“Once again, we eat the sowing seed.” I am attributing this quote to popular astronomer and author, Carl Sagan when asked to comment on NASA budget cuts during the recession of 1972. Whether it was Sagan or not is not the point– the point is “the eating of the sowing seed.” What is the sowing seed? It is the seed that is held back for replanting to grow future crops. Without “sowing seed” there is no future crop to harvest because those seeds weren’t planted. In Sagan’s illustration, we were eating for today what should have been planted for tomorrow.
NOW/TODAY is the time to build relationships with your customers. Consumers and businesses are tightening their belts and their budgets, but marketers need to look at today’s recession economy as an opportunity. Now is the ideal time to ramp up your efforts and build stronger relationships with your customers.
A recent BusinessWeek article provides examples of some of the most successful brand campaigns in the past sixty years — all of them conducted in a down economy. Also, during economic downturns consumers are more likely to forgo loyalty for cost or value savings. That gives you two more good reasons to market more aggressively. First, hold onto your existing customers by letting them know you value them and you offer the best value. Secondly, entice customers to change from competitors to your you and your products just when the competition is cutting back and going quiet on customer retention and loyalty efforts.
So instead of hunkering down, slashing marketing budgets and “eating the sowing seed” marketers should jump on the opportunity to build and strengthen their relationships with consumers.
Buyers are spending more time researching and comparing brands and prices. In a Prospectiv poll conducted earlier this year, 84% said they had changed their shopping habits due to concerns about recession. In further clues to consumer behavior in this economic downturn:
· 66% are logging more hours on line researching and comparing brands and prices
· 74% would welcome more on line offers, coupons and e-newsletters from their favorite brands and products
· 60% are more likely to sign up/join a Web site or on line community that offers recipes, healthy meal ideas, cooking tips and savings they can use at home
Marketers should consider countering the effects of the downturn by stepping up programs that build strong relationships with consumers who have exhibited interest in their goods and services. For instance, an in-house opt-in email newsletter list. The most important ingredients of effective email campaigns to your in-house email list are quality and relevance. Consumers under financial pressure are focused on purchasing the necessities, and relevance is key. Lead-generation campaigns that build your own opt-in email lists and produce consumers who are interested in your product and brand are particularly useful because they can collect data points about consumers that make it easy for marketers to ensure relevance. Ask consumers what they want and have them give you important information about themselves that will allow you to email them content that is relevant.
The economy may be down but now is not the time to sit back and wait for things to improve. We need to seize the opportunity to build our brands and strengthen our relationships with our customers– we need to plant the sowing seed to insure that our businesses grow and flourish in the future. How can you replanting the sowing seed you have today? What program, email blast, telephone call, written letter can you create today to insure your future and that of your business tomorrow? Think about it.
Tags: brand loyalty, Branding, Carl Sagan, customer loyalty, marketing, sales, sales and marketing
This is great reading Robbie. Last night as I was going over my customer gift list one more time I admit to fleetingly thinking “this is not the year to be doing this.” I pushed the thought out of my head as holidays gifts for my customers have always been important to me and I know they are appreciated. It’s less about what the gift is and more about “I haven’t, nor will I ever forget you!” My customers are important to me, they are naturally important to my bottom line, but even more so, and we certainly feel this in these days, they are important to my life. Many of my customers are very, very close friends. The dust WILL settle, we will progress and prosper…so for now, I’m going to plant my sowing seed.