Based on the current trend (writing halfways through April 2020), and speaking from my own context of marketing and business coaching, I’ve seen a pretty frantic move to cut marketing budgets across the board.
Which makes sense, at least, initially. You’re not making money. You need to cut costs. So you cut all the stuff you can’t prove is making you money.
And that’s where the problem is. Most businesses don’t really know if their marketing is making them money. I’m willing to bet it’s usually doing things they can’t really trace. But it’s still contributing even if you can’t always measure it.
The challenge, whenever we get out of this thing, is that a whole lot of companies will find their pipeline has dried up. They didn’t invest in marketing, and while that doesn’t initially impact pipeline, it does impact pipeline down the road.
Marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Cut spending there at your own peril.
