It’s a no-brainer that small businesses should reduce expenses during a recession to help maintain profitability.
But which expenses? If you think marketing should be cut back, you couldn’t be more wrong! Marketing should be stepped up during bad economic times, so a company will be well-positioned to take advantage of the economic recovery.
A new study by Hurwitz & Associates, reported in eMarketing.com, supports this theory as it relates to small businesses. The
study found that two-thirds of small businesses that expected increased revenues had raised or planned to raise marketing spending. That compares with just 32% to 36% of businesses with flat or declining revenues.
The study also found that small businesses are keeping marketing costs in check by switching to cheaper, web-based tools such as social media, e-mail newsletters and search. E-mail in particular, is likely to remain a vital force for marketing.
The decision that small businesses need to make is whether to outsource their online marketing needs to freelance copywriters, or handle the work in-house. The DIY (do-it-yourself) instinct may be “cheaper,” from a strict-cost standpoint, but it may wind up costing a company more in the long run due to the time spent on blog-writing, e-mail marketing campaigns, and social network management.
