It’s easy to get past Halloween, cozy nights with pumpkin spice lattes, and start thinking of your week off between Christmas and New Year. But the danger of sliding through the end of the fourth quarter is the loss of marketing momentum.

What is Marketing Momentum?

In lay terms, momentum is the energy of motion. It’s kinetic motion as opposed to stored or potential motion. Marketing Momentum is the result of your campaigns working toward the same goal. In many ways marketing momentum has to do with the mindset of the company and the energy spent toward marketing efforts. If you slow down, your marketing momentum will as well.

“Momentum is a physics term; it refers to the quantity of motion that an object has. A sports team that is on the move has the momentum. If an object is in motion (on the move) then it has momentum.” Physics Classroom 

When small businesses feel they no longer need to use social media, for example, I use the example of a steam locomotive. Once running, a steam locomotive has the existing kinetic energy and potential energy of the coal burning to boil water. Should you decide to stop shoveling coal into the firebox, that train, fully stoked, will run for some time on the tracks until the water no longer produces steam. Gravity, depending upon the course of the train may help or hinder the kinetic energy as well. 

What Does a Train Have to Do With Marketing Momentum?

If you want your train to reach the end of the line, you must continue to stoke the fire. You can’t stop because you’ve reached the second to the last station. If you want your business to meet its marketing goals, you can’t stop because you’re daydreaming about extra profit for end-of-year bonuses, decorating your Christmas tree, or preparing for Hanukkah. 

And, hey, I get it. It’s easy to become distracted by family, non-stop events, and gift buying. It’s natural to want to work fewer hours as daylight decreases. This is when grit and determination are important. Sure, your business can coast for a while, but what are the potential threats to that decision?

Reducing Marketing Momentum is an Opportunity for Your Competition 

Simply stated, reducing marketing momentum presents an opportunity for your competition. Much of marketing is about building (and maintaining) brand awareness. As economic uncertainty comes into play, your customers may forget you’re still in business. If they stop seeing your posts, they may think you’re out of business. 

During the 2009 economic downturn at Riggins Construction & Management Inc., we turned to blogging and social media to remind our customers that we were still in business. Uncertainty is always an opportunity for those in healthy financial and business positions. 

Marketing Budget and Marketing Momentum

The real question about marketing momentum is can you really afford to reduce the marketing budget in the fourth quarter? How will that impact the first quarter of next year? Will it take more effort (and budget) to build back up your momentum? What customers will you lose? And what do you really gain? 

I’m happy to engage in a complimentary sales call or paid marketing consultation to guide you through these questions. Often shifting budget is a better strategy than eliminating it altogether.