How to Make Good in a Bad Economy
Like many others out there who survived this economic crunch, your business may be operating in the red. So naturally you might be asking yourself “How do I start clearing a profit again?” You may be considering cutting costs. But where do you cut costs? Brinker International, former parent company of Chili’s, Macaroni Grill, On the Border and Maggiano’s decided to cut costs to get out of the red beginning in 2009. Their first step was to cut marketing budgets. Their cuts led to Brinker selling off Macaroni Grill and On the Border and having to lay off a significant amount of their staff worldwide. Before considering cutting your marketing budget, think about what effects it can have.
Joseph Chris Partners came to us when the market was down. They were cutting costs in other areas to save money, while still leaving themselves a marketing budget. Veronica Ramirez, owner of Joseph Chris Partners, said that in a downturn they felt it would benefit the company to spend on marketing when their competitors were not. What did Joseph Chris see as a result? A great return on investment, as they watched their competitors become lost in a sea of other companies, Joseph Chris began experiencing a record number of internet driven traffic and calls. Claire Spence of Joseph Chris was excited to report recently that they’ve been receiving an average of 90 calls a month from their website. A huge jump from where they were before.
Google doesn’t know what the economy is doing. It only knows what your company’s presence is on the web. Google doesn’t care whether a company is going bankrupt or having greater ROI than ever. All Google cares about is whether you are creating consistent, relevant information on the web. And don’t forget about social media either. Even in an economic downturn, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube can bring record traffic to your business. Always keep a good marketing strategy and budget so your business can move into the future and be ahead of the competition.
Tags: bad economy, clearing a profit, cutting costs, economic crunch, marketing budget
