1. Whether business is good or slow, you have to get your share of whatever business is around. Cutting back advertising puts you at a disadvantage at the moment when you need an edge. Increasing your advertising gives you the edge.
2. In times of uncertainty, consumers are careful and a little reluctant to spend. They want to be sure before they buy; they want information. One of the main ways they get information about products, services, prices and values is from advertising.
3. Maybe you figure other retailers in your line are going to cut back on their advertising, so it’s safe for you, too. Right? Wrong. You’re in competition for the consumer’s dollar with every other retailer in town, no matter what he sells. People have only so many dollars to spend and if they don’t spend them for what you sell they’ll spend them for something else.
4. “Slow” times ahead? Perhaps but there are more Americans working now than ever before. More women working too, adding to family income. People still need and want goods and services and will spend for them. There is plenty of business out there. Your competitors will be bidding for their share and yours.
5. You can’t do much about most factors in the marketplace – rent, labor costs, price of merchandise, what the competition will do. But one thing you do control is your own promotion. Remember that advertising is not just a cost of doing business. It’s a proven sales tool that returns many times your investment, and more store traffic and sales.
6. Remember how long it took for you to get started? Once you build up a business, you can keep it going with a moderate, consistent advertising program. But if you cut your advertising and lose your hold on the public’s awareness you’ll find it’s much harder to build it up again. It’s sort of like starting over again.
7. Your advertising is part of your sales force. Ads help to pre-sell the consumer and help you close the sale faster. What saves you save time and money.
8. You say your customer know you and will keep coming in even if you don’t promote. That’s partly true, but short sighted. Remember one out of five Americans move each year. So there’s a steady flow of customers at your market, and a corresponding influx of folks who don’t know you at all. Tell them about yourself.
9. Here’s a hard fact to chew on. Over any given period, a company that advertises below the industry average has sales that are below the industry average.
10. Advertising is “now” about products and services. In plush times retailers will often experiment with new types of media, but when the going gets tough, they concentrate their efforts on daily media because it provides an immediate payoff at the cash register.
