Have you noticed that the economy has been going down a very bumpy road lately? Many experts are predicting a recession, and possibly a more long-term depression, is on its way yet this year. Many supply lines are unreliable. Inflation is driving prices up and markets are volatile. Business does not work well when the economy is so unpredictable. How do you plan when, on the one hand, inflation is eating away the expendable income of consumers, but, on the other hand, your cost of doing business is going through the roof? The answer might be in the way you go about planning for marketing.

A good marketing plan flexes with the upturns and downturns in the economy. Rather than try to turn marketing on and off like a light switch, I encourage businesses to build a plan based on what you are currently seeing in the market and evaluate the plan each quarter. Are you being effective? What roadblocks are in the way? Has the attitude of your target market changed? If so, you need to adjust your marketing plan to accommodate these new factors. An economic downturn is one of those reasons to make the adjustment and to do so now.

When dollars get tight, you need to get more marketing in front of your customers, not less. This is typically the opposite way businesses react to hard economic times. When budgets get cut, the first one to get whacked is marketing. This typically happens when marketing is seen as an overhead expense and not a necessary investment in your sales cycle. When you are competing for dwindling consumer dollars, you need to make sure you are not only out-marketing your competition, but promoting your products and services as a necessity ahead of other items consumers are purchasing.

However, you cannot just market your brand like you normally would do in boom times. Your marketing has to get to the point quickly. Identify the problem the consumer is having that your brand can fix. In as few words as possible, state that solution to your target market. Don’t lose sight of the value you bring to the consumer. Emphasize the difference your brand has over the competition’s solutions. I suggest putting all of this into a short statement that you can use in your marketing known as a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). This should include the following items:

• Your most dominant strengths
• Your best features, advantages and benefits
• The most striking difference between you and your competition
• The answer to the most pressing need the consumer has for your brand

Don’t get too wordy. Your USP should be easy to understand at a glance. Build a campaign around it and get it in front of the consumer as often as you can in as many ways as you can. Don’t go down any other rabbit holes with your marketing. Push, push, push!

Here is a little marketing secret: people don’t buy what they don’t recognize. Marketing has the job to keep your brand and your message in front of the customer. Especially in a time when dollars are shrinking and economic gloom is the mood du jour, you have to keep your marketing message out in front.