Apparently, we aren’t all going to die, and the economy is not, it seems, going into the worst depression since the extinction of the dinosaurs.
So, maybe it is time to speak again of how you really ought to be marketing?
HOW BAD IS IT, RICH?
We have, you know, had multiple shocks to the gloom and doom crowd. Employment was up by over 2 million jobs in May. EVERY economist predicted another 8 million jobs lost. Boy, were they wrong.
The unemployment rate for May was 13.3%. That’s high, but it is hardly the end of life as we know it.
New unemployment claims have been down 11 weeks in a row. Did you know that? Probably wasn’t on the nightly news.
Figures are now in for online store sales in May. Guess what? They were highest ever, beating the 2019 holiday season. Amazingly, total retail sales in May (online and offline) were up 17% – the biggest single-month increase in history.
Read that again.
Just as important, signs are everywhere that things are getting back to normal. Along with the easing of restrictions, people’s attitudes have majorly changed. They just aren’t afraid anymore.
I’m not saying don’t take precautions. I’m saying people are done with it. They are going to live, and to heck with governments, doctors and pundits telling us to Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid.
We’re flocking to restaurants, beaches, bars. Major sports and movie theaters are returning. I was at my local park this last weekend and it was mobbed.
I think people are trying to make up for lost time.
There is no longer any question. This is far more of a “V” shaped (rapid) than an “L” shaped (long slow) recovery. And why not? There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the economy. It’s just that an awful lot of people just took a two or three month enforced vacation.
The entire country of Italy goes on vacation every summer for a month or so, all at once, and they survive it every year.
IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO BEAT THE CROWD
I’ve been preaching this for a while now, that those who continue to market, even those who INCREASE their marketing through this time, will be the ones to not just survive, but thrive.
This is very simple. Many businesses aren’t marketing right now. In some cases, they’ve gone out of business. In others, they may be just hanging on, and just don’t have the money.
In many more cases, people are just being cautious with their money. I’m not criticizing them, but I would like to point out that it creates a vacuum. An opportunity for those with the ability and the guts to be bold.
Millions of people are looking for goods and services online, right now. They will find the ones that are visible.
Do a little math. 13% unemployment means 87% employment. Or to put it another way, it’s a reduction of only 1/6th.
As I noted in a previous blog, people are hanging on to their money. Savings are running WAY up. That’s a lot of money burning holes in a lot of pockets. Well, people are getting the itch to spend some of that green.
Why not help them spend it?
Moreover, if you are marketing right now, it’s that much easier to get noticed amongst the silence of others who aren’t. And, advertising is cheaper in many cases as well. A recent survey found 63% of advertisers reporting online advertising as less expensive, versus only 6% who found the reverse.
Right now, your online advertising is often both less expensive AND more effective, if you’re doing a smart job of it.
There are so many opportunities right now. Being discouraged is just being out of touch with reality.
Got the message? Go Out And Market!
