"In good times, people want to advertise; in bad times, they have to."
- Bruce Barton
We reported this month that the number of sales agreed have fallen for the fourth month on the bounce. Sales agreed volumes decreased by 8% year on year in May and June, followed by a 5% fall in July and a further 6% decline in August.
Our analysts have warned that this will feed into lower transaction rates in Q4, which for removal firms suggests fewer jobs.
Higher swap rates are putting pressure on mortgage affordability, and the cost of living is decimating consumer confidence.
It can be tempting when you hear such news to worry about your pipeline, tighten spend and pray that you’ll ride through the storm. Marketing is often one of the first costs that gets cut.
This is a fatal error.
For removals and storage firms, the last thing you should do is disappear just when the competition for every move becomes even more important. This is when you need to show up the most!
The beauty of the housing sector is that people always move. There will always be those who are downsizing due to affordability, those relocating due to a relationship breakdown and even those lucky enough to still be able to afford to upsize. These movers could become your next customers. For storage firms, a slower housing market can create different storage opportunities as people delay a move, downsize or renovate.
In a poor economy, movers are harder to find, but they’re still out there. Marketing is the key to sourcing them. With fewer moves expected in Q4, it’s more important than ever to get your business in front of those who are still relocating. We’re forecasting 1.6 million transactions this year, so it’s still a sizeable market, and 5.6% higher than transaction volumes seen in 2024.
Use a weaker market as a reason to become more targeted with your marketing. Instead of pulling all your spend, take a closer look at what’s actually working and stop wasting money on channels that aren’t delivering. When you cut activity entirely, you risk fewer leads, fewer sales and, before long, it’s panic stations!
For removals firms, a weaker market may mean more people considering a DIY move to save money. That makes marketing even more important. Your job is to show potential customers what they are actually taking on: hours of packing, back-breaking lifting, multiple trips, the risk of damaged belongings and the sheer exhaustion of doing it yourself. For storage firms, the challenge is different. Some existing customers may decide storage is a luxury that they can no longer justify, so finding new customers becomes even more important to keep occupancy rates up. There is a huge audience of people who could benefit from storage but simply haven’t considered it. They may not realise they need the space, or even know that hiring a storage unit is an option, until a business puts it in front of them. Marketing is key to spreading the benefits your services bring and replacing any customers you lose in an economic downturn.
Not every marketing channel needs to be expensive. With budgets under pressure, you need to find channels that are affordable but produce results. For movers and storers, this means moving away from broad marketing, such as leafleting entire neighbourhoods where most people aren’t moving, and focusing on those who genuinely are. Identify who is about to move and target this audience directly so your direct mail lands in the hands of only those who really need it. For storage firms, you can drill down even further. Target those just listed for sale, fallen through properties, those that have been withdrawn or those who have newly moved. It’s just about being cleverer with who you target. That’s exactly how MoverAlerts can help you. We can provide homemover leads in your area, but you can specify at what stage in the moving journey you want to target these homemovers, as well as their property value, property type and more. We can even handle the fulfilment for you too.
Cutting marketing can feel like an obvious way to reduce costs during a downturn. But the evidence doesn’t support it. Research collated by the IPA highlights the potential benefits of continuing to advertise during recessions, particularly for businesses looking to maintain visibility. The IPA’s research warns that cutting marketing during a downturn can come at a cost, exposing businesses to lost market share, missed sales and a slower recovery in profits. Its analysis also found that businesses which increased their marketing investment during tough economic conditions reported stronger market share growth and higher average profits when the economy recovered.
“Studies of the last six recessions have demonstrated that companies which do not cut back their advertising budgets achieve greater increases in profit than companies which do cut back.”
- David Ogilvy on Advertising
It’s a well-documented and proven marketing principle. To give further evidence of this, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science’s research found brands that had:
Many businesses run scared during recessions – but this in itself offers opportunity. If competitors cut their marketing, you can potentially take a greater share of the remaining market by continuing to build brand awareness and win the remaining movers in the market.
Cutting marketing may save costs in the short term, but in the long term it will impact your revenue. During a quieter market, you must work harder to win your share of the moves that are happening. Don’t just sit around and wait for the market to improve.
And if you need further evidence that it works, the latest IPA Bellwether Report published in July found that UK companies are increasing their marketing spend, despite the economic and inflationary headwinds. Of those surveyed, 23.8% of respondents reported an increase to their marketing spend, in contrast to 16.9% who cut. Those who held marketing budgets or increased them know that cutting marketing is a death knell.
When considering your marketing during an economic downturn, you must consider what it is best to spend your money and effort on and what is going to provide the best return on investment. Direct mail is an affordable marketing channel that works. Spend your tight budget on targeted mailers to homemovers rather than blanket marketing.
Want to find out more about our highly effective marketing campaigns and how we can put you in touch with people in the moving journey? Give us a call. to discuss our local moving leads.