Dollars and sense

The word everywhere at the moment is…budget! On the news. In the press. On your mind! It doesn’t seem to matter where you look right now, it’s impossible to avoid. It’s no different in terms of the marketing industry. The difference lies in how to spend your budget…it’s time to get clever.

As I blogged before, the first reaction to a retraction in the market is for business to cut marketing. I’m not sure I’ll ever convince people that this is the worst possible idea. It would seem that as a marketer we have a vested interest. The fact that we happen to be experts sometimes doesn’t play a part in this argument. But alas I digress!

The biggest issue is to budget and to plan. Planning is the key. I know it sounds obvious but the amount of businesses I know that drive their promotion and advertising on an ad-hoc basis is incredible. A planned approach not only garners you better results, it saves you money!

With everyone watching their pennies – consumers and businesses alike – it then comes down to really targeting your market, finding innovative means of being potent in that market and back it all with a strategic approach to the execution.

It’s not rocket science but it does take marketing savvy and it requires careful thought and consideration.

There’s massive value to be found out there in media land at the moment and daily there are more and more avenues to attack your market place. The dollar may be skinny but I’d rather see a skinny dollar in your pocket than no dollar at all.

It’s a great time to focus on your business. Take a moment to look at what the next fiscal year holds for you and your business. Plan, budget and get it right. It’s a simple formula but it works.