So what do you do when you can’t spend money, but you not spending money means that you lose even more money? The answer is quite simple really. You don’t need to spend more. You just need to spend smarter. If you’re spending a couple of grand on some sort of broadcast communications, lets say commercial cable TV, just for one commercial, but that commercial isn’t bringing in any more business than usual, then you need to stop paying for that type of marketing.
Suppose you’re the corner coffee shop. All the people living around you that need coffee will come to you for coffee whether or not you advertise to them. So why would you spend ridiculous amounts of money on a marketing strategy that targets those people that are already coming to your store? That type of marketing is not worth the investment. If a marketing strategy is not bringing in any NEW customers, then it is worthless.
You need to figure out what amount of customers you would have regardless of your commercials on cable TV. Let’s say that with the cable TV commercial, you have 105 customers. But 100 of those customers would come to you anyway, with or without having seen that commercial. So that commercial is only bringing in 5 new customers. Now let’s say that commercial cost you $5000. Those 5 customers only gave you $1000 (yes, I know, that is some pretty expensive coffee, but go along with me here). You have just now lost $4000. That type of investment may not be a good idea in this economy.
A good marketing strategy doesn’t focus on targeting customers you would already have. In fact, a good marketing strategy doesn’t waste any time with those customers. A good marketing strategy only focuses on targeting the customers that you don’t already have. These are the customers that will bring in more money. These are the customers that will make your investment in a marketing strategy worthwhile.
