weathering the 2020 recession: the importance of communications strategy within a forever-changed media landscape

While others are cutting back on marketing and PR efforts, leaning into public relations during a recession can help you capture a larger percentage of the voice while your competitors or focusing on other things.

While the state of PR certainly changes during times of crisis, having a solid, targeted communications strategy and recession survival guide for your brand is key for not only staying afloat, but coming out in a stronger position on the other end. “Where there is crisis, there is also opportunity,” a recent Forbes article stated discussing the importance of PR & Marketing during a pandemic. “The most innovative, forward-thinking companies can still find ways to promote their brands to consumers.” 

We saw incredible resolve and resiliency during the Great Recession from companies who doubled down on integrated brand communications. It is essential that brands continue to share and control their message, be a guiding voice to their customers and continue generating brand awareness in order to emerge even stronger.

At Verde, what are the top challenges we have been faced with during the 2020 recession and COVID-19 pandemic, and how are we proactively pivoting? 

1. Measuring Business Impact & Adapting Budgets 

An analysis conducted by Harvard Business Review surveyed 5,000 companies across the last four business cycles ultimately suggesting that slowdowns bring opportunities as well as challenges. “Some companies were able to actually benefit competitively during and after a downturn, and a common set of actions led to that success,” the article stated. 

Measuring business impact and showing value is always top of mind for us, but it’s even more crucial during a recession, and can ultimately be a tool to help our clients overcome adversity and come out in a stronger position post-recession. It’s no surprise when brand budgets shrink as a function of the economy, which is why it’s more important than ever to tap into PR & marketing efforts to drive sales. 

When it comes to shifting strategy to adapt to smaller budgets and retainers, think of what’s going to make the biggest impact in the shortest amount of time. For example, doing things like media mailers and seedings are less relevant in times of recession. Instead, the focus should be shifted to harder-hitting campaigns that drive results quickly. Some examples of that could be targeted influencer campaigns, revamped email marketing strategy, and virtual events. 

Studying consumer behavior and what we're seeing sell helps us to advise our brand community on how to best position themselves during a recession, and what could be the start of a very active search and engagement window around outdoor gear. We recommend watching Kristin Carpenter's recent Facebook Live covering shifting consumer shopping behavior during COVID-19. 

2. Refining Messaging & Pitch Strategy  

What worked in a pitch campaign pre-recession, will certainly be different from what works now. What’s most important and will result in powerful placements  is always staying useful, helpful, and relevant to the media. The media landscape is constantly changing, and quicker than ever, which is why it’s crucial to pump the breaks and thoughtfully put together your new pitch cadence and approach. 

According to Cision’s 2020 State of the Media Webinar, there are a handful of tactics found to be most helpful to our media friends and impactful for the brands we represent. 

• Email, email, email. Use email to pitch journalists; this is something we hear a lot from journalists in our pitching kits, but it’s even more important now with a heavy workload and further reduced resources.

• Making experts available for video interviews is a plus in a time when we’re all on video calls and watching more video on our devices at home.

• Finding the local news angle is especially important when pitching at the moment; as each state is handling the crisis differently, many of the respondents are only interested in local news pitches.

• Look for new angles on COVID-19 stories and pitch positive stories. As one respondent said, “We could all use a little positivity in this crisis.”

• PR professionals must continue researching outlets and journalists before pitching. Some have transitioned entire staffs to cover COVID-19 and other types of stories have been put on hold. Make sure you understand a journalist’s current coverage area.

• Be patient right now. Journalists are absolutely swamped, so it may take longer than usual to hear back from them or to see story turnaround.

• Deliver actionable story ideas and always be proactively thinking about the bigger picture. 

• Pitch early in the week if possible and follow up with new story developments or ways to tie into trends. 50-percent of journalists say that one follow up is good. 

3. The Power is in the Pivot 

In April 2020, Edelman released a Survey report, Trust Barometer Report: Brand Trust and the Coronavirus Pandemic, which further proved the need for brands to pivot their strategies in order to maintain customer trust and loyalty amid the pandemic. The survey reported that:

89% want to see brands shift to producing products that help people meet the challenges and 1 in 3 surveyors have convinced other people to stop using a brand that they felt was not acting appropriately in response to the pandemic.

Whether its pivoting production entirely or simply shifting the way in which you are engaging with your audience on social media, brands must find ways to address the crisis that is affecting us on a global scale. A PR agency is most useful to their brand partners when they can act as an extension of the brand’s internal team. This is why at Verde, we are always immersing ourselves into our client’s big picture strategy and constantly be providing brands with creative ideas to successfully pivot their business. 

Over the past several months, as the COVID-19  virus spread across the globe, it impacted virtually every single business. Many of Verde’s clients have looked at what they can do, with the resources they have, to fill the need for PPE and other services. Those who do not have manufacturing capabilities pivoted messaging and fulfillment to help support their customers, employees and their communities.  Pivot examples can be found in Verde’s COVID-19 Resource Guide. 

Verde continues to monitor the daily changes of the current economic state as well as the Coronavirus and is committed to providing up to date information for our clients and partners. In addition to the Verde Voice blog, we also recommend keeping up with Channel Mastery podcast for tips, interviews with industry experts,  guides, and resources with the goal of helping your brand and business navigate a crisis.