Life is a Box of Chocolates- How Often Do I Have to Be Reminded?: Consistent Marketing

Forrest Gump once said that “Life is like a box of chocolates…….you never know what you’re gonna get”. Apparently, Hershey’s did not remind consumers of chocolate often enough. Hershey, the maker of Hershey Kisses, Reese’s (Which I’ve been stealing out of my children’s stash since Easter) and Kit Kat bars “...suffered a setback last year after the company failed to do enough advertising for its core products after it stopped selling limited edition items, such as marshmallow-filled Reese’s…” (Personal Aside: Why screw up a perfectly good Reeses? Although I do enjoy the white chocolate version).
Now, if Hershey’s, a 107-year-old company, has a fall off in sales due to a decline in marketing, what does that say about a small business owner? My conclusion: Never stop marketing, regardless of how far down the to-do list it falls. I've talked to numerous business owners over the years who said: “Yea, I’m so busy with the business I have now, that I’ve stopped my marketing efforts- but I’ll get to it later”. (Reference: Wall Street Journal, 4-19-07, “The Case for a Hershey-Cadbury Romance”)
The Lesson: Maintaining a consistent marketing effort will keep your pipeline of business full. If customers can forget about buying Hershey bars, they can probably forget about your business!