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OPINION

You run a small company, but you’re scared Donald Trump’s actions might tank the Canadian economy. Do you draw in your horns, cut your marketing budget and prepare for the worst?

“No!” That’s a losing strategy. Now, is the time to consider increasing your marketing budget. But you have to be smart about what you do, and how you do it. All marketing is not created equally.

This isn’t a shoot-from-the-hip opinion. I was a founding partner of a successful advertising and public relations firm in Washington, D.C., and then advised scores of CEOs on marketing strategies and tactics for nearly 20 years. I’ve lived this, and it works.

But if you’re worried about making payroll this Friday…sadly, my advice is at least a year too late. What you’re about to read might seem counter intuitive at first…but keep in mind that timid marketing is just a waste of your hard-earned dollars.

(DON THOMPSON / iNFOnews.ca)

Here are some solid reasons to loosen the purse strings now…when times are uncertain.

Whether you own and run a restaurant or a plumbing company or a furniture store…you have competitors. And if you disappear from the marketing landscape - become less visible - you can bet your competitors will gleefully take your place. Never forget…the budget you cut or increase today affects your business not only next month…but a year from now.

Numbers don’t lie. Assess what you’re spending and what you’re getting for it. Don’t necessarily use your competitors’ marketing strategies and tactics…let them do what they do. ROI…return on investment…is the driver for marketing decisions…always has been.

Now, how important are your existing customers? They are critically important. The cost of getting a new customer is always more expensive than satisfying an existing customer…who will then spend more to become even more successful.

Customer loyalty is a thing…a big thing. Being less visible makes your existing customers nervous…they start worrying…gremlins creep into their thoughts: “Are they going out of business?” By the way, you’re about five times more likely to sell to an existing customers than a new one, so treasure your customers.

Collect as much data as you can - or get those you pay to market your products and services to get it - so your decisions reflect reality. That data can’t just be a bottomless pit of numbers…the numbers need to be relevant to your business. Otherwise, you can spend money on marketing that isn’t efficient.

If you’re not driving potential customers to your door…why are you doing something that takes money from your marketing budget? Why have two billboards even on busy highways…if you haven’t exhausted more meaningful tactics that can actually grow your business.

Your company has to do more with less…a cliche, perhaps, but I’ve lived this way for the past 40 years. My clients always wanted that gold ring…more for less…even long before digital marketing was invented.

Your business can no longer survive without digital marketing. It’s nothing more than the use of the internet and digital communications to promote your brand and connect with potential customers. That said, it requires people with the right skill sets…professionals whose education and experience points toward success. Anything less…and you’re throwing money away.

Unfortunately, a lot of business owners chose the wrong people…got the wrong advice…and now say, “We tried that…it doesn’t work.” Actually all you might have proved is that the way you or someone working for you did something…failed. Marketing professionals - like doctors and lawyers - come with varying degrees of competence.

Before your hire someone or use an agency to help market your business…ask them to show you what they have done for others…preferably businesses like yours. Whether you’re hiring someone on staff or using an outside agency, don’t hobble them by giving them a small budget for three or six months to see how the do. You’re saving money…but hurting your business immeasurably.

Uncertain times call for boldness…not timidity. A look at history proves that even in the worst of times smart businesses succeed. Fortune magazine started up 90 days after the market crash in 1929. FedEx started at the beginning of the 1973 oil crisis. Walt Disney suffered the 1929 market crash it’s first year. Hewlett Packard started at the height of the Great Depression, as did Revlon. Brinks Armoured Cars started months before the the Civil War…and Standard Oil started the last year of the Civil War.

Now is the time to grow, gain market share…succeed. Six months from now…you’ll know that.

— Don Thompson, an American awaiting Canadian citizenship, lives in Vernon and in Florida. In a career that spans more than 40 years, Don has been a working journalist, a speechwriter and the CEO of an advertising and public relations firm. A passionate and compassionate man, he loves the written word as much as fine dinners with great wines.

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