Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
This recessionary period is when small agencies maximize their opportunities during lean times to gain ground.
- Keep what you have while getting someone else’s. Advertisers aren’t just trimming budgets; they are re-evaluating their relationships to determine if they are getting the most for their money.
- Great agencies shine brightest during dark times. When times are bad, there is better talent available to small agencies. Due to layoffs or the fear of them, good talent can be open to working for an up-and-coming agency.
- Work hard even when there isn’t a lot of work going on. Staying busy is the key to getting out of the gate fast when the economy rebounds. Good employees expect to be challenged.
- Focus on marketing tactics where success can be measured and defined. Marketing directors are running scared (or are likely to be eventually), and in that scenario that want to minimize risk and waste. The inherent measurability and relatively low cost of digital tactics are more attractive to clients when the economy is less robust, and digital will be the one area of the business that will grow this year.
Agencies will have much more success acquiring new business if they diligently pursue their new business goals despite the economic conditions.
Originally posted on fuelingnewbusiness.com
Friday, February 27th, 2009
How do boutique companies maintain maneuverability to help avoid economic disaster?
- Lower overhead costs
- Lower rates
- More flexibility to accommodate clients looking to cut costs
- Little to no major debt
What are the advantages to working with smaller firms?
- Fewer clients = more attention
- Often the owner or president ensures quality work
- No layers of administration, account managers and lower level employees
These are questions we get asked often. Have a query of your own? Leave a comment here in the next week, we’ll answer it in a new post and give you a free Intake Studio hat just for your curiosity.
The question must be related to Get Your Budget Back or Intake Studio. First 10 comments with valid e-mail addresses: a baseball cap in the mail to you by March 6th!
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
It’s been said that necessity is the mother of invention. To paraphrase, tough economic times call for creativity in promotion.
Essentially, you have two choices when it comes to marketing and promotion: find creative, cost-effective methods or crawl under a rock. For most of us, there’s no in-between.
The general idea is to balance reach, frequency and impact with cost. And now, more than ever, the value quotient is driven by cost.
But there are some possible avenues for small businesses to pursue. Here are a few that have worked for us, our clients and our peers:
- Speak whenever possible: Seek out speaking engagements with groups, associations and companies, and create your own opportunities to get in front of people. You shouldn’t necessarily demand payment. Put yourself in front of lead-rich groups. That’s your compensation.
- Get some ink: Whether you do it yourself or hire a low-cost provider, you owe it to yourself to try and get your business written up in the newspaper and industry publications. Give us a call and we’ll show you how. It’s not that difficult and it’s not as expensive as you might think.
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Monday, February 16th, 2009
Small companies can’t afford to waste their marketing budget, especially during a recession. To keep marketing on track, start with a creative strategy.
Don’t good creative ideas just sort of “happen?” The answer is no. We all benefit from thoughtful preparation. Even during the creative process.
Certainly, marketing involves lots of creativity. But imagine, what if there were no boundaries on that creative thinking? Any and all ideas would be considered and pursued, regardless of whether they are relevant to the audience, the product or the brand.
At best, you’d waste lots of time and money until you found the right idea. At worst, you’d create a campaign that fails to motivate - and may even alienate - your target audience.
Before you embark on building any piece of marketing - advertising, print collateral, Web design, e-communications, etc. - you need a blueprint, called a creative strategy. Good marketing firms use this simple document to help define the audience, message and more.
A creative strategy asks and answers a set of basic questions to help everyone agree on a direction before time and money is spent on creative development. It helps you be both efficient and effective. (more…)