can Recession-Proof Your Business!
Of course, it requires a level of discipline and
commitment to marketing that is likely a few notches
higher than it is today.
Marketing is, essentially, a mind game played by the
conscious mind, trying to reach the subconscious
mind, to affect human behavior. Madison Avenue knows
this. Edward Bernays taught the ad world, the CIA
and US presidents, how to influence opinions
(control minds). Some marketers, very few actually,
know how this game is really played, and they play
it very well. If you think about it, you are trying
to hypnotize your customers and prospects to make
automatic or easy decisions, to give you their money
in exchange for a set of perceived benefits. If you
disagree, it may be time for a career change.
With that said, can smart marketing really protect
your business from the pending recession that seems
to be at our doorstep? Can you achieve growth
through smarter marketing in a tough economy? Now is
the perfect time to examine where every marketing
dollar is invested.
Whether you call it a slowdown in growth or the
onset of a recession, you must revisit your
marketing game plan to ensure success. The fact is
that consumers and businesses are tightening their
belts, and you are going to have to work harder to
fight for their expendable income.
There are no magic marketing pills to cure what ails
your company or to protect you in a recession. Good
products and services, delivered as promised – and
smart marketing – are your only options. Consider
these seven points and fasten your seatbelt.
1. Focus on the gray matter: Marketing is a
process of educating and reminding, all toward
influencing a buying decision, or reinforcing one
that has been made. Do your existing customers know
everything you can do for them? What are you doing
to retain your best customers? Consistency is key.
2. Learn to dance with your customers: Start
doing the bump and up-sell, or the bump and
cross-sell. Sell sheets with that mattress! Apple
pie with that burger! You get the idea.
3. Nothing beats great performance: Deliver
great service and treat the customer like gold.
Handwritten thank you notes in a tough economy are
very powerful.
4. The mindfulness of marketing will set you
free: Go read: Thik Nhat Han’s “Miracle of
Mindfulness.” You’ll know what I mean. What are you
really selling, and what are your customers really
buying from you?
5. Go beneath the waves – like a submarine:
Go deep, and understand the true benefits your
customer is buying from you. Focus on the benefits
of the benefits. This is an article in and of
itself. Meditate on this one.
6. It’s not B2C or B2B, it’s P2P: It’s about
“People to People” marketing. Companies don’t buy
software, people do. It’s just different money—and
often times, a different approach.
7. Take a lesson from Mattie Stepanek: Google
him. He died young, but taught us how to face the
future – and it applies to business as well as life.
“Every journey begins with but a small step. And
every day is a chance for a new, small step in the
right direction. Just follow your Heartsong.”
Understand your customers’ core desires and factor
them in to your (emotional) marketing efforts.
Remember, the best marketer wins! And a smart
(direct) marketer knows how to use database tools to
stay ahead!
---Source: Bob Martel is
principal consultant at the JMB Marketing Group.
Read more about him in this issue’s
“Favorite Author’s Corner.”
P.S. Watch for seven more points from Bob in next
week’s newsletter
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