Cost Cutting
10 June 2020
Written by Acme Mag
When finances get tight and you make the decision to ‘trim the fat’ – how can you define what’s expendable?
Advertising, and by extension marketing are often the first to go. Even as a marketing magazine we can understand why. In times of crisis, businesses tend to stick to what they can see, touch and most importantly, understand.
Real estate is an industry that is heavily entwined with marketing and advertising, however, this doesn’t mean that every real estate professional has the knowledge of a well-versed marketing professional.
Why marketing and advertising NEEDS to stay
Before we get into areas you can potentially cut to make it through uncertain times, let’s outline why advertising needs to stay. Broadly speaking, advertising is a key part of the process of reaching new audiences, and some might say even more importantly, nurturing your current database. Advertising is a conversation, and if your marketing stops communicating, you can be sure that your competitors will pick up the conversation.
What to cut when times are BAD
‘Bad times’ can be categorised as the first stage of financial stress and when you first begin to cut costs.
1 / Print Advertising
We live in a digital world and although print can have serious business pay-off, when times are troubling we recommend to stop spending on printing costs and instead focus your attention to delivering your pieces digitally.
2 / Social Media Spend
When times are tough it’s not acceptable to stop social media, however, it is a wise decision to temporarily cut the amount of money you spend promoting your posts. On the topic of social media, if you post frequently, in the short term you can decide whether to temporarily lower how often you post, however, ensure that you’re posting at least once a week.
3 / Big Ticket Advertising
If you’re advertising on television, radio or big newspapers, these are areas you can look to temporarily cut back. Shift your ‘mass messaging’ to more conversational, communicative and cheaper mediums.
What to cut when times are DIRE
This is defined as a last-ditch effort to stay afloat. When in this moment your focus will likely be on advertising that’s going to have some pay-off in the short term because quite frankly, you’re not sure you’ll see the long term.
1 / Social Media
You’ve lowered SM spend by now, and now it’s time to lower it further. Opt to only put spend behind the super important pieces that serve your objective of survival.
2 / SEO
SEO is necessary for long-term business growth, but in desperate times, it’s okay to temporarily put SEO endeavours on hold.
3 / New Content
You may potentially be able to minimise the cost of content by repurposing quality messaging that fits the current climate. For example, if a past blog on your website is likely to be of interest to your customers in this time we recommend redelivering it.
