Marketing is more essential during a downturn than you might think

It’s officially recession season.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects in almost every industry, whether directly or indirectly. Large corporations and fledgling startups alike are implementing hiring freezes, pay cuts, and other belt-tightening measures in an effort to protect their bottom line.

At first glance, marketing might seem like one of the less essential functions, at least compared to others like product and operations. But should it also be part of the cost-cutting exercises?

Play the long game

The short answer is no. Marketing as a whole is still an essential part of the business, even in such times.

Short-term activations, however, might need to be reconsidered. With consumer spending down across all industries due to lockdown measures and concerns over the direction of the economy, trying to stimulate sales in this climate is quite simply a waste of time and money.

But if resources are available, brand marketing – promotions that focus on the overall company and its values rather than sales – should continue. It plays a long-term role in establishing a company’s share of voice, which is heavily correlated to market share.

Once economic recovery begins, regaining lost market share would be costly and difficult, so it’s wise to take the short-term profitability hit now to defend the brand’s piece of the market.

Case in point, a study on revenues and magazine marketing spend during the recession leading up to the Great Depression found that firms who invested more in marketing grew their revenues much faster and sustained lighter damage to their relative sales than those that did not. Once the recovery period was under way, these businesses also outperformed their competitors.

With its potential for storytelling, content marketing is a natural way to keep your brand’s voice active during the pandemic.

Stimulating the conversation

Take Pinterest, for example. With its use of content marketing, the image-sharing service is telling an overarching story of practicing self-care during the pandemic in a variety of ways that complement each other.

In April, it launched a global campaign called #StayINspired, which showcases content by and for its community that helps people cope with lockdown measures through home-based activities such as arts and crafts and cooking. The company also works closely with governments and the World Health Organization to prevent the spread of misinformation regarding the coronavirus, and promotes mental well-being with its “compassionate search” feature.

This relationship-building via content is even more important for business-to-business companies, whose focus is on positioning themselves as thought leaders in their respective verticals.

Xero, one of the big names in accounting software solutions, maintains a blog where it publishes articles not just about accounting but also on the business and social impact of its solutions. For example, its posts talk about clients and partners, the difficulties they’ve encountered, how they’re adapting to the pandemic, and other stories that put a human face on what could otherwise be a rather dry topic. In other words, Xero uses storytelling elements to discuss its solutions.

Be prepared

While nothing is certain at this point, a majority of the CEOs in the ASEAN region that were surveyed by Bain & Company in April foresee economic recovery kicking in around mid-2021. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not too far away, and it’s paramount that companies maintain or step up their content marketing efforts during this time to sustain or even increase their share of voice.

Putting aside business goals, inspiring stories are needed now more than ever to tide us through this crisis. Brands and the content they produce are part of our culture, playing a similar role as movies and music in our lives – entertaining us, lifting our spirits, and giving us the emotional fuel that we need to keep on keeping on.

Featuring Ayumi Nakajima, Pinterest’s country manager for Southeast Asia and India, and Andrew Baisley, vice president of sales and accounts at Tech in Asia, “Effective content marketing in the midst of a pandemic” is an online event that will discuss and explore the key factors that make for compelling content marketing in the current climate.

This event will take place on Thursday, July 16 at 4:00 pm SGT, and is free for anyone interested to attend. Click on the button below to register.