Gym memberships were down on the whole, but sales of aerobic DVDs and home exercise equipment were up.  Restaurant sales were down, but the cinemas did very well.  Organic sales were down, but fair trade were up.  Whatever the economy, someone always benefits.  The question is, how do you make sure your business is in the right place to take advantage?  And, if you are in the right place, do you have the right skills and knowledge to take advantage?

2010 looks set to be another difficult year.  The majority of economists are predicting the continuation of recession at least into the summer.  Property down-cycles historically have taken 5 years to recover fully, so many estate agents are expecting another difficult year.

But, to add to the confusion, we have an election taking place.  Could that bring about the end of the recession?  It’s likely to have a huge impact on the economy – and it will certainly bring opportunities with it – regardless of which colour comes out on top.

Either way, the following are just a handful of the things we expect and will be watching with interest:

• Public sector jobs are likely to be at risk this year; following a huge investment from the government in 2009 to bolster our economy.
• As a result, trust will continue to be high on the agenda for consumers; further pushing Corporate Social Responsibility and ethical marketing trends.
• More redundancies will lead to more home-based businesses and technology is facilitating that
  
• Mobile phones will continue to develop and compete with hard-wired alternatives
• Property will continue to be deflated until the banks start lending money
• British holidays are likely to remain popular, as people get fed up with additional security measures and choose to support our economy instead (the weather will likely play a significant part in this.)

These are just our best guesses, based on what we’ve seen and read.  It’s crucial you know the trends within your industry and customer segments, so you will be better placed to take advantage and use your marketing research to capitalise on the opportunities 2010 will present.

If you don’t know… ask someone to help you.  You need to understand this information if you want to boost your business and take advantage of what 2010 has to offer.

20,000 followers of @themediaisdying on Twitter are receiving minute-by-minute accounts of the latest redundancies, mergers and closures as the media industry as we know it changes beyond all recognition.  So what’s going on?

Most media relies on advertising for it’s funding, for example: newspaper adverts pay for the journalists who write the stories people want to read – the reason they buy the papers and magazines.  Advertising breaks on TV pay for the broadcasting rights and cover the cost of providing the programmes people want to watch.  It’s always been perceived as a necessary evil – we have to receive the advertising in order to get the news / the programmes we want.

But, in recent years, this business model has changed – thank goodness.  With changes in technology, people can now fast-forward adverts on television and source their news online via the BBC or their favourite newspaper.  The power is back in the hands of the consumer – which is where it should be to my mind.  The market has also fragmented, with more suppliers competing for our attention, for example the plethora of new digital TV channels and new magazines / online newspapers and blogs.  As a result, big businesses are cutting their advertising revenues, because the returns are reducing.

And that’s where your business comes in – do you monitor return on investment from your advertising?  If so, is it reducing?  Could you be spending your money in a different area and getting better returns?  If you don’t know, it’s definitely time you started finding out.  Check back tomorrow for some tips on how you could cut your advertising spend.

They found that CRM is delivering the best returns on marketing investment.  Because we live in uncertain times at the moment, customers seem not to be switching suppliers.  In fact, they’re staying where they are unless they operate in a market which is very price-orientated.

Although people have been deferring replacement, particularly of large items such as cars, there is no indication of a change in loyalty – so CRM remains important.

They say that people buy from people they like.  And CRM is all about building closer relationships with your customers.  So, this strategy should work, regardless of the economic climate.

How much does it cost you to generate leads and convert customers?  And, how many marketing strategies do you have for acquiring new customers.  You need to add up the total cost of your marketing and divide that by the number of new customers to work out your acquisition costs.

For example – if you spend £5000 on advertising and marketing in a year and generate 1 new customer per month, each one has cost you £416.  You then need to calculate whether your average client spends £416 with you – and was therefore worth the investment.

When considering acquisition costs, think about the lifetime value of your customers, not just a one-off sale.  In the example above, it may cost you £416 to attract a new customer, but your average customer may order £200 worth of products every six months and usually stay with you for three years.  If so, the acquisition cost if justified.

If you have strategies for customer retention, you could improve your return on investment still further – but more on that next time…