Is your marketing budget shrinking or limited? Traditionally a downturn in the economy means your marketing budget is going to be one of the first things to get cut. Maybe yours has already been slashed. In the wake of the global financial crisis this is a common occurrence among marketing executives. A MarketingProfs survey of over 600 marketing professionals and managers said weather the market continues to fluctuate or falls into a recession, 75% of marketers surveyed expect the impact of the crisis will extend through 2009 and into 2010.
The problem with choking budgets is that as a marketer, you’re still expected to produce results or even exceed expectations for the year. Virtually do more with less resources.
In these shaky economic times it’s not just your budget that’s on the line, it’s your job as well. The fight between CFO vs. CMO is a constant one in any economy, but particularly in today’s times it’s vitally important to your job and your companies lively hood to maximize every dollar left in your budget.
The best use of any online marketing budget is to optimize your conversion rate so each and every dollar works twice as hard. Incremental continuous improvement in your online conversion funnel is key to getting the most out of every dollar left. Marketers today cannot afford to chase dollars, they need to convert more clicks into customers to get more results with smaller budgets that show real return. A website conversion optimization strategy will outlive your marketing campaigns by converting traffic at a higher rate, month after month regardless of your budget.
Improving the effectiveness of your website through scientific testing will make your dwindling budget workable again. Whether your company intends to decrease spending or not, small improvements in your online sales funnel add up to large gains that will keep you in business.
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Typical C-Level decision making process:
“hmmm sales are down/flat; let’s tighten up the budget, and cut as many expenses/programs as possible. ”
This may even sound reasonable at first, but it is completely asinine. When sales are down, that is the time to invest MORE money into programs to drive revenue. This doesn’t have to be a new channel, it could be ramping up SEO, or investing in conversion rate optimization.
Acquisition marketers are put in terrible positions everyday by VP’s following C-level orders that will ultimately sink their companies.
I couldn’t agree more but for many it’s backwards thinking. In times of uncertainty people stick to what they know and look to others for validation (social proof) including C-level decision makers and VPs. When sales are down conversion optimization is ripe for improvement. Get the momentum going to validate more spend for traffic, when you know it will convert better. Why is it that so many people miss the obvious?