When your marketing team or agency starts down the “best time to advertise is during a recession” road, ask them if the best time to buy a bathing suit is in the dead of winter?  Maybe it is, maybe it’s not.  The grim realities of operating a business when the economy is in the stinkpot is that all budgets need to be prepared for the carving knife; yet as marketers, we always feel our budget alone is sacred.  You slice the marketing budget and you can count on a sliced share of the market – oh, and by the way – it will take decades to reclaim the lost share points. Or, if you cut the budget now, cut down on your trade shows, your advertising spend and your digital presence, the competition is going to notice and they’ll increase their marketing budgets.  I speak from experience; I’d need an abacus to count the number of times I’ve said that.

No, the fact of the matter is this – the best time to market is when you have a product or service that meets an unmet need.  When the message and your supporting content is so compelling that your buying segment can’t wait to purchase, and can’t wait to tell a friend to make the same purchase.  And another friend, and another, and so it goes.

But let’s assume you’ve had your budget cut. When’s the best time to get back in the ring, and what are the best marketing punches to throw?  No two instances will ever be the same, but here are a few considerations.  Get back in the game when you’ve got game.  Random acts of marketing rarely result in returns that have a positive impact.  Resist the temptation to stretch the marketing budget by including more products and benefits in the message.  He who proves too much ends up proving nothing at all.  And by all means let the marketing money flow when you have a business case, complete with measurements and analytics, that can justify the expenditure.  Remember, you can’t manage it if you can’t measure it.

And when you ramp back up, what strategies should you begin with?  Make the cheapskates, skinflints and bean counters happy.  Start with the three most cost-effective initiatives you can implement: content marketing, increased web activities and social media.  That’ll get them talking.