It’s official. We’re in a recession. Does it really matter? Especially since we’re supposedly 12 months into it and most recessions last less than 18 months? It seems a little late to find out. That’s like finding out that you’re officially wet by the time you’ve waded waste deep into a lake. You already knew that you were wet, didn’t you? So now that we find out that we’re in a recession, does it really matter? Or is it just a trailing indicator that tells us where we’re at, 12 months too late?
I don’t think that marketing in a recession should be any different than marketing in a slow economy or a good economy. If you were pushing hard to stay ahead of your competition last week, before the recession was announced, then this week, nothing should change. Stay the course. Push hard on your marketing. Push hard on your sales. Don’t ever give in and before you know it, things will improve. Of course, it may be years from now, before the experts can tell us that we’re out of this recession, but by that time, things will be clicking along, the DOW will be above 10,000 again and sales will be skyrocketing. When that happens you could be the expert that says, “Duh, we’re out of this recession.” It’s easy to predict the past.
Just remember that this is a time of opportunity. Marketing in a recession can mean the difference between success and failure. Change your attitude and learn to spot opportunities rather than dodging them to avoid risk. It’s in times like these that successful businesses are born. If your competition is hunkering down to avoid the downturn, then you can capture market share by increasing your marketing. When the storm clouds clear, you’ll be the one who is strong, while the others are either gone or are struggling to get back on course.
Chadd Bryant