When the going gets tough, some businesses are tempted to 'batten down the hatches', cut spending across the board and simply hope for the best. Is this wise?

With virtually every market sector under pressure, it can be hard to decide on how best to react to changing conditions. However one constant remains: sales leads are the lifeblood of any business. So, it's essential that sufficient resources are devoted to those marketing activities that can generate quality sales leads. Furthermore, if your competitors decide to scale back on their marketing efforts, your commitment to lead-generation can pay real dividends, making it even easier for you to grow your market share.

However that's not to say businesses shouldn't consider adapting their marketing strategies to suit current conditions. With every penny of expenditure having to be justified, it's wise to devote even more effort to monitoring the effectiveness of each marketing activity and carefully assessing which are likely to generate the highest returns for your business.

Adapt the messages you communicate to customers

It's also worthwhile considering how a downturn may affect purchasing decisions in your market. Re-evaluate which features and benefits you wish to highlight - even if they worked well in the past, they may not be so productive in today's market. The business computing market is a classic example of how marketing departments have adapted their messages to suit new conditions. In the past, new products that promised to improve the performance of business processes may have swayed buyers. Today, messages about new systems that consume less energy - and, hence, cost less to run - are often more likely to result in a sale. So it's essential that you consider how your own customers' 'buying motivations' may have changed, and then adapt your marketing messages to fit.

You should also be prepared to reconsider the techniques and media that you use to communicate with your market and assess which methods are best suited to changing conditions. Advertising can absorb a lot of funds, so it may be beneficial to reduce your spend on awareness-based advertising and develop more closely targeted campaigns which are easier to evaluate in terms of ROl.lt is also wise to seek to tap into more opportunities for free publicity, via PR.

So you've generated the leads - now use support materials to convert them into sales

If you're exhibiting at trade events, make sure your stand works harder for your business. When you add up the space and manning costs, a little extra investment in well-designed banners and display boards can be easily justified, especially if they help generate more sales leads.

If you want to boost your sales lead generation rates, perhaps a greater proportion of your overall marketing spend should be devoted to demand creation activities such as direct mail, email shots and telemarketing. However avoid skimping on the design and quality of brochures and information sheets, as these can be invaluable as follow-up mailers after a telemarketing campaign. Furthermore, having generated more sales leads, items such as corporate capability brochures that have a quality 'look and feel' can help to build your company's image as an organization that's worth doing business with, which then helps to convert those leads into orders.

In challenging conditions, successful businesses keep on doing business. It's not a case of 'business as usual', more a case of marketing with a sharper focus on boosting the bottom-line. To discuss how Kall Kwik's design and print team can help you achieve more with your marketing communications budget, please give us a call on 01962 864900.