I'm brushing up my quantitative skills in preparation for my first semester of MBA classes this fall, and it's led me to one of the best and most encouraging AHA!...
Tonight I came home starving. I opened all the cabinets, peered into the fridge, looked out on the porch for any forgotten, orphaned root vegetables, and eventually came up with a delicious meal that mainly involved left-over chicken tenderloins and egg noodles.
Now, I used to be a professional chef. I can do the Iron Chef thing with the best of them. But I'll admit that I usually would prefer to be able to buy the freshest produce, the best cut of meat, the obscure fresh herb or seasoning that makes a dish really rock -- and often makes it an official "secret" recipe.
But in hard times, I can't. I need to rely more on noodles and ramen, less on nori and rabe.
When I put together a marketing plan, especially under restricted financial circumstances, it's the same issue. How can I best allocate these (extremely) limited resources to achieve the best possible result?
That's why social media marketing is something that can really shine in a recession. Done right, done thoughtfully, it can wring more value out of a marketing dollar than traditional means can.
Better yet, it can be done with assets that you may already have in your kitchen organization.
Look in your cupboards: what do you find?
- An employee knowledgeable about how to engage your customers on Twitter?
- An employee who can write a blog on a consistent basis?
- Awareness that your market segment is active on one or more social networks?
- A little bit of time?
- A little bit of willingness?
Sounds like soup to me.
I've written about this before, back in February, when things didn't look nearly as grim as they do today, and when the Interactive Marketing team at Forrester Research published a free report titled Strategies for Interactive Marketing in a Recession.
In short, the report maintains that interactive marketing:
- Provides measurable results
- Costs little to maintain and use
- Keeps customers engaged, even when they’re not buying
Check it out. It still stands up, even all these horrific months later.
Give it some thought.
What ingredients do you have on hand?
What flavors will work magic for you?
What kind of soup can YOU make?