How Should Brands Look to Grow Their Customer Base?

 

During times of economic downturn, it makes sense that business owners would want to put a little extra money aside for a rainy day or find new room in their budget to help retain their staff. One of the easiest expenses for many businesses to slash is marketing. While companies won’t come to a halt if they skip marketing their products or services for a while, cutting back on marketing efforts may not be the most strategic move to make amidst a recession.

According to Will Margiloff, Chief Strategy Officer, Zeta Global, this instinct to cut marketing budgets during difficult financial times isn’t unusual. “Marketing, especially digital marketing, is so quick. It’s easy to put up, it’s easy to take down. And marketing in general is an easy thing to cut. You’re not cutting bodies, you’re not cutting people, you’re not cutting emotions, right? So very easy for teams to look at. You know, here’s a way we can slice off hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars to try and hunker down. And that’s been pretty consistent in many of the downturns,” Margiloff explained.

Despite this natural inclination to want to spend less on marketing during recessions, Margiloff feels that the companies who continue to prioritize marketing can reap the benefits of sticking around, “There’s this opportunity for challenger brands to come up and gain market share. And you’ve seen that happen historically over and over and over again, all the way back into the depression,” Margiloff said.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

career
Stop Chasing Titles, Build a Career That Matters – From a CAO
March 11, 2026

Career advice in finance and accounting often centers around promotions, titles, and compensation. But in an era where professionals frequently change jobs every few years—the average American worker now stays in a role less than four years—industries are facing growing talent shortages and reevaluating what long-term career success looks like. The question many professionals are…

Read More
Career success
A CEO’s Blueprint for Career Success: Leading with Love to Drive Performance and Culture
March 10, 2026

Leadership right now feels heavier than it did just a few years ago. Teams are stretched, expectations are high, and many employees are quietly disengaged. In fact, Gallup’s 2025 U.S. data shows that only about 31% of employees are actively engaged at work, leaving the majority feeling disconnected or indifferent. For CEOs and senior…

Read More
employer-sponsored apprenticeships
The Degree That Pays You Back: How Employer-Sponsored Apprenticeships Are Rewriting Higher Ed
March 9, 2026

Higher education is under pressure. Over the past few years, public confidence in the value of a four-year degree has declined significantly, with fewer Americans expressing a strong belief that traditional higher education delivers a worthwhile return on investment. At the same time, employers consistently report that graduates lack job-ready skills—particularly the “durable skills”…

Read More
Denial Data
Turning Denial Data Into Action: How Healthcare Organizations Can Fight Back Against Payer Denials
March 5, 2026

Healthcare providers across the U.S. are facing a growing wave of claim denials that is putting pressure on already strained hospital finances. Industry research from the American Hospital Association shows that nearly 15% of medical claims submitted to private payers are initially denied, forcing hospitals and health systems to spend about $19.7 billion annually attempting…

Read More