How to Maximize Your Paid Media Strategy During a Financial Crisis

Have you considered pulling back your digital marketing efforts during this 2020 time of crisis? We are dealing with not only a pandemic, but also a financial crisis. With social distancing orders in place, most consumers are working from home and making purchasing decisions from their homes. What does that mean for your business?

Consumers are online more than ever, and because of that, it’s crucial to think about how efficient your digital presence is right now. Your company may have decided to pull back on spend due to recent events, and that was definitely the right move. However, this doesn’t mean that all digital marketing efforts should be paused.

There’s no broad standard for determining how much you need to spend on your paid marketing efforts during this time. With CPCs and CPMs (cost per thousand) the lowest that we’ve seen in years, now could be the time to leverage your paid media spend and make it work in your favor.

1. Be Patient

Check the data. If you aren’t sure whether or not running paid search or paid social is the right approach for you, look at reports. If you’re still seeing clicks, engagement, impressions, and conversions, now might be the time to invest even more. Keep in mind, you may not see the same amount of traffic that you were seeing before the current financial crisis, and that could be because your customers aren’t ready to buy yet. Take this opportunity to create retargeting lists so when your consumers are ready to make their purchase decision, you’ll be top of mind.

2. Adjust Your Strategy

Because there’s no “business as usual” anymore, you’ll need to adjust your strategy. Take a look at your copy. Are you highlighting what you’re doing to help during this time of need? Consider changing copy to mention what you are willing to deliver, and make sure your brand shows you are understanding during this time of economic crisis.

Also, if you’re running paid search, consider reviewing keywords frequently. This will allow you to identify what efforts to pause, as well as high-traffic performers that you should increase your bids on. As the financial crisis evolves, so will search queries. Continue monitoring what and how people are searching, and add those keywords to your profile. The audience is still there.

3.It’s More Than Just Paid Search

Paid search might not be the right media vehicle for you, and that’s OK. Consider top-of-the-funnel messages and channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram. This might be the time to test and see if your content performs better on those channels during this time. Because these channels currently have cheaper costs, now is a great time to experiment and get your brand seen as much as possible.

4. Paid Media Still Matters

Now is not the time to cut paid media dollars. As difficult as financial crisis times are, they give brands an opportunity to build up messaging in order to drive engagement and maintain strong brand presence. While your competitors and other companies are decreasing their budgets, you can grow your brand on channels that people are spending even more time on now. The majority of consumers are expecting you to still reach out to them.