How to Rethink Your Marketing Plan in a Crisis

How to Rethink Your Marketing Plan in a Crisis

Smart marketers are flexible and creative, but even the savviest marketers were blindsided by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Not only did everything change in a few days, but the situation escalated quickly and evolved constantly. Marketing managers suddenly had to decide whether to continue, revise, or fully cancel marketing activity.

My last post shared seven insights for marketing planning learned during the pandemic, based on my experience as a Cleveland marketing consultant.

But let’s get practical. If an event of this magnitude should happen again – or another development upends your marketing plan with little notice – what should you do?

Here’s some guidance for your smart marketing strategy.

8 Marketing Factors to Assess when Facing a Crisis

Unexpected events can disrupt many elements of marketing planning, from campaigns to production. As this terrible pandemic year showed, change can happen fast.

So how do you plan marketing when you suddenly can’t plan? Evaluate these eight factors to rethink your approach:

1. The business plan: How is your business responding to what’s happening? Marketing can play a key role in supporting this response – in fact, it could quickly become your top priority. Get guidance from your organization’s leadership to understand what help they need from you and your team.
2. Staff resources: Is your internal marketing staff available to help you navigate through the crisis? If they or their family members are affected, team members may need time off, more flexible schedules, or emotional or other support. Consider how changes in your capacity may impact your capabilities.
3. Tactics & timing: When big events dominate daily life, marketing can become background noise. Evaluate the viability of everything on your marketing calendar for the next few weeks or months. Consider tapering down, pausing, or even delaying marketing initiatives until people are able to pay attention.
4. Channels: You may need new ways to reach your target market. Face-to-face sales and marketing disappeared during the pandemic, yet new opportunities emerged, such as virtual events. Focus on the channels you control that you can easily and rapidly access, like your website, email, and social media feeds.
5. Messaging: In times of emergency or tragedy, marketing messages can seem tone-deaf or even offensive. Evaluate your messaging to be sure you’re striking the proper notes.
6. Customers: Customers expect you to keep them informed during uncertainty. Assure customers of your stability, continuity, and commitment to their well-being with a full, factual, ongoing outreach program  Here’s some guidance on keeping customers in the loop when change impacts your business.
7. Suppliers: Vendors who help you plan and implement marketing, such as your marketing agency, media buyers, web marketing team, social media managers, printers, and mailhouses, should be alerted immediately if your marketing plans are about to change. Be sure you have suppliers with the flexibility to respond quickly to new marching orders.
8. What might happen next: Given what you know, can you anticipate how the situation is likely to evolve and what may be coming down the pike? If possible, develop multiple “what-if” scenarios so you’re ready for what comes next.

A Final Strategy Tip: Look for Opportunities to Lead

In difficult times, leaders emerge to help guide people, organizations, and communities through the challenges they’re facing.

If your organization has high value and high credibility in your industry or market, you may have an opportunity to be one of those leaders. Becoming a visible part of the solution to a crisis is certainly a bonus for marketing, but that’s not the reason to do it. Look for ways to help and lead because it’s the right thing to do.