For the past couple of months, I have been watching a group of companies (all large, in two distinct spaces) to see if they are taking advantage of one of the few silver linings of the economic downturn.
There's a literal fire sale going on right now in almost every form of media.
In this completely non-scientific study, I used my own reading, viewing and surfing habits to see who, if anyone, is taking advantage this landscape.
I also enlisted a few 'friends' whose habits are definitely not the same as mine.
There are some true stand outs. Large, 'old-school' companies that have embraced SEO, Social Networking, Microblogging and more. The list came as a complete surprise, as it was others that I expected to be there.
On the whole, about 15% of the companies we watched were rolling out extremely cost effective marketing campaigns and, in fact, they are the ones whose balance sheets are showing it (relative to the economy).
The question becomes ...
Where's everyone else?
While not every advertising vehicle is right for every company, current pricing makes it 'more-than-reasonable' in MANY cases.
Just a few overlooked areas:
Medium and small market TV, medium and small market radio, satellite TV (and radio), rural newspapers, and yes, PPC!
How about wholesale classifieds?
It's still not just about Craigslist.
PPC rates are the lowest in many spaces that they've been in years.
The buyers either aren't there at all or they're doing the complete opposite. Overdoing it by just taking position 1 and throwing $$$ in the trash.
It's the Mix that's the Magic ...
and in these times, it's more important than ever.
Take a close look at where your ad dollars are going!.
Experiment with a variety of options.
If it doesn't work, try some others.
Almost any company, large or small, should be able to bring a reasonable amount of visibility to their product or service right now.
My two cents for this week. Hopefully back to posting more often soon!
Good week all!
Charlie
edit 3:42 PM ET Tues