A CEO’s Guide to Advertising During any Crisis

You’ve sent employees to work from home, reassured your customers that your service to them won’t miss a beat, and you’ve got them top of mind as you work through supply chain issues, etc. But what about your advertising messages?

Crisis management comes with a checklist of communication items and if you don’t have one, just check LinkedIn for an overwhelming sea of advice on the subject over the last seven days! But what Communications teams often miss often doesn’t lie in their purview – advertising.  

Most likely, if you have a CMO or other senior marketing leader, it’s already been taken care of. But if you don’t have this critical role yet in your organization, here are a few time-sensitive moves you should make to reflect the true nature of your company and its business(es) or risk alienating customers. Don’t damage your image unintentionally. Determine what is appropriate for your company and set that expectation for your teams. 

SHOULD YOU PULL ALL ADVERTISING?

Unless your product or service is directly aimed to assist or support the unique needs of this pandemic, I suggest that you pull your advertising. Replace your planned messages with a reassurance about putting your employees and their families as well as customer well-being first. If you have them, get your Customer Service and Sales teams aligned, trained and ready to answer questions and include contact information in your messaging. These teams should be joined at the hip with Marketing especially during this time. Now more than ever, consistency across all your messaging is key.

REASSESS YOUR DIGITAL MESSAGES

Much of digital today is pre-programmed, but that exact convenience also sets up organizations to send the wrong message during a crisis. Just check your inbox, LinkedIn or even Facebook feed and you’ll see advertising today that’s selling non-essential items. This is off-putting to some, but to others, it’s completely offensive. Paid search, display and affiliate advertising all need to be reviewed and re-programmed. Paid social media falls under the same guidelines, plus you’ll need to be sure that your team is suspending any posts or blogs that are simply not appropriate at this time.

Have your team reassess SEO terms particularly if you are in a product or service industry that’s helping during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Include appropriate terms so those searching online can find you easily.

A good rule of thumb for digital advertising is to wait a week and reassess. If public sentiment appears to be returning to normal begin scheduling your planned advertising messages, but at a slower rate. Think drip not tsunami. Your marketing team and/or digital agency should be watching customer and consumer sentiment online and reporting back to the team.

The good news is that digital advertising is much more accessible and easier to adjust than other forms of advertising and marketing. 

UPDATE OFFLINE AD CHANNELS WHERE COST-EFFECTIVE

Offline channels require longer lead times to prepare and place than Digital advertising. This makes shifting messaging challenging during any crisis. In many cases, you may be able to work with your media vendor to change up messaging at a minor cost. They want to work with you and keep your business. They are likely quite sensitive to the crisis as well, and will want to help.

Most print media can pull and substitute advertising, but there will be costs associated. Depending upon the level of marketing spend you place in the channel, you may be able to suspend and reschedule planned newspaper, magazine and other print ads – or simply change your message.

Direct mail processes are stringent and tight and for most, highly personalized, which means making changes here may also be challenging. Weigh the risk appropriately. Is it worth damaging your brand to preserve budget? How many customers will you potentially turn off?

Outdoor including billboards and tramstops, bus/train wraps, etc. all require significant lead time – again check with your media vendor and negotiate. 

Television and radio are also purchased on long lead times, but the good news is, you can make changes to scripts and creative fairly quickly. There will be associated costs, but you’ll be much more relevant to your audience if you meet them where they are today. 

It goes without saying that sponsorships, tradeshows and events all need to be reviewed and many are being rescheduled anyway by the organizers. 

THOUGHTFULLNESS NOW, REWARDS LATER

It only takes a bit of time to review and ensure that your marketing messages are appropriate, consistent and clear during any crisis. Invest the effort and you’ll reap the rewards later. If you don’t have an internal marketing leader, or even a marketing team, consider bringing on a fractional CMO to help you through this challenging time. Their knowledge and abilities can save you significant pain and dollars in the long run.You have an opportunity to build good will for your company by the messages you send.