If You Can't Afford to Advertise, You Can't Afford Not To!

In this current economic doom and gloom we are all tightening purse strings in an effort to give our businesses the best chance of survival. One area that businesses often cut down on is their marketing and design budget. This area of your business is often looked upon as your company's beauty therapy, an unimportant expense to enhance the visual appearance of your company. That given it's an understandable decision to make cost cuts in this area, and while it will reduce your immediate expenditure

it could result in significant long-term cost?

There is a business philosophy held by some that says whenever there is a current business trend you should do the complete opposite, when they buy - you sell, when they sell - you buy, as with many business strategies if used intelligently and at the right time it can reap genuine reward. If you are among those who have cut their marketing budget then consider this, many of your competitors will have no doubt done exactly the same; this provides your business with a realistic opportunity to over-take your competitors while they are snoozing. If you can possibly avoid it don't cut your marketing budget, perhaps even increase it, try and spread the word of your business further and harder than you would normally consider. Drive your business into a position of greater dominance than your competitors while they unwittingly de-rank themselves.
Something else to consider is that many exclusive marketing and design agencies use the psychology of unrealistically inflated prices to sell themselves (if it costs that much it must be good... even if I don't understand it), but due to the current climate, agencies will be vying for your business, deals are there to be had.

Beauty is more than skin deep

It is important to recognise the many elements that contribute to the successful marketing of your company. Your company logo is the cornerstone of your entire marketing strategy, if your current identity is looking a little tired now may be the best time to address this. While it may seem superficial, a well designed identity incorporating good logo design will promote an image of experienced capability and encourage trust with prospective customers.

The majority of large corporations all have a well designed and consistent identity, this is not because they are the only ones who can afford it, it's because they understand the importance of it.

A well designed identity says you are serious about your business, confident in it, believe in it! Would you turn-up to the most important business meeting of your life in a pair of tatty old jeans and a t-shirt?

Your silent employee

Most businesses feel duty bound to provide a website, but many are redundant add-ons that provide little or no income.

Given the convenience of the internet a well designed and optimised websites offers huge potential, despite this however businesses seem reluctant to invest in the development of their website. If you were approached by an intelligent individual that purveyed an image you felt suitably represented your business, who offered to source new business for just a few thousand pounds a year, promised never to be late or sick and would never ask for a raise, many businesses would jump at the chance (if they believed them), but wouldn't consider spending a fraction of that amount on improving their website.

Site visitors typically have zero tolerance for bad site design; get the structure of your site wrong and your site visitors will leave as quickly as they have arrived. You must ensure that it is easy for new visitors to find what they want and quickly.

Do not under estimate the value of the aesthetic appearance of the site, you need to gain the trust of the visitor instantly, good graphic design will help establish this. Does the design convey an image that says, we are a professional business who can fulfill your requirements and you can trust? Does the site have a look and feel that is appropriate to your industry? Is it better than your competitors? If the answer to any of these questions is no then you need to address them.
This is the point that many companies stop, the site is up and running the job appears to be finished, unfortunately not, the most important part is a to convince the search engines that your site is superior to your competitors and display it accordingly.

SEO

Obtaining a prominent search engine listing position is something that must be pursued diligently. Many sites are either poorly optimised or lack any optimisation at all. This again provides an opportunity to gain the edge on your competitors. Obtaining a high ranking position can take some months, so should be considered sooner rather than later if you are to successfully capitalise on the current down turn. Once the current slump shows signs of improvement you could find you have timed the promotion of your site perfectly once again placing you ahead of your competitors.

DIY SEO

Search engine optimisation is a complicated and lengthy process but if done well invaluable. There are many things that you can do yourself to improve the placement of your site, a great deal of which are free. If there has been a decline in your business then use this extra time wisely, devote some time to the improvement of your sites position, there is a wealth of online information on the techniques required, your time invested could eventually reap reward and your site will generate some much desired business.

To summarise

It is important to fully understand exactly what marketing consist of. In its simplest terms it is the promotion of your business and is therefore often misunderstood as purely advertising, but there are grey areas. The initial design of your company logo serves no other purpose other than to create a suitable identity and promote your business accordingly; it therefore qualifies as part of the marketing process, as too does all your printed literature and your website. They collectively state what you are and how you compare. In order to offer your business the best chance of creating the desired impression and in turn obtaining new customers. All elements must be carefully considered and work in unison, now more than ever it is vital that the identity of your business is not counter productive.

This is most definitely not the time to cut your marketing budget.