5 tips for strong media planning during a recession

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By now, we’ve all seen headlines warning of a declining economy. Some advertisers have preemptively cut marketing costs to prepare for this recession, while other brands have even frozen their budgets altogether.

But despite all the negative news and fear, digital advertising is still growing! In fact, digital advertising is unlike the recession of 2008 13% growth is expected in 2022 and stay strong.

A forecast like this describes opportunities for brands to achieve their marketing goals. Being conservative in an unstable economy is not unusual. But we’ve heard plenty of stories of brands falling out of favor after playing it too safe as they braced for the storm.

And we can’t forget the epic stories of companies that rose to sustainability because they took calculated risks and remained steadfast. It’s important to remember cautionary tales like this one:

ROI during a recession is achievable, especially if strong media planning is in place.

More than ever, it is essential to stay focused and agile for innovation and opportunity. If you’re ready to ride the wave, here are five tips to keep your media planning on track for continued growth.

1. Be the voice of reason

First, don’t get overwhelmed by the multitude of headlines. One of the wonderful things about digital advertising is its ability to turn on a dime. These two principles remain true:

  • If your digital advertising is working, keep it going.
  • If you observe softening actions, act accordingly.

The saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” still holds true. Don’t let looming fear drive your marketing strategy. Instead, use the data and agreed upon tolerances as a guide.

It is vital that everyone now agrees on when to withdraw. Correct alignment will prevent later kneeling reactions. Your team should strongly consider the following:

  • What is the trigger for withdrawing marketing spend?
  • Where will they come from when marketing spend shrinks? What will be the effect?
  • What is the trigger to resume normal marketing spend?

Establishing tolerances with your in-house team or official agency will reduce apprehension, tension and concern when fluctuations or critical events occur during the campaign. Have these honest conversations upfront to set clear boundaries and expectations to avoid problems down the road.

2. Adequate instrument tracking

Ensuring proper tracking is more important than ever. This means tracking every conversion action on every ad and keyword at every stage of the buying funnel. And that means tracking profitability, lifetime value and repeat customers at a granular level. To prepare a proper tracking, perform these tasks:

  • Run a markup audit to make sure pixels are firing correctly.
  • Use dynamic URL parameters to track each ad and keyword. Then transfer these parameters to your CRM system.
  • Leverage platform integrations with your martech stack to feed valuable data back to ad platforms. Some of our favorite integrations include Salesforce, Marketo, Calendly, Intercom, and Invoca.

Proper tracking is even more critical during a recession. Consumer behavior tells us that people need more time to make key decisions during an economic downturn. As a result, exchange rates fall further down the funnel. If you follow only the initial lead and ignore its long-term performance, you may be in for a surprise.

3. Update regularly

With accurate tracking in place, the next step is gaining visibility into the latest data. Immediate access to instrumental data is necessary when entering a recession in order to react quickly to trends.

To set up processes for timely and relevant data, implement these activities in your workflow:

  • Automate data flow to ensure data updates at least 1x per day.
  • Set up alerts to be triggered if conversion rates or other metrics deep in the funnel start to drop.
  • Don’t answer too quickly. One day does not make a trend. And don’t forget, digital ad platforms often rely on machine learning, which can accurately adapt to trends.

4. Get rid of waste now

Now is the time to review your marketing spend and identify any areas of poor performance. Be honest with yourself about the performance of each channel. Ask questions to guide your next steps:

  • Is each channel fulfilling its purpose in your media plan?
  • Are there channels with inconsistent performance from week to week?

Remember that too a test budget is not a wasted budget.

Educate your company’s employees that testing should continue even during the recession. Eliminate the test budget so that continuous learning can continue. Your campaigns and stakeholders will thank you later.

5. Take advantage of the gaps left by competitors

And with any economic hardship, marketing is usually one of the first expenses to be scrutinized and cut. But while some companies are retreating from marketing, others are doubling down and realizing huge efficiencies from a gap in the market.

Brands looking to close the gap and gain market share must prioritize competitive research. Typical activities include, but are not limited to:

  • Review competitors’ media mix to identify opportunities.
  • Set up competitor alerts to quickly see when competitor spending has changed and be ready to take advantage of the opportunity with your budget.
  • Use tools like Pathmatics, SEMRush, and Adbeat to identify other gaps left by competitors.

Key to take with you

When the economy looks like it’s headed for turmoil, it’s hard not to stop spending. However, re-engagement can be challenging and more expensive after the dust settles and competitors reshape market share.

To help ease worries during times of economic trouble, adhere to the following media planning principles:

  • Always prepare and inform your stakeholders
  • Establish tolerances early to design alignment when problems arise
  • Trust the platform’s process and algorithms to get the job done
  • Prioritize relevant and timely data to drive strategic decisions
  • Remove waste from poorly performing campaigns and allocate it to testing

Strong media planning is crucial for the days ahead. Brands that value reflection, tolerance, preparation and optimization will enable continued growth, even in the most uncertain times.


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily those of Search Engine Land. Staff authors are cited here.


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About the author

For over 20 years, Amanda has been developing digital advertising strategies and paid media campaigns for companies in a variety of industries. She is data-driven and passionate about advancing tracking technologies to provide clients with a competitive advantage. Her specialties include comprehensive SEM campaigns, web analytics, and building comprehensive, easy-to-use dashboards to improve account performance. Amanda holds an MBA from San Jose State University and a BSC from Santa Clara University. Before he became president A closed looppaid media agency, Amanda founded and managed a comprehensive digital marketing consulting agency for seven years.

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