| American companies are tightening their advertising | | | | on the end result instead of the process. Let's face it. |
| budgets and finding new ways to entice customers | | | | In this economy, when it comes to PR, clients are |
| amid nationwide economic woes. MarketingSherpa's | | | | hungry for tangible results. |
| 2008 "Marketing During an Economic Downturn" | | | | As said before, the current economic slump is forcing |
| survey reports 60-percent of large companies are | | | | many companies to slash their marketing budget |
| significantly shrinking traditional type marketing budgets | | | | drastically. With a high demand for income, companies |
| this year. | | | | are employing new methods to generate quality leads |
| "What happens is that the current economic crisis puts | | | | and drive traffic to their websites. |
| pressure on advertisers to save money and find more | | | | One successful method is online marketing which has |
| effective marketing channels," said Karsten Weide, | | | | become a hotbed of activity in the promotion and |
| program director of Digital Marketplace and New | | | | sales of products. To survive in this "technology |
| Media at IDC. | | | | obsessed" marketplace, companies are not only fine |
| While much of what is left of the marketing budget is | | | | tuning their existing websites but are also developing |
| being filtered into online media, traditional advertising like | | | | ecommerce sites and blogging to gain online visibility - |
| newspapers are facing the biggest dip in revenue in 50 | | | | in addition to using the "old" stand-by of online |
| years according to The Newspaper Association of | | | | advertising. |
| America (NAA). | | | | But, with millions of websites in existence and |
| This advertising cutback is prompting many businesses | | | | staggering numbers of products being sold over the |
| to seek out cost-effective alternatives, such as PR, to | | | | internet (rather than the brick and mortar stores) |
| build their small and mid-sized businesses into larger | | | | promoting your company and products online has |
| ones. | | | | become yet another marketing obstacle to overcome. |
| Although corporations may understand the power of | | | | While search engine optimization (SEO), podcasting, |
| public relations, many assume that a media-focused | | | | vid-casting, blogging and social media marketing are all |
| PR campaign is beyond their fiscal reach. This comes | | | | great online promotional tools, there is still the challenge |
| down to the fact that most traditional public relations | | | | of how to drive people directly to your website or to |
| firms charge hefty monthly retainers without offering | | | | an online retail outlet to purchase your products. |
| any guaranteed results. | | | | And this is where publicity becomes more valuable |
| Yet, when it comes to PR the results are all that | | | | than ever before. Publicity is a classic promotional tool |
| matter. Executives are demanding more bang out of | | | | that is (and always will be) your direct path to potential |
| every buck, with none of them wanting to pay for | | | | consumers. Imagine having live conversations with tens |
| pitches that don't pan out. At the end of the day, | | | | of thousands, and in some cases millions, of people |
| executives and decision makers need to know that | | | | telling them to check out your website and order your |
| their financial investment will be rewarded with a | | | | products online! What could be better? |
| measurable return. | | | | A growing number of marketing departments and |
| While most PR firms want to be paid for the entire | | | | CEOs across the nation are sitting up and taking |
| campaign procedure, the philosophy of our firm is to | | | | notice. In these critical economic times, marketing |
| only get paid for the media exposure we obtain. We | | | | dollars are a precious commodity and must be |
| developed a fee structure based on the delivery of | | | | invested wisely. |
| radio and TV appearances, which forces daily focus | | | | |