Should brands use influencer marketing during a recession? That’s the question millions of marketers are currently asking themselves. Everyone wants to know, “Are we going to go through a 2008 like recession?” If so, what should brands do to prepare their marketing for this?
We are seeing companies pull back on spending, preparing for the worst. Headcount reduction is the first measure of austerity, but marketing and advertising spends are typically not too far behind.
Does this mean advertising budgets automatically go to zero? No. Businesses still need to operate and boards will always be asking for growth. But how businesses spend their advertising dollars will be affected.
How should brands approach influencer marketing during a recession? How should agencies convince brands to continue spending on influencer marketing when budgets are being slashed?
Here’s how I believe brands and agencies should be thinking about influencer marketing during a recession.
Yes. I believe that creator marketing will become more important during a recession. Marketing is not like a faucet. You can’t just turn it on and off at will and it will work. It’s a process. It takes time. Your marketing efforts compound. Stopping today might make your balance sheet look a little better in the short term, but you’ll see adverse effects in the long-term.
Creator marketing will be important for a few reasons during a recession. One, people are not going out as much. They’ll consume more content at home. They might not be buying immediately, but they will be making connections with brands during this time through their favorite creator content. If your brand is absent, you will be missing out.
During a recession, your marketing budget will be smaller. So it’s important that you drive the maximum amount of value from your budget as you can. There are a few ways you can do this.
First, invest in longer forms of content. This can be YouTube videos or podcasts. Longer forms of content have evergreen value. Meaning, they have value for a longer period of time, if not forever. An Instagram post will likely have a 24 hour shelf life in the feed and within 30 days the influencer will delete the post. That’s very difficult to justify with slashed budgets.
YouTube and podcast content are not typically deleted by creators within a month. That’s because it takes so much more time to create that content, they would never want to delete the content like they do an Instagram post. By investing in YouTube and podcasts, you’re getting content that lasts longer and compounds in value.
These channels are known for their brand recall and purchase intent. Even if purchases are lower during a recession, your brand will be top of mind when the economy picks up again.
In addition to the format you choose to invest your marketing dollars into, who you invest in matters too. You no longer have an excessive budget. You’ll likely have bare bone budgets and be forced to maximize the spend. You’ll be forced to back up your marketing spends more thoroughly.
This is the perfect time to invest in a core group of content creators. Instead of constantly sending out briefs to discover dozens of new content creators, pick your best performing creators and work with a smaller group of creators. Have them create content until they reach the law of diminishing returns. Once you’ve saturated their audience, then you can rotate your core group of creators.
Resist the urge to cut your influencer spends all together. It will have long-term consequences. Instead, better use your budget, get more out of it, and better position yourself in the long-term.
Slice is a creator management solution that helps bring agencies, talent managers, and content creators together. This integrated platform simplifies the workflow, automates data, and manages creator relationships for sponsored brand content.
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