After a long year of economic instability, it might seem logical to pull back on business “extras” like advertising. But before you turn off your Google display ads or cut down on other marketing efforts like social media, SEO, or video, remember that those same campaigns you use now are the main reason customers are still paying attention to your brand!

Whenever there’s a shift in the economy, marketing is typically the first department that gets cut. It’s a sad truth, especially when the reality is businesses that continue advertising to customers see improvements and often outperform their competitors who don’t.

Let’s look at the last nine months as an example. For a while, though you may argue this is still occurring today, there was a lot of confusion about new state mandates that dictated whether or not certain businesses could stay open and to what degree they were able to serve customers. The often-overused term “uncertainty” was simply an understatement. In fact, we saw an increasing number of customers asking questions about their favorite local businesses and brands, such as:

• Are you open?

• Did your hours change?

• Do you offer gift cards?

• Do you offer curb-side pickup?

• Can I dine in?

• Do you offer take out?

• How many people are allowed inside?

• Do I need a reservation?

In a world of uncertainty, it’s so important that you provide some “basic” certainties to your customers wherever possible. And the best way to do this is through advertising. Businesses that utilized their social media platforms, radio, Google My Business, podcasts, or their websites were more successful at keeping customers informed on hours, in-store policies, and new changes, thereby providing customers with more control over their shopping experience. This also helped their customers stay connected, and most importantly, loyal to their brand throughout statewide shutdowns.

Now, it is understandable that with the possibility of a recession on the horizon, you’ll want to find ways to scale back your operating budget. And though Hubbard Cinncinati doesn’t recommend cutting your marketing spend, we do, however, advise that you spend smarter.

Reduce Your Overhead; Maximize Your Spend

Many businesses assume it’s cheaper to do their own marketing in-house vs. hire a local digital agency. But this actually has the reverse effect. Rather than hiring your own marketing team, or having employees who are experts in other fields try to navigate through the complex world of PPC, social media advertising, and SEO, it’s much smarter, and in the long run more affordable, to contract a professional marketing agency to perform this work on your company’s behalf.

Why? When you hire a digital marketing agency, you don’t pay for their benefits or salary. You pay for them to do what they do best: strategize, implement, and monitor your advertising to maximize ROIs.

Industry experts, like Hubbard Cincinnati, understand how to help you set goals, generate and convert new leads, and track your performance, so you stay in control of your advertising spend. We take the guesswork out of marketing and help you evaluate what’s working, what’s not, and where there is untapped potential.

You give us your budget and we design a comprehensive strategy that aligns with your goals and prevents you from going over on budget or wasting money on advertising channels that don’t acquire customers or drive sales for your business.

Need a Full-Service Marketing Agency?

If you’re still on the fence on whether or not hiring a digital marketing agency can help you spend smarter and have your ads generate leads and improve conversions, contact our team, so we can show you our experience and award-winning talent in helping businesses thrive through challenges!

It all starts with a conversation! Contact us to learn how we can help!