News, Ideas & Hot Topics

Marketing during a Business Downturn

For many businesses, a business downturn means scaling back marketing spending and resources. However, downturns can create opportunity to accelerate growth faster than the competition. This means now may be the best time to step up your marketing - at least in quality if not quantity, to take advantage of what may be an unprecedented time to market in a less noisy environment.

Here are some tips to help you maximize your marketing efforts:

1. Make sure your marketing plans and programs align with sales and corporate strategy so that you get the most "bang for your buck" in terms of marketing spend.
2. Create clear justification for marketing tactics. Focus on maximizing results for every dollar spent and on demonstrating revenue and pipeline impact (ROI).
3. Thoroughly review your brand promise, messaging and positioning as well as marketing programs, materials and capabilities to shore up any weaknesses and deficiencies.
4. Get your marketing house in order so that you're ready to meet demand when business heats up again.

Even with budget and staff cuts, there’s still important marketing work to be done. Contact Strategic Marketing today and let us help you tackle these activities and more to weather the storm.

Positioning & Messaging Can Make or Break your Organization

Every time you communicate, you either build brand equity or diminish it. Therefore, sound positioning and messaging should be the foundation of all marketing activities because it is essential for business success.

Developing a brand message that communicates your unique value proposition clearly and consistently is key. Who you are, what you do, how you do it, and why I should care? These are all questions messaging must address, but all too often misses the mark. Messaging must also resonate with your customers, differentiate your business appropriately, and not burden buyers with details they don’t care about.

Need help crafting impactful messaging that turns heads and drives action? How about assistance articulating your brand messaging and positioning throughout your communication channels? Let Strategic Marketing’s experts support you in this effort. Give us a call and see how we can make a difference.

Data Breaches, PCI Compliance and Small Merchants

Since studies indicate that eighty-five percent of all data security breaches occur at small (level 4) merchant locations, frequent and meaningful communication about compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) is more important than ever.

Let Strategic Marketing strengthen your merchant PCI initiatives by preparing and delivering clear and easy-to-understand customer communications. Call us today to experience the difference.