How to cope with a reduction in the marketing budget

No matter what anyone says, marketing budgets get squeezed when the economic conditions are a little more uncertain and challenging. Yes, you do need to keep marketing your business, but that’s easier said than done when sales revenues are falling. It’s a vicious circle.

What tends to happen is that as well as the marketing budget being trimmed, senior management want to see better return on investment on the money that is still available for promotion. Challenging stuff. Marketing is getting ever more complex and technical, but that doesn’t mean some of the old ways of doing things can’t continue to play a role.

If you are looking for excellent value and longevity from your marketing spend, you could a lot worse than invest in promotional merchandise. People love something useful. And they will reuse it over and over. If you brand practical everyday items like pens, mugs and mouse mats, then you have visibility of your brand and marketing messages that sits on people’s desks for months and months. Which means whatever you spend is giving great value for money. Compared to promotional merchandise, what other form of advertising can match its shelf life?

These days people are bombarded with marketing messages. Advertising is everywhere. People are increasingly adept at screening out these messages. However if you give them a promotional item, they can explore it and use it in their own time. It’s not an irritating interruption which will draw a negative reaction from people in most instances. Promotional items are more about permission. Would you like this free item? Yes. Great, take it away and use it in your own time. There’s no limit these days on what you can brand. From everyday office items through to clothing and executive toys. No matter what the campaign, you can add some great items to get your message across.