Driving Home Importance of Marketing in Tough Economy

Monday, February 16, 2009 — BOULDER, COLORADO — It is almost a basic instinct to “trim the fat” in a business when lean times call for it.

But most marketing experts agree that businesses in hope of still standing after the recession ends should not consider their marketing budgets as an expense they can completely eliminate.

Peter Fader, a marketing professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, said in a recent Knowledge at Wharton article that as companies reduce their marketing and advertising budget, they leave room in the minds of consumers for other businesses to step in and claim a stronger foothold.

Today’s economy “provides an unusual opportunity to differentiate yourself and stand out from the crowd,” Fader said in the article, “but it takes a lot of courage and convincing to get senior management on board with that.”

Convincing businesses that continuing a marketing campaign is a smart business decision is perhaps the biggest obstacle to achieving marketing success during a recession, according to numerous marketing experts.

“Everything within you tells you to pull back, to save money, to simply try and ride the wave until a strong economy returns,” said Ali Husayni, founder and president of Sinai Marketing, an Internet marketing firm that specializes in search engine optimization. “I can practically guarantee that every industry in every geographic market has a business that eliminates or greatly reduces its marketing efforts during times like these.”

Part of that has to do with how marketing and advertising budgets are viewed, said Andrew Artis, assistant professor of marketing at University of South Florida Polytechnic.

In reviewing the best practices of companies that have been around for a long time, those companies don’t decrease their advertising budgets during slow economic times, Artis said.

“They see advertising as a long-term investment instead of a short-term expense,” he said, adding that these companies realize if they spend $1 on advertising today, for example, they may get $5 back in the future in the form of new customers and additional sales.

One way to increase market share is through Internet marketing.

“The nice thing about (Internet marketing) is it has a very low hurdle rate,” Artis said. “It is very inexpensive to get started.”

That also can create a disadvantage, he said, because “that same low hurdle rate allows many different competitors to enter into the market.”

That creates the need for businesses to tailor their Internet marketing to address the needs of the customer, said Husayni, an SEO expert. That is where the importance of hiring a professional Internet marketing firm comes into play.

“In almost every case, the business Web sites that rank at the top of Google search results have hired a professional search engine optimization company for Internet marketing purposes,” Husayni said. “Most people seem to be unaware of this fact.”

Effective SEO and other Internet marketing efforts can put smaller businesses on an even keel with larger businesses, said Husayni. In many cases, the right Web site with the right Internet marketing efforts can even catapult a smaller competitor ahead of its larger counterpart.

Businesses that make the decision to continue or ramp up their marketing efforts would do well to remind consumers of the benefits their products and services provide, Husayni said.

Husayni said he is witnessing the increased importance for all businesses to market themselves better on the Internet these days.

There are many lines of business in which people often simply ask a friend or look in a phonebook to find a product or service when the economy is strong. Many professionals don’t have to do a great deal of marketing to find new customers because the customers come to them.

However, when money gets tight, people tend to start spending more wisely and researching services before selecting a provider.

This creates the perfect opportunity to increase market share, Artis said. During down times, many weaker competitors won’t have the resources or the strategic mentality to advertise and keep their name out there.

“If you build a customer base (while the economy is slow), when the market returns, you’re in a good position,” he said. “Individual customers may be spending less now, but when the market comes back and they increase their expenditures, your company is in a perfect position to maximize its profits.”

That means businesses need to seize the opportunity now by developing and maintaining a strong Internet presence and a very organized, up-to-date Web site to educate the public, Husayni said.

“Creating new, relevant information and posting it regularly on your Web site can increase your chances of attracting new clients,” he said.

Learn More
If you would like to learn more about Sinai Marketing, or you would like a free analysis performed to see how the Sinai web marketing effort might assist you in your Internet marketing efforts, call Sinai Marketing toll free: 877-932-6559, or (303)-932-6559 for international callers. Or visit the Sinai Marketing Web site: www.sinaimarketing.com.

About Ali Husayni
Ali Husayni founded Sinai Marketing, based in Boulder, Colo., in 2004 and today he serves as the firm’s chief executive officer and search engine optimization expert.

Husayni’s extensive experience as an SEO expert ensures clients’ Web sites consistently appear at the top of Google’s organic search results as well as the first page of Yahoo! and MSN.

Husayni is a native of Denver. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English-writing from University of Colorado-Denver and is pursuing a master’s degree in business administration.

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