PrintingNews.com

Following President Barack Obama's example, are you working on your marketing stimulus plan? Innovative marketing strategies are needed to thrive in any downturn and during this recession ideas are plentiful.

"To keep business at a profit, printers must emphasize previous successes to hold on to their best clients," said Alin Jacobs, president and chief marketing officer at Direct Marketing Alliance in New York City.

"This is a time for relationship building and giving your clients the best service and attention possible. Differentiate yourself from your competitors and emphasize the benefits you can bring to your clients. Keeping a stable of buyers through during this financial maelstrom will pay off in the coming years where tremendous growth can take place."

Getting from nowhere to somewhere however, requires a road map and there are many points to consider. "So many people hear stories about how tough it is to market during recessions, but don't realize which specific frugal and effective marketing tools they can use to increase their return on investment," said MarketingSavant Group CEO Dana VanDen Heuvel. "This type of actionable instruction is a breath of fresh air for anyone responsible for sustaining profitability and striving for growth in this downturn."

MarketingSavant Group has recently created a 90-page book, Marketing in a Downturn: Recession-Proof Strategies for Smart Marketers. It features more than 25 interviews with leading marketers, consultants, managers, and business owners who share their most effective marketing strategies for remaining profitable and sustaining growth during a downturn.

"In today's economic climate, the first thing that comes to mind is price, but it is not as easy as undercutting the next guy," said Sergio Alvarez chief operating officer and founder of New York City-based Ai Media Group. "It's more about what additional features and benefits a particular printer could offer, that is what will drive traffic and sales and help differentiate that printer from the next. Printers already have a captive audience with their clientele. By offering interactive services, they can keep that client from going elsewhere and meet their needs from a traditional and interactive buy."

"Price erosion will run rampant and many printers will operate at a loss simply to maintain relationships with existing clients and keep their machines running," counseled Jacobs. "Additionally, we foresee an increase in postage costs. The market is changing and we expect this trend to continue into next year."

With a tough climate on the horizon, there are still a few items no forward-looking marketing plan should be without but during an economic downtown other factors should also be given prime consideration. Your recession marketing plan should contain frugal, ethical and effective strategies that can immediately boost marketing return on investment, noted VanDen Heuvel.

Other things each print marketer should understand are how new approaches in digital and social media marketing can launch your company into new market opportunities. Make a point to become more technologically savvy ASAP as Internet marketing is one of the bright spots on the landscape.