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

SEO
SEO in the Age of AI: What CMOs and CEOs Need to Know About AEO and GEO
November 20, 2025

In an era when AI-driven search experiences are reshaping how customers discover brands, marketing leaders are navigating a confusing landscape of new acronyms, shifting behaviors, and bold industry predictions. Despite widespread claims that “SEO is dead,” the data tells a different story: organic search traffic has continued to grow even as platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini,…

Read More
From the Bench: How Research Can Help Us Build a Future-Ready Global Healthcare Workforce | Lauren Herckis | EP 18
From the Bench: How Research Can Help Us Build a Future-Ready Global Healthcare Workforce
November 20, 2025

The Care Anywhere podcast is taking listeners behind the scenes of global health workforce research with a brand-new series: From the Bench. In this kickoff episode, host Lea Sims talks with Dr. Lauren Herckis of TruMerit about how research can move from data to real-world impact — revealing how evidence, collaboration, and curiosity are driving…

Read More
purpose
Elevate Your Career Journey by Choosing Purpose, Practicing Intentionality, and Building a Culture of Belonging
November 19, 2025

Purpose doesn’t just shape what we do—it shapes how we grow. When we choose to move through our careers with intention, we start noticing the moments that build trust, the conversations that deepen understanding, and the relationships that elevate our impact. This episode of Professional Quotient digs into what it really means to show up…

Read More
Christie Linebarger
Christie Linebarger’s Journey to Leadership: Grit, Growth & Leading with Heart
November 19, 2025

Leadership conversations are shifting as companies navigate rapid change, tighter labor markets, and evolving employee expectations. Teams want leaders who show up with humility, clarity, and a genuine investment in people—traits that can’t be faked and can’t be automated. And with studies consistently linking team engagement to the quality of direct leadership, understanding how effective…

Read More