Marketing experts busy in hard times

Doug Williams, president of Doug Williams and Associates

Tough economic times are holding back growth across much of Clark County this year, but in one segment, at least, business is up. Marketers are making money.

“Companies have cut a lot in areas of operations, but they are promoting themselves,” said Doug Williams, owner of 12-employee Doug Williams & Associates, a Vancouver marketing and Web development firm. “They are desperate to keep sales growing, and they’re looking for cost-efficient ways to market themselves.”

Here’s what the marketers are saying:

-- “The number of clients I work with has increased twofold from about March of this year,” said Scott Dunford, owner and sole employee of Dunford Marketing in La Center.

-- “I have more new business meetings this week than I did last week — knock on wood,” said Betsy Henning, principal at AHA!, a Vancouver marketing and communications firm which has worked with Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo! and other big names.

-- “We’re one-fourth of the way through the month, and we’ve already hit 50 percent of our sales goals,” said Williams.

-- “We had a really busy summer,” said Bret Van Horn, president and creative director of Camas-based Workshed Creative Agency. And even though business has cooled some since September — a typical seasonal trend — Workshed is still even with a year ago.

Money conscious

“My clients’ businesses are down anywhere from 20 to 70 percent,” said Dunford, who specializes in direct marketing for day spas, golf courses, resorts and others in entertainment sectors. “They offer the nonessentials, and their customers cut down during tough times. I’ve seen a lot of clients cutting back on traditional forms of advertising because of expense and cash-flow problems,” he said. But lower-cost alternatives still appeal.

Print, TV and radio ads are also losing favor among clients of Doug Williams & Associates, Williams said.

“We’re seeing a lot of search engine optimization right now, because it’s really low cost,” he said, referring to an online marketing technique that aims to match businesses with Web searchers.

Workshed Creative, which develops interactive online marketing and advertising campaigns, is preparing to launch a new lower-cost Web offering.

“Money is tight for many people, so rather than trying to fight it we’re trying to find new solutions,” Van Horn said.

AHA!, which works on much larger national projects than most local marketers, has also had to respond to clients’ shifting needs.

“During more somber economic times, clients do away with some of the frivolity that marketing can be accused of and return to gravitas,” Henning said. “They want to say something true, not something silly.”

But AHA! clients have not made rapid changes, which is a reflection of the long-term projects the company takes on, Henning said.

Marketers are enjoying their business boom while it lasts, but many also worry that the economic slowdown could trickle down to them.

“As with all businesses right now, we’re being cautious,” Van Horn said. “We’re trying to get our name out there so we can continue to work with people who want quality custom design.”

“I don’t think there’s a single person out there that isn’t worried about the economy,” Henning said.

“It’s scary, knowing how tough it is out there for everyone else,” Williams said. “Hopefully it will hold up for us.”