The Importance of Advertising During an Economic Downturn

During an economic downturn (such as the one our economy currently experiences), your business' sales might have decreased. After all, many consumers have lost their jobs, so they have less money to purchase products (other than basic needs such as food). As a business, it is tempting to reduce advertising & marketing budgets should sales have decreased. This might save money in the short run, yet it will hurt your business in the long run. A better option is to continue promoting your business and products.

You might ask yourself, "If consumers are not buying my company's products now, why should I not decrease my company's advertising and marketing budget for now?" Decreasing your advertising and marketing budget is not a wise idea because the economy will eventually turn itself around, and consumers will continue purchasing products. However, if you do not make sure that consumers are aware of your products and businesses now, they will not remember them later when they have the means to buy non-essential products. This means consumers will buy products from competitors who chose to continue advertising their products. In other words, companies that advertise and market their products during economic downturns prepare themselves to sell products first when economies improve.

Although consumers may not actively purchase products now, they may make notes of the products they want when they have more money. In other words, although economically stressed consumers realize that they cannot purchase non-essential items in their present situations, they still have wants and desires, so they make wish lists of items they will buy later. For this reason, businesses that appeal to potential customers' feelings (wants and desires) will get their products places on those customers' wish lists. Companies who start advertising after economies improve miss out on opportunities to sell their products first. It is as if they start a race several minutes after the race moderator blew the "go" whistle: They diminish their chances of winning the race from the start and must work much harder if they want to beat others running in this race.

In the business world, a business sets goals of winning races. That is, a business does not want to allow its competitors from making more money by taking away business. Such races never end even if consumers do not actively buy products. In conclusion, an economic downturn or recession is no excuse to not advertise your products. After all, recessions eventually end, and economic situations eventually improve, so it is in a business' best interests to continue advertising and branding its products during recessions.