Anyone who reads my blog posts or I have the opportunity to speak with, I always try to impress upon them the importance of sales and marketing.  If you can’t attract the prospect, if you can’t sell the product, you can’t stay in business.

But in these difficult business times we need to be more careful than ever how we’re spending our marketing dollars. There are some advertising people and marketing gurus that will talk about branding your business.  Branding is important.  You must let people know your business exists and have an identity or brand that your potential customer or client can relate to in order to attract them to your business.

Although this is a good strategy in an economic upturn, it may not work as well in a recessionary period. People today are looking for value.  So you must communicate how your brand provides value regardless of what price point you are offering.

Your marketing plan needs to target how you are going to create value, along with your brand identity, for your customer or client whether you are using print advertising, direct mail, tele-marketing or social media.  Otherwise, you risk becoming generic with your marketing and not standing out in the crowded marketplace.

I’ve heard over and over again about people who brag about how many clicks they got on their website or blog but when I ask them what kind of return on investment they got they don’t have a clue.  For example, social media can be difficult to track so be mindful of your time and financial investment in it even though it is becoming a necessary part of many marketing plans.

Prospects are important.  People visiting your website or blog is important.  People requesting information about your company and services is important. But if you are not attracting the right people and they don’t turn into qualified prospects and you don’t have a call to action in your marketing and there is no reasonable return on investment what is the point of your marketing efforts?

Pretty pictures aren’t enough to get people to buy during this recession.  You’ve got to give them a reason and even an incentive to buy from you.  Make your product or service invaluable to them.

As the recession continues to unfold and linger, this is an excellent time to re-examine and to make the necessary shifts in your marketing.  Whatever you do, don’t stop marketing your business during this recession.  Discover what works to bring customers to your business.