Small firms bank on marketing to deal with the slowdown

18 August 2008

A significant number of small firms are looking at an increase in marketing spend as a way of coping with the economic downturn.

A survey of 700 small businesses by the Open University Small Enterprise Research Team (SERT) found that almost half (49 per cent) were considering upping their marketing efforts to tackle falling sales. Some 42 per cent said that they regarded chasing new markets as the best way to handle the slowdown.

A spokesperson for the SERT said: “Normally the first thing businesses think of cutting back on is marketing and PR. To increase spending in these areas may seem counterintuitive, but this is exactly what firms should be doing to survive.”