When volumes are down, a lot of brokers stop spending on marketing. It makes some sense because when volumes are down, Volatility is down and that in turn means that less people are interested in trading, whether they are new or experienced traders. Having less volume also means that there are lower earnings, so the first thing to cut is that juicy marketing budget. And that’s what happens.
Don't Abandon Your Marketing Strategy Just Yet...
However, while this makes some sense, there is still business to be picked up. If you keep a close eye on your KPIs and optimize spend where needed, it really doesn’t have to impact your Acquisition as much; particularly because other brokers will be doing less marketing (something which we see during holiday periods too). The income per client will be lower due to lower volatility though, so figure out what that number is and make sure you hit KPIs to continue making a profit. In addition, time and time again research has shown that those brands that spend during a downturn grow faster after that downturn. And while this is not a business driven by Brand as much as others, this is also a consideration to make.
But if you have to make a decision on where to cut and where to keep spending; I would cut brand building budgets over direct marketing budgets, I would cut direct marketing budgets over customer loyalty budgets and I would cut customer loyalty budgets over sales and support (team) budgets.
