Marketing In A Recession

So we're in a recession. What do we in the Midwest construction industry do to save money? Where does our company cut costs? Almost inevitably one category targeted for expense reduction is marketing/advertising. After all, who's buying right? The purpose of this blog is to explore this idea of marketing in a recession because the big picture is not necessarily black and white. Owners and builders are building and renovating, just not on the same scale as a few years ago. This means that those companies that are marketing themselves effectively will presumably get more bidding opportunities.

According to a 2005 article published by Gary Lilien and Arvind Rangaswamy of Penn State's Smeal College of Business, "For well-positioned companies, an economic recession should not prompt marketing cutbacks, but rather an aggressive increase in marketing spending to achieve superior business performance". It further notes that "athletes often choose times of stress to mount attacks: strong runners and bicycle racers may increase their pace on hills or under other challenging conditions." "In a similar vein, proactive marketing includes both the sensing of the existence of the opportunity (a tough hill and fatigued opponents) and an aggressive response (possessing the necessary strength or nerve) to the opportunity."

In general this theory applies to the strongest of companies and you can see why. Compared to even 2 years ago, there is noticeably less construction advertising in trade publications, attendance at trade shows is off and many companies have slashed advertising in general. Therefore those that are aggressively marketing are doing so in a space with fewer competitors.

But what about the rest of us? What about those hundreds and thousands of construction companies that are not as well positioned financially, but still need to market themselves in their communities?

The answer, in my opinion, is to have a website. Having a website to promote your business or ideas is imperative nowadays for two reasons: 1) According to Internet World Stats (www.internetworldstats.com), Internet penetration in the United States has grown 130% since 2000, from 44% of the population to 72.5%, and it continues to grow every year. According to TG Daily, 4 out of 5 households in the US have access to the Internet, and increasing numbers of people are searching on the web first for local service providers; and 2) whether you are trying to generate new business by networking, using a construction news lead service or using sales personnel to make calls, it is critical to have a website to leave with your prospects or referral sources. This is hands down the best, cheapest and fastest way to spread information about your company.

Typically you can have a simple, clean, professional looking website created for less than $2,000. Or for even less you can use the templates provided at such sites as www.networksolutions.com. Once you have your website, the most critical thing you must do is to make sure that people searching for your service in your geography can find you. This is accomplished by optimizing your site, or making sure that the right keywords are in the right places (content, meta tags, url, etc). You can learn more about search engine optimization here (www.seochat.com/c/a/Search-Engine-Optimization-Help/Optimizing-Your-Website/). The bottom line is that you can guide search engines like Google to find your company based on commonly searched words and phrases (for example, "HVAC contractor detroit mi").

Also, once your site is in place, make sure to add yourself to Google Local (www.google.com/local/add). This free service allows you to get on the first page of Google's index based on your trade and location. this is a must for any company with an existing website!!!! If you are serious about web advertising, I recommend exploring Google's click-ad AdWords program (adwords.google.com). This ensures that your company's website comes up on the first page of any relevant search (but the caveat is that you have to pay when someone clicks on your ad).

With more people turning to the Internet, my advice is to allocate more of your marketing dollars towards an internet presence and away from traditional, more costly print advertising. The last thing you want is not to be found when someone, whether it be an owner, builder, developer, architect or other in your area searches for your service. There are easy, inexpensive ways to ensure that you show up. Take advantage of them today!