What's the Best Use of Your Marketing Budget in a Down Economy

Is your marketing budget shrinking or limited? Traditionally a downturn in the economy means your marketing budget is going to be one of the first things to get cut. Maybe yours has already been slashed. In the wake of the global financial crisis this is a common occurrence among marketing executives. A MarketingProfs survey of over 600 marketing professionals and managers said weather the market continues to fluctuate or falls into a recession, 75% of marketers surveyed expect the impact of the crisis will extend through 2009 and into 2010.

 

The problem with choking budgets is that as a marketer, you’re still expected to produce results or even exceed expectations for the year. Virtually do more with less resources.

 

In these shaky economic times it’s not just your budget that’s on the line, it’s your job as well. The fight between CFO vs. CMO is a constant one in any economy, but particularly in today’s times it’s vitally important to your job and your companies lively hood to maximize every dollar left in your budget.

 

The best use of any online marketing budget is to optimize your conversion rate so each and every dollar works twice as hard. Incremental continuous improvement in your online conversion funnel is key to getting the most out of every dollar left. Marketers today cannot afford to chase dollars, they need to convert more clicks into customers to get more results with smaller budgets that show real return. A website conversion optimization strategy will outlive your marketing campaigns by converting traffic at a higher rate, month after month regardless of your budget.

 

Improving the effectiveness of your website through scientific testing will make your dwindling budget workable again. Whether your company intends to decrease spending or not, small improvements in your online sales funnel add up to large gains that will keep you in business.