What can marketers do in a recession?

Marketers have every reason to be concerned about the impending recession. After all, when firms tighten their belts, marketing is generally the first thing to go. However, as we’ve seen in the past, lowering marketing expenses isn’t always the best option.

As we enter an era of economic uncertainty, marketers must keep a few things in mind. Let’s explore.

Do Not Stop Advertising

According to Peter Steidl’s book “Survive, Exploit, Disrupt: Action Guidelines for Marketing in a Recession,” companies who boosted spending during a recession experienced a 4.3% gain in profits vs those that cut spending (0.8% increase).

Unfortunately, many companies do not think in this way. When faced with a recession, many firms’ first reaction is to cut marketing budgets and media spend. It makes sense that with less money coming in, there should be less money going out.

Following that fear-based instinct to reduce spending as much as possible would have the opposite impact. Think beyond the recession and concentrate on what is best for your company.

Lean Hard on ROI Analysis

How do you assess your teams, technology, and tools? By using your ROI analytics to focus on the channels, strategies, creatives, partners, and campaigns that actually increase brand awareness and, naturally, income.

Remember that your intuition can only take you so far in this evaluation. You could believe you understand what works and what doesn’t, as well as what gives you the most bang for your buck. But without the necessary information, you can’t really be certain.

In order to build on what is working and reduce what isn’t, you need to combine your own experience with valuable real-world facts.

Trust your ROI analysis when in doubt.

Dive Deep Into a Test & Learn Strategy

One of the finest methods to forecast the future is to learn from the past. We frequently discuss unified measurement and omnichannel optimization for this reason.

Just as cutting your advertising budget is not a good idea during a recession, maintaining the status quo is also not a good idea. If the epidemic taught us anything, it’s that challenging circumstances may give rise to fresh chances.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with your messaging, approach, or channel strategies. You don’t have to make significant adjustments or invest a lot of money in something new. Start off slowly.

To confidently make larger-scale updates, examine the data generated by these minor adjustments. You will be led through the recession by this data and the findings of your testing.

Be nimble, adaptable, and ready to pivot

Flexibility and quickness are critical in a recession or any unpredictable economic climate. How much and how rapidly can you adapt? Can you rise to the challenge of adjusting your media plan on the fly when your team’s media plan from the beginning of the year gets tossed out the window by Q2? Can you restructure plans for today and the future simultaneously?

To stay lean and agile, you must understand how your online and offline channels interact. Channels are more interconnected than many marketers know, and in order to implement these kinds of rapid changes, you must first understand how they interact.

Survival isn’t the only objective

With economic hardship and uncertainty looming, it’s all too tempting for marketers and brands to panic and respond rashly. Don’t let this happen to you.

Trim the fat and maintain your slender figure by utilizing the appropriate technologies, resources, and partners. Optimize your ROI by using clear-eyed analytics, testing, and learning to manage not only the current unexpected era, but also future uncertain eras.

Rather than simply surviving the impending downturn, the goal here is to thrive.