How Should Marketing Sectors Cope with Spending Cutbacks in 2011?

2011 is currently bringing with it more financial headaches for businesses, with the global financial system set to struggle even with a recovery for some countries.

During these situations it's often the marketing department budget that gets hit initially, and based on a recent IPA/BDO Bellwether survey marketing finances have dropped by 5.4% ahead of 2011, providing cause for concern for what lies ahead.

So where should you look to spend on marketing and where should you cut back in order to stabilise the books? Let's look into the alternative media and see where there are marketing possibilities in 2011.

Tv

TV advertising took something of a battering at the conclusion of the last decade, and the explosion in online marketing and increase in channels because of the rise of digital TV meant that many traditional names, including ITV in the United kingdom, were struggling to find ad revenue.

For those who can find the money for it on the other hand, it can still bring big returns, even for online businesses. Despite the increase in the quantity of channels, there are still some big audiences to be found and in the UK large Saturday night shows are being used as platforms to release new campaigns, much as the Superbowl is in the US.

The viral nature of online advertising is seeping through to television, where commercials with a powerful brand message are giving way to those featuring loveable characters and humorous incidents to make them more memorable, leading to something of a recovery in television advertising as we start a new decade.

It's not for everybody, but for those who can afford it there are still some large gains to be made from promoting your products on the TV.

Advertising Online

Online advertising is a dream for those marketing departments that have suffered cutbacks, with a whole world of affordable and effective possibilities available through the internet. There are plenty of avenues for companies to uncover, from developing adverts through YouTube to enhancing your presence through social media, utilising the search engines with an SEO strategy and developing an online PR initiative.

It has already led to companies deserting other more conventional forms of marketing and the huge potential together with a reduced cost helps make for an appetising campaign for marketing departments who are guarding the pennies.

Newspaper Advertising

From the new boy in town we come to one of the oldest kinds of marketing and the one which is suffering the most because of changes in technology. Circulation numbers are lower across the board and those companies that were once prepared to shell out large sums of money for advertising space are now choosing to implement different means that carry a lower cost and higher ROI. It seems set to get worse throughout the year, with lower marketing budgets making this staple of the advertising arena look rather unappealing, and making use of a successful PR strategy to acquire column inches without the outlay could prove to be a better way of utilizing the newspapers with a smaller spending budget.

Brand Awareness

The concept of having a powerful brand is still as important as ever, and in spite of the viral dynamic of commercials taking the strength of the brand out of the advertising, it's still important to sustain a memorable brand if the strategy is going to achieve success. There is no sense in developing a posh ad if nobody is going to remember who it's promoting, and getting people to recall and interact with the company is essential if sales are going to increase.

Utilizing orbital campaigns to enforce the brand and get people interacting with the organization are vital if prospective customers are going to choose to spend their cash. Use social networks to speak to consumers and business gifts to give them a real attachment to your campaign and you will go a long way towards increasing conversions.

2011 appears set to be another tough year, but for the savvy marketer there are always possibilities out there. Look thoroughly at your marketing strategy to see ways you can squeeze the very most out of what you have and make this year as profitable as it can be.

Alan contributes posts regarding details effecting the promotional gifts sector for The Corporate Gifts Company.