Advertising

Do you still want to be in business in 5 years? You always have 3 real choices in adverse situations: 1. Change the situation; 2. Change yourself in the situation; 3. Leave the situation. So, again: Do want to be in business in 5 years? NeighborWave makes advertising and we help you look for the real opportunities that you have today and tomorrow. This article was written in September 2007.

Advertising has a real response rate even in a recession. In a down economy, you can Increase Market Share while your competitors are running away from their advertising budgets. Is advertising in a down economy a good idea? Better than that, it’s a great idea. The economic bumpy road for 2008 is creating a great opportunity for the present and future of your business. You can advertise and compete for new customers much more cheaply. Here’s the how and why:

• When Sales are Down, your competition’s Ad Budgets go Down. They act on their fear and stay out of your way.
• Fewer Ads means less competition for all of your ads.
• If You Advertise NOW to Increase Market Share, you’ll get new sales– now and later.
• When the economy rebounds, your market share is increased.
• A 5% gain in market share can equal a 25% income gain in two years.

Let’s stop to do some simple math here– you pay the advertising costs to see a 5% increase in sales during the down economy. When the down economy bounces back, you GET a 25% increase in sales. Seems like a bargain to us… and we aren’t alone:

“…a business-to-business (b-to-b) media study conducted by Yankelovich Partners and Harris Interactive. The study showed more than 85 percent of business executives believe advertising during a down economy is extremely important.” [Source]

Here’s the catch, though– and I just don’t have a better word than weird to describe how 85% believe it’s important, but as the chart below shows…. no one actually does it! The short advice: don’t be the believer who won’t act! NeighborWave helps small business with innovative ads that cut through the clutter. We’ll talk with you for free and show you a plan that can take care of you for years– even a tough year like 2008. Many businesses will reduce their advertising budgets in 2008 just on their expectations. What that clearly means for you is that there will be less advertising competition during a down economy. There will be fewer ads competing with yours. Historically, big business in particular pulls back their advertising dollars in every economic downturn. NeighborWave’s Small Business Advertisers can gain some ground especially against larger competitors during this time. In charts, you can watch the line of advertising dollars following the economy quite closely. See for yourself:

Be Smart. Press your advantage while your competition is staying out of the game. If you’re interested in reading more on this topic, here’s a white paper from a firm that consults for big business. NeighborWave is a privately held small company in Berkeley, California. We help Small Business develop and deliver advertising messages using simple tools like websites with an edit button.

Give us a wave, we’ll help you get started.

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