"At our Publisher, we're spending more on marketing now than ever before, because it's the key to survival so we can make up for our lost revenue."

If you haven’t done so far, it’s time to plan your 2021 marketing strategy. If your answer to this is, “I’ll deal with it when everything recovers again,” then this article is for you!

Marketing plays a key role in generating and retaining our revenue, as it has the power to acquire and retain customers.

Plenty of businesses were the first step in the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic to slash marketing spending. Today, huge blog and tomorrow’s cemeteries have opened and filled. It is no different with any other medium. Many switched to survival mode and minimized their expenses. Usually, the first area from which resources are diverted is marketing. In such cases, the decision-maker of most companies bites into the hands they should not. You can stay quiet, wait, but is this the right decision? From stopping your watch, will time stop? For sure, it is strictly forbidden to cut, close, suspend the marketing budget in any crisis because you are leaving the market.

As a common saying in the advertising industry holds: if all goes well, it doesn’t hurt to advertise. However, if things go wrong, we have to advertise.

Those who hold back their marketing efforts are actually jeopardizing their long-term market share. It makes perfect sense to create the easiest competitive advantage when everyone else is applying the brakes. So who will do well? Who didn't stop.

As John Quelch, a marketing professor at Harvard Business School, puts it: "A successful company does not give up its marketing strategy in times of crisis, but adapts it to changed circumstances."

A crisis carries with it the opportunity to introduce and develop positive, radical changes within the company. We are in a situation that has forced us to optimize our processes, consider our efficiency and look for new solutions to the issues and problems that arise, even different from the conventions.

For example, at our company, Brander was born during a pandemic, the company manager learned after many years to let go of the processes he insisted on and hired an assistant to do some of his work for others in the future. This way, he can focus on product development and make decisions that are as optimal and well thought out as possible. Among other things, what the company should spend on, how to communicate.

Continue to build consistent branding and connect with your audience. To do this, it is essential to develop monthly marketing strategies (because it is only consciously worthwhile, as now there is absolutely no framework to scatter on the window), the channels of which can be blog posts, e-mails, PR content, newsletters, advertisements, or any kind of online printed). What is especially important in such cases - in any case, but in a difficult situation should only be spent consciously - is to address the target group. There is no need to overspend on such communications, just be consistent to stay relevant without exceeding our budget.

The principles of the marketing profession have remained the same regardless of the circumstances: matching supply and demand, meeting needs, getting to know, liking, trusting you, doing business with you, and recommending it to others.

Thus, marketing does not stop even in times of emergency, and even carries with it the opportunity for development. In addition, the transition to crisis marketing can bring the following benefits:

 It teaches you to adapt quickly: because you have to react to a situation and continue your operations accordingly, your marketing communication
 You’ll keep your business goals in mind even more: when you can’t afford not to make a responsible decision
 You will have more efficient and better quality processes: because every expense must be accompanied by revenue, and for that you need to optimize your time, all your processes
 You'll be more productive: Productivity means working as efficiently as possible, and working more efficiently generates more revenue

Adaptability is now more important than ever, as in the situation we have developed a year ago, we can gain a serious competitive advantage by riding marketing flows and applying the right strategies.

Crisis-resistant marketing strategies

There are three main rules to a good crisis-proof marketing strategy:

1. Don’t make the mistake of cutting your marketing expenses unreasonably, so don’t kick the chair you’re sitting in under yourself.
2. Examine what is changing in the consumption habits of our target audience as a result of the crisis and respond to it!
3. Collect data on our performance (Measure) on a regular basis, analyze and evaluate it to increase conversion!

It is very important to make sure that all the online interfaces of the business clearly communicate to existing and potential customers that our business is still in full swing. Let us update our opening hours, announce our latest offers and keep in touch with our consumers. Don’t let our audience for a moment come to the conclusion that our business is faltering or no longer alive. If you stay in the public consciousness, you will not give your customers and partners a chance to turn to your competition.

Let's not stop marketing in times of crisis!

The point is to stick strictly to our marketing budget, try to make decisions that are more logical than emotional, as consistent and consistent marketing is the only effective way.

We close the article with the words of Peter Drucker, an American-American management writer:
„Marketing and innovation bring results, all the rest at cost.”