Strategic Marketing in Uncertain Times

You’ve probably heard the saying: The best time to invest in marketing is during a downturn. While the U.S. isn’t officially in a recession, recent GDP dips, trade instability, and market volatility create uncertainty and risk. Is now the right time to increase your marketing investment?

During the last major recession in 2008, Harvard Business Review studied the actions and outcomes of thousands of companies. Their findings? The companies that came out strongest weren’t those that cut the deepest or spent the most—they were the ones that struck a smart balance, not too defensive or aggressive. These businesses reduced costs strategically, focusing on operating efficiency while continuing to invest in long term growth through marketing efforts.

Increasing your media spend

Competitively increasing and optimizing your marketing spend during a downturn allows you to increase your share of voice. Reduced competition for attention allows your brand, product, or service to stand out more. Brand visibility now equates to faster recovery later.

Here’s a breakdown of paid media strategies that are typically more cost-effective during economic downturns:

Strategy #1 – Leverage cross-channel retargeting

Consumers need to see an advertising message multiple times across multiple touchpoints to drive awareness, stay top-of-mind, and help move them toward a conversion. To achieve this efficiently, brands can leverage cross-channel retargeting. Examples include retargeting online display ads to people exposed to another display ad, a streaming TV ad, or an outdoor ad. In short, tying multiple channels together through retargeting can maximize messaging frequency and impact. 

Strategy #2 – Buy programmatically

Programmatic buying is the most efficient way to gain a high volume of targeted media impressions. It is a goals-based, automated purchase of digital advertising space using data rather than manual negotiations and direct sales. It allows for more precise targeting and better performance tracking. 

Virtually every corner of the advertising ecosystem now has programmatic buying options. Display, streaming audio, and CTV/OTT have some of the most well-developed pipelines. CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) for display advertising often drop as advertisers pull back, making it cheaper to reach targeted audiences. CTV/OTT offers TV-like reach but is more affordable, especially as traditional TV budgets shrink.

Programmatic buying allows you to:

• access a wide variety of paid advertising inventory
• target specific audiences using a variety of data
• use AI and machine learning to adjust bidding and ad placement to maximize spend and performance
• access robust, real-time reporting to analyze and optimize performance

Strategy #3 – Search and social are mainstays

As always, paid search and paid social are highly measurable and cost-efficient. Search captures buyers with strong intent. You can focus on long-tail keywords and lower-cost niches where competition declines, and you only pay per click so you investment is tied directly to performance. Social offers strong targeting and audience engagement potential. 

Strategy #4 – Don’t write off traditional media

While it’s not as measurable as digital, traditional media can drive impressions and impact cost-effectively. A strategically placed billboard, for example, can reach millions of people in the right target area in weeks. With the right creative message and execution, it can cut through the ad clutter and create buzz in a way that a digital ad might not have been able to.

Strategy #5 – Leverage a good partner 

Using an experienced agency to develop and execute a cost-efficient media plan pays dividends in an uncertain economy. A media partner will allow you add capabilities without adding headcount. They will help you avoid costly mistakes and miscues and negotiate with local outlets and niche platforms that may be more open to deals during downturns.

Our media team strives to achieve the most cost-effective plans using customized strategies based on our experience, market research, and the latest industry trends. We leverage our close relationships with the industry-leading inventory partners and negotiate added value, whether it’s additional impressions, premium placements, or extra time in market. 

Do more, more efficiently

You can confidently argue for greater marketing investment in the current environment. A substantial body of academic and industry research shows that companies that maintain or increase their marketing campaign investment during economic downturns tend to perform better during and after the recession. Smart paid media strategies are just one way to seize this opportunity today.

Footnote: Gulati, Ranjay, Nitin Nohria, and Franz Wohlgezogen. “Roaring Out of Recession.” Harvard Business Review 88, no. 3 (March 2010): 62–69.