Dear Client,
As the first snow flies and we step into the holiday 2022 season, it’s a good time to pause and reflect on the year that’s about to come to a close. Have we reached our goals? If yes, then great, celebrate the wins! If not, why not? Where and how did we come up short?
Sometimes it’s about unrealistic goal setting. Sometimes it’s about not being crystal clear about who your audience is, and how to reach them effectively. Sometimes, it’s about not allocating enough resources to set yourself and your company up for solid success.
As we head into 2023 and we hear some less-than-positive economic forecasts, it may be more important than ever to set realistic goals with a plan and a budget that is strategic and robust enough to get you there one step at a time; one tactic at a time, one ad or social media post at a time, one press release, one video, one new landing page at a time… so that everything you do is woven together like a strategic tapestry that tells your brand story over time and connects you to the right buyers with the right message that motivates them to purchase your products or services.
While it may seem logical to cut marketing costs during a recession, it often does more harm than good. You’ll naturally decrease your brand awareness, search ranking results, and customer loyalty. When you cut back your spend, (or worse, cut it all together) you leave an opening for competitors to fill the void and take the lead in your market.
Instead, maintaining your marketing budget with an effective strategy is the smartest move you can make during an economic downturn.
As you do, here are a few things to think about:
- Study consumer spending
- Keep your content fresh (don’t recycle old content or campaigns)
- Fine-tune your strategy with clear messaging that addresses current pain points and offers solutions.
After decades of building annual plans for clients, we have a system that enables us to map out a plan that combines on-point creative with strategic outbound and inbound tactics to help you meet your goals. And when I say we are committed to your success, I really mean it. Your success is truly our success. Our team thrives on helping you reach your business goals and we take great pride in working with clients year after year to help them grow. If you’re passionate about growing your business next year and are unsure how to achieve your goals, we’d love to talk with you! Establishing a partnership with a senior-level team like ours, who listens and advises well, is just the ticket to come out ahead during and after a recession.
All of us at DARCI are grateful to each and every one of our clients and we are excited for the new things ahead as we turn the corner on a brand new year, filled with brand new opportunities.
Here’s wishing you and yours a wonderful, memorable, and joyful holiday season!
With respect & gratitude,
Darci
*This is the first installment of an ongoing blog series, Dear Client, that will provide insights and advice on how to get the greatest results from your Agency partnership, written by Darci Knowles.