When a crisis hits, marketing and advertising are often the first budgets to take a hit.

Why? Because companies immediately eliminate budgets that aren’t ‘directly generating revenue.’ And, only Sales does that, right? Wrong.

Brands couldn’t make a more significant mistake.

Keeping the marketing dollars flowing is critical; here’s why:

Marketing and Advertising During a Crisis Keeps Existing Customers Buying

The cost of acquiring a new customer can be anywhere from 3x to 30x the reselling price to an existing customer. That means the savvy marketer invests their time as heavily into marketing to their current customers as they are to new customers.

No matter your business, there are opportunities to sell to existing customers.

Existing customers are key because:

• They already like you and your products/services
• They have demonstrated that they see value in what you provide
• They’re going to be easier to sell to because they’ve already made an investment

Marketing is the way you reach these customers. Sales are all well and good, but existing customers don’t want sales calls from you—they want to learn about opportunities and new products/services and then take advantage when they’re ready to buy again.

When Your Brand Stops Advertising During a Crisis, You’ll Disappear- Your Competitors Won’t

When a crisis hits, everyone feels the squeeze, but all companies respond differently.

Staying top of mind is advertising’s primary function. Most customers can only keep a handful of brands in their heads at any given time. Try it yourself – name ten different brands of shoes in 15 seconds. Were you successful?

Top-of-mind equals trust. And, when you stay top-of-mind, sales’ job becomes more manageable, too. Customers know the brand and feel comfortable making the purchase.

When a crisis hits and your customers have to be frugal, what brands do you think they will spend their money on?

They will start with the brands they know and trust.

If your brand skimps on your marketing and advertising long enough, your competitors will get in front of your customers with new, often more intriguing, marketing messages.

With better offers coming their way, do you think your brand will stay top of mind? Are your previous customers going to remain loyal and spend money when you need them the most? 

When a crisis hits, keeping your marketing and advertising budget and strategy in place is critical. Don’t let your brand spend 3x to 30x more to acquire a new customer than to continue selling to an existing customer.

Stay top-of-mind.