How to position your digital marketing during the COVID-19 crisis. This presentation covers: 1. Marketing trends and results in the last recession 2. Digital marketing channels that are most effective right now 3. Planning for recovery This presentation was prepared by Mikado Agency for the Get World Savvy Facebook Group. https://mikado.agency https://www.facebook.com/groups/getworldsavvy

1. Digital Marketing
in a Recession
Angelica Ismailos
April 6th, 2020

2. Challenges
● Diminished sales resulting in shrinking
budgets (in most categories)
● Uncertainty about the future
● Planned campaigns are most likely no
longer viable
● Live events are cancelled (lost lead
generation)
● Rapid pace of change

3. What happened last time?
Trends from the 2008 financial crisis

4. Strong brands recovered 9x faster following the
financial crisis of 2008
BrandZ Global, 2019

5. Case study: Revenue generated from ad spend
Data2Decisions, 2009

6. Case study: Revenue generated from ad spend
Data2Decisions, 2009
[Impact on bottom line = (profit foregone)-(budget saved)]
Try this exercise:
Consider your typical sales revenue that is attributed to ad campaigns. Use this
number to forecast how a change in ad spend would affect sales.

7. Case study: Revenue generated from ad spend
What can we learn from this case study?
● As seen in the line chart, a full cut of ad budget prolonged the company’s
recovery period (it took them longer to regain normal sales numbers)
● Short term cuts can be short sighted. Think through the revenue forecasting
exercise on the previous slide before cutting ad budgets.

8. Why continue marketing in a recession?
● Maintain strong brand presence
● Grow your audience and email list
● Strengthen relationships with your existing customers & audience
● Explore new channels and strategies
● Make up for lost live event leads with digital (inbound) lead generation
● Poise for recovery - don’t play catch-up later

9. What can I do right now?
1. Digital advertising
2. Build your email list
3. SEO spring cleaning
4. Plan for recovery

10. Poll: Did you change your digital ad spend after
the COVID-19 pandemic?
Poll conducted by The Clikk, published March 30, 2020.
These are results from a
poll conducted with
marketers on March 30th.

11. Why advertise during a recession?
● 92% of consumers don’t think brands need to stop advertising during this
outbreak – they’re expecting you to continue reaching out to them*
● Competitors are cutting their ad spend. This is your opportunity to capture
market share.
● Impressions are way up: Verizon recently reported a 20% week over week
increase in web traffic.
● Ad costs are down, creating a “buyers market” for brands
● Boost future sales and market share by maintaining or growing your brand’s
“share of mind” with consumers
*Kantar Media, March 25, 2020

12. CPM (cost per 1K impressions) on FB + Instagram
“Understanding the effect of COVID-19 on Facebook Ads” Dashboard by Gupta Media

13. Examples of brands that benefited from advertising in a recession:
2009
Amazon
2020
1920’s
Post vs. Kellogg’s
1990’s
McDonald’s vs.
Pizza Hut &
Taco Bell

14. Message the moment

15. Now is the time to experiment!
Try testing:
● Ad creative, like images vs. videos
● Ad copy, including headlines & CTAs
● Landing pages, including copy, design
& messaging
● Audience targeting, including
demographic, interest-based or custom
audiences

16. Build your email list
Lead Magnets:

17. Lead Generation Ads (Facebook & LinkedIn):

18. SEO Spring Cleaning
Don’t put your organic rankings at risk!
1. Re-evaluate your keywords
2. Check out the competition
3. Clean-up your on-page and technical SEO
4. Churn out content (blogs, videos, podcasts, etc.)

19. Quick wins for your own SEO
● Get mobile-friendly!!
● Local presence (Google My Business)
● Fix broken links
● Get alerted of brand mentions
● Improve site speed
● Update on-page content

20. Recommended SEO toolkit
● Google Analytics
● Google Search Console
● Bing Webmaster Tools
● SEMRush or Moz
● UberSuggest
● Screaming Frog
● Yoast (for WordPress)
https://neilpatel.com/ubersuggest/

21. Plan for recovery
Build your re-launch plan now
1. What’s the trigger for your plan?
(Define the indicators that will put your recovery plan in play.
Search volume? Engagement? Economic indicator?)
2. What will your new messaging be?
3. Which channels?
4. Budget?

22. Let’s Chat
Say hi anytime.
Email: marketing@mikado.agency
Phone: +1 (416) 884-1684
Website: https://mikado.agency