THE LATEST: Marketing, Recessions, and the Opportunities Ahead

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Let's talk hard realities today, my friends, shall we?

Reality #1:

I'm not an economist.

Reality #2:

We're entering a bear-market. Recession seems inevitable (if not already here).

Reality #3:

Incredible opportunities will come from the difficulty in the months ahead.

A Look Back at 2008

If we look back at 2008, unlike today, we weren't given much warning regarding the economic meltdown.

It literally seemed to all happen almost overnight, shocking just about everyone — most experts included.

This time it's different.

We've all been seeing the signs for a while, which of course leads to many questions around the boardroom.

One of these questions — and it's a tale as old as time — is often, "Should we cut our marketing spend?"

To this, I can only grab my forehead in anguish.

When my swimming pool company was at its lowest point in 2009, and we saw debt piling up around us with little hope ahead, I can still distinctly remember pulling out my personal credit card to get HubSpot and start using the tool.

Why would I make such an irrational and potentially stupid fiscal decision?

Because I knew great marketing was the only thing that would save our business.

As it turns out, this little move with HubSpot, along with some simple philosophy called They Ask, You Answer (TAYA), would end up making us the most trafficked swimming pool website in the world over the next three years.

Not only did it save the company, but it ended up being the catalyst for what is now a movement all over the world.

Thousands and thousands of companies are now doing TAYA.

There are certified TAYA coaches around the globe.

And the stories just keep pouring in.

It's amazing to see.

I mention this simple story to reiterate these two points:

Had we cut marketing at the time, River Pools would not exist today.
Had we cut marketing at the time, TAYA never would have become this incredible movement.

Are you picking up what I'm putting down?

Folks, I can't predict what's ahead, but I do know this: Great marketing is ESSENTIAL to our business growth and survival.

Instead of letting off the gas, now is the time to push harder. Get creative. Do things others in your space have never done.

And in the process, you just might stumble upon something that will change your life forever.

Look at the home page of your website right now. How many "you" and "your" pronouns do you have in your copy? (Seriously, count them.)

Now count how many "we" and "our" pronouns are in your copy.

Are you seeing the point of the exercise?

Ideally, you should be 80% "you/your" and 20% "we/our" — yet most companies are the literal opposite.

Ouch.

(Need help with your website's messaging? Let's talk about it here.)

On average, if someone is looking for "cost" and "price" information on your website, and they cannot find it, they'll stay for about 10 seconds until they leave.

Yeah, not good.

So the question is, are YOU discussing cost and price well on your website right now?

OK friends, that will do it for this week.

Got a personal question for me?

Cool. Let me know what's on your mind at msheridan@impactplus.com.

(Yes, that's my personal email. And yes, I'll actually respond.)

Hugs and high fives,