Should You Be Marketing During a National Crisis?
November 4th, 2024 by
- Data shows that marketers who continue marketing during economic, political, health, or environmental crises recover faster and build stronger customer trust than those who cut back.
- In times of crisis, whether it’s an economic downturn or a natural disaster, your marketing strategy must adapt to meet changing consumer needs and maintain visibility.
- Digital marketing channels like SEO, PPC, and performance TV provide high value during crises by maximizing reach and minimizing wasted ad spend.
- Staying focused on brand longevity positions you for growth and success once the uncertainty passes.
In a world where change is the only constant, every brand’s ability to adapt is tested time and again. Whether facing economic downturns, political unrest, health epidemics, or environmental disasters, marketers have to remain agile to respond to the inevitable effects of a national crisis.
Yet, one thing remains true: Resilience in these trying times separates thriving brands from the rest.
Today, as the economy shows signs of potential future instability, the 2024 election nears, and devastating hurricanes wreak havoc in Southern states, the stakes for such adaptability and resilience are higher than ever. Marketers across the country face a dilemma: retreat and cut brand marketing budgets or seize the moment to strengthen their brand’s longevity.
Cutting down on marketing during a crisis is a tale as old as time, though not a wise one. While crises often cause public turmoil, they also create valuable opportunities to maintain loyalty with your core audience and earn new customers at the same time.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss the importance of marketing during a national crisis and show you how to maintain strategic advantage during times of adversity.
Importance of Brand Communication in Times of Uncertainty
Here’s the stark reality: If you halt advertising during a national crisis, you delay your rebound and stifle your brand’s potential.
Yes, consumers tend to temporarily alter their spending habits during tough times, prioritizing essential goods versus discretionary ones. But if you follow suit and slash your marketing budget to the very bare bones, you risk missed opportunities to stay top-of-mind when it matters most.
Properly managing business disruptions, should they occur, is essential to maintaining a steady connection. When you keep your audience updated about any changes to your operations — whether it’s new safety measures, service interruptions, or modified hours — you demonstrate your commitment to their well-being and ensure they don’t feel left in the dark.
As the country recovers from the mayhem, your target audience will, too (in time). If you don’t remain present, they won’t be thinking about your brand, even when they have the mental capacity to. Steady engagement builds trust and shows that you remain reliable and transparent during challenging times.
Failure to do so translates to a crucial blow to your brand’s health, keeping you ten steps behind your competitors who were actively engaged during the mayhem.
Tips for Budgeting for Smarter Marketing
Hesitation is the enemy of progress. Instead of going into hibernation mode during a recession, brands need to embrace the challenge and pivot to a proactive budgeting approach.
Don’t be tempted by budget cuts
In times of crisis, the knee-jerk reaction is to tighten the purse strings, often resulting in reduced, or even halted, advertising spend. Sure, budget cuts give you the illusion that they’re helping your brand, especially in the short term.
But, spoiler alert: Marketing research suggests otherwise.
Instead of cutting the cord on marketing spend, shift your focus to staying visible and resilient to set your brand up for long-term success and faster recovery.
As Hubspot says regarding crises like recessions, “… just keeping promotional spend flat will put your brand in a dominant position. As an example, if all the companies in your category cut their promotional spend in half, suddenly your budget that was 10% of the total share of voice now doubles to 20% as a result.”
Explore cost-effective advertising channels
Advertising doesn’t always have to be synonymous with “expensive” — it boils down to what you choose to spend your dollars on.
Digital marketing tactics, whether through SEO (search engine optimization), PPC (pay-per-click) ads, or performance TV, are generally an economically efficient choice. For example, online ad campaigns offer distinct advantages over traditional methods, such as precise targeting, expanded reach, and real-time performance metrics, helping you maximize your impact while minimizing wasted ad spend.
SEO is also an excellent, cost-effective choice for maintaining visibility in search and driving long-term growth among your prospects. Start implementing strong SEO tactics now, and you just might see considerable results by the time the crisis is over.
Whichever your preferred channel(s), focus on the ones that are most cost-effective for you. Those with the best cost-to-performance ratio will keep your brand afloat even in the most unexpected times.
Stay focused on the long-term
You’ve likely heard marketing is a long game. Go all in for the long haul.
Consumer spending may dip temporarily, but your mission is to use this time wisely. Position your brand as a dominant presence in the minds of potential and existing customers, even if they’re not making immediate purchases. The downtime is a ripe opportunity to refine your strategic plans and strengthen your marketing processes to set your brand up for success when business picks back up.
Think of your advertising opportunity today as a brand and pipeline-building objective for tomorrow. Focus on preparing for the future and what you can control rather than reacting to short-term fluctuations.
Doing so makes you the go-to choice when they’re ready to buy, unlocking the key to loyal customers.
Effective Marketing Strategies During a National Crisis
Marketing during an economic crisis
Marketers en route to budget cuts during a recession should take a lesson from the mighty hand of the Great Recession of 2008. This economic downturn hit marketers hard and their strategies even harder.
But it was kind to those who stayed the course.
As the saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Kantar research shows that brands that took the risk to continue advertising during the 2008 recession recovered 9x faster than those who jumped ship.
Flipping the angle, Millward Brown data exposed the consequences of cutting advertising spend during this time. A staggering 60% of brands that paused TV ad spending for just six months experienced a 24% decline in brand use and a 28% drop in brand image. Brands that slashed budgets more aggressively than competitors faced an even grimmer fate — a painful loss of market share.
For businesses already grappling with revenue losses, reducing marketing budgets during a recession often spells disaster. Your strategy must adapt, whether the intensity of a recession is minimal or as impactful as 2008.
Recommended strategies
To navigate low consumer sentiment, maximize your budget, and effectively market your business during a recession:
- Allocate budget funds to the most value-driven marketing channels proven to work for your brand
- Offer brand discounts, promotions, bundled services, or loyalty programs to reach cost-wary buyers
- Highlight the cost-effectiveness and long-term savings of your products or services
Marketing during a political crisis
From government shutdowns to civil unrest and corruption scandals, political crises are historic shock factors that often lead to mass mayhem. Among these, elections introduce power shifts that, while typically orderly, can still disrupt markets and shake public confidence.
With the 2024 election just around the corner, political advertisers are flooding the market, grabbing all the valuable ad real estate they can get, and, ultimately, dominating consumer attention. Regardless of their political leanings, your online prospects are navigating a presidential transition, and their uncertainty about the immediate future is at its peak.
Despite the so-called “election year effect,” your brand doesn’t have to get lost in the shuffle. Your job is to acknowledge and address the heightened consumer uncertainty head-on.
In times of political transition, consumers may be more cautious with their decisions, seeking stability and clarity. As a marketer, this is your opportunity to position your brand as a reliable constant amid the noise. Focus on crafting messages that reassure, offering value and trust when consumers need it most.
Recommended strategies
To reach your audience and adapt your marketing during an election year (or any form of political crisis:
- Focus your budget on long-term brand awareness to ensure your presence remains strong during and after the unrest
- Prioritize clear, transparent communication to reassure your audience during times of political change or uncertainty
- Avoid polarizing or controversial messages to maintain broad appeal and avoid alienating any part of your customer base
Marketing during a health crisis
Much like the Great Recession of 2008, marketers learned valuable insights during the COVID-19 pandemic — this time, in the context of marketing during a global health crisis.
COVID-19 or not, a health crisis is often an agent of chaos, but it does bring brands real opportunity. Marketers should hold steady and adopt proactive strategies that position their brand as a trusted leader when customers need it most.
As consumers tightened their belts and hunkered down at home, many brands instinctively pulled the plug on their advertising expenditures during COVID-19. According to Marketing Week research, more than half (55%) of marketers either delayed launching campaigns or were rethinking budget commitments in March 2020, the month the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
The outcome? An environment teeming with advertising inventory but devoid of competition. Advertising costs plummeted to historic lows during the pandemic year (from March 2020 to the following year), resulting in astonishingly low costs per lead (CPL).
With more people at home, significantly more time was spent online. In March 2020, Facebook reported record usage each day, creating ripe advertising opportunities for many marketers who just wouldn’t bite.
In this chaotic landscape, the brands with a solid marketing strategy were the ones setting themselves up for success in the future.
At Search Influence, we saw the success of our clients who chose to stick it out. In March 2020, one of our higher education marketing clients’ Facebook Display campaign generated the most inquiries in one month since its launch. There was also a 111% increase in inquiries from Google Smart Display month-over-month. For Q1 2020, our client achieved an impressive 47% of 2019’s inquiries — with only 29% of their budget.
Recommended strategies
To effectively manage prospect and customer relations during a health crisis:
- Allocate funds to digital marketing channels, such as social media and email, where engagement increases as people spend more time online
- Emphasize health and safety in your messaging, reassuring prospects that their well-being is your top priority during uncertain times
- Shift to virtual services or events, offering online consultations, webinars, or shopping options to maintain accessibility and engagement
Marketing during an environmental crisis
The United States is, unfortunately, no stranger to the effects of environmental catastrophes. From California wildfires to Hurricane Katrina, these crises often leave devastating impacts on communities and businesses alike in their aftermath.
Each environmental crisis brings a wave of uncertainty, many times disrupting supply chains, damaging infrastructure, and shifting consumer priorities toward immediate needs and safety. Communities are forced to adapt, and businesses must quickly pivot to meet new demands and expectations — all while doing everything possible to keep operations running.
This makes staying connected with prospects and existing customers all the more important. Clear, compassionate communication reinforces your brand’s reliability during the immediate crisis and builds trust that can last long after it has passed.
Recommended strategies
To stay connected during an environmental crisis, adjust your marketing budget to allocate for messaging that shows empathy and provides real value. You should:
- Prioritize transparent communication about key business details, such as closures, adjusted hours, or service availability, to keep prospects and customers informed
- Demonstrate your brand’s commitment to recovery, whether by supporting local relief efforts, offering donations, or sharing sustainability initiatives that resonate with your audience
- Implement real-time engagement tools, like live chat or automated messaging, to address customer concerns promptly and offer support in challenging times
Helping You Turn Uncertainty Into Opportunity
National uncertainty can be jarring for brands, but it doesn’t have to mean abandoning your marketing efforts.
At Search Influence, we’ve helped countless businesses navigate turbulent times, enabling them to maintain momentum with targeted marketing. Our crisis marketing strategies, industry experience, and proven services are a cornerstone for brands looking to weather the storm and emerge stronger.
Don’t let mayhem madness knock you off your path to digital marketing success. Contact us today to discuss your goals and make them a reality.
