Why are Companies Cutting their Marketing Completely During the Recession?

The economic downturn is causing pandemonium for marketers.  Instead of being in high demand to help companies get back on track and find new business, marketing is being cut completely.  How can companies cut their marketing budgets and continue to exist?  They are relying on their current customers to stay with them throughout the years and hoping that they don’t have to go out and find new customers.  This is a recipe for disaster.   It takes years to market your company and build a customer base.  You can’t expect to send out marketing materials and instantly have new customers.  You need to cultivate the relationship and over time convert a prospect into a customer. Why is this concept so difficult to understand?
Too many companies are cutting their marketing without thinking about the consequences.  What happens now? How do we acquire new prospects? How do we spread the word about a new product/service?  How do we drive traffic to our trade show booth?  The list can go on and on and on….but the real issue here is why cut marketing completely?  Be smart and scale down your marketing by utilizing Smart marketing:

S = Strategize
M = Maintain market spend
A = Assess and allocate the budget
R= Research your customer thoroughly
T = Target and reach out to them
It’s important to look at your marketing spend as an investment and not an expense.  The investment will pay off in time.  It’s not instant gratification.  In a recession, keep certain marketing campaigns going strong and cut other areas that have shown a low response or weak results.  Each company is different and must determine what is right for them.   Perhaps outsourcing your marketing is the way to go.  You need to research the best agencies that specialize in your particular industry and figure out if it’s more cost effective to outsource or hire within. In most cases, outsourcing is the way to go.
Most companies are looking to cut their overhead as quickly as possible during a recession.  There are many departments throughout a company that can cut costs. Why cut your entire marketing department? It makes no sense. Spread it out throughout the company and not in one area.
What continues to plaque our marketing world today is the uncertainty of what companies are looking for or want out of their marketing.  Most companies have no clear cut goals or objectives and end up cutting marketing completely.  Unfortunately, if companies continue down this path…the economic recession will continue to get worse and all businesses will suffer.  It’s time to start being proactive and spending your marketing dollars wisely instead of spending nothing at all!
Sources:

• Marketing During  a Recession
• Should You Cut Your Marketing During a Recession?
• How To Grow Your Business During A Recession