Time to Run or Time to Fly? The Wisdom of Marketing During a Recession

The economy is down, the real estate market is struggling. One day the news says the economy is recovering. The next day its back in the hole. Real estate does seem to be rebounding, but the higher sales are with the bargain properties. All of this may make you feel like hanging up your real estate hat for a while, or at least give you the idea to cut back on your marketing to save a little cash. But is that a good idea?

According to an article in The New Yorker, history shows that the companies that survive and even thrive during tough economic times, even during a depression, are the ones that find a unique marketing tool and push it. They double or even triple their marketing efforts. Many of the most successful companies of the 20^th century gained their long-term market share during the Great Depression.

Your instinct may be to hunker down, cut costs and save some of your advertising dollars, in hopes of simply maintaining during the current economic trouble. But studies have shown that increasing a company’s spending on acquisitions and advertising during a recession will increase, not decrease, your odds of surviving and thriving during financial chaos.

This may mean that the average real estate agent will have to change some of their marketing efforts, not only increasing them, but targeting a different market. Investors and first-time homebuyers are a huge market right now, and they are snapping up properties that 2 years ago they wouldn’t have imagined purchasing.

Fortunately, with increasing internet traffic and the increasing tendencies of home buyers to shop online, you could increase your advertising while still decreasing your costs. Without the cost of paper, ink, and distribution you can potentially reach a much larger market for the same amount of money. The best investment in advertising for you right now could be in domain names, a good e-newsletter service, a good web master, and a qualified assistant to manage it all.

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Interested in seeing how The Prescott Group can increase your marketing efforts?