Increase Ad Spending With Rising Oil Prices

Turn on your TV, radio, or pick up a newspaper and pay attention for five minutes. In that time you should come across at least one story about sky-rocketing oil prices. For some companies rising gas prices can be beneficial to sales. For example, scooter dealers across the country show record sales each time the gas prices spike. According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, scooter sales were up 64.5 percent over the previous quarter a year ago. The main selling point of course being great fuel economy.

Of course, some of these companies are making money simply by being in the right place at the right time, but the savvy business owner knows to capitalize on any situation regardless of current market conditions. You know the old saying… when life hands you lemons, make lemon squares (it’s something like that…we can’t be expected to remember all those adages).

If you’re an avid reader of self-help books (particularly the kind that are supposed to help you be a better salesperson/business owner), you should have read by now that you shouldn’t lower your sales expectations because of a slumping economy. Your business should thrive independently of it because you are making the right moves to preempt a decline in sales. One such move is to make better use of your advertising and marketing budget.

A common concern we get is that when there is a tough economical situation, advertising and marketing are the first budgets to get cut. In reality, the opposite should be true. Not only because you’re helping to get the word out about your business but also because your competitors are likely trimming their advertising budget to cope with slumping sales. By increasing your efforts you’re not only getting your message out there more frequently, but you also appear to be more present because your competitor is not. It’s a win-win.

So while we really have no control over rising oil prices and there doesn’t appear to be any remedy in sight, keep in mind that consumers aren’t bringing their spending to a complete halt, they’re just becoming more involved with their purchases and looking for the better value. If you can prove you’re the one who will give it to them, you may actually see an increase in sales.

Yeosh and Jon are the creative brains behind Push Button Productions, an award-winning commercial ad production company. Push Button was recently awarded a Gold ADDY and a Charlie Award at the District ADDY’s in Saint Petersburg