If you’re responsible for your brand’s budget right now, you know exactly how hard it is to make the math work. Costs are up. Margins are tight. Leadership wants answers. And your customers? They’re holding on to their wallets with both hands.
Welcome to the modern paradox of marketing during a downturn: drive growth, but spend less doing it.
It’s tempting to pull back on marketing. It may soothe a balance sheet in the short term, but long-term? You’re only causing more harm than good. You’re not just trimming fat; you’re cutting muscle — and could be cutting future opportunity.
Let’s explore how to maximize a marketing budget without sacrificing reach or results.
No one needs convincing that times are uncertain. Inflation hasn’t gone away, and recurring talks of tariffs increasing costs of consumer goods are changing how people shop and prioritize their spending.
Consumers are hunting for value, doing more research, and weighing every purchase more carefully. Even swapping from their tried and true brands if they see a better deal, better value, or a better reason to trust them. Brand equity isn’t inherited anymore; it’s rented. Paid monthly in relevance, transparency, and value.
These new shopping trends mean brands have to fight harder to stay top of mind — and stay trusted. Your competitors aren’t just other companies. They’re algorithms. Aggregators. Attention spans.
Turning off your marketing is like turning off your GPS in a storm. You don’t save power. You get lost. Or even worse, you get forgotten.
According to Nielsen, going dark can cost you 2% of long‑term revenue each quarter. Even worse, it can take 3 to 5 years to rebuild brand equity after a blackout — a timeline few CMOs survive.
Pulling spending isn’t frugal, it’s fatal. When marketing contributes up to 35% of brand equity, staying silent can cause major damage.
Need proof? History has receipts:
While many brands panicked, P&G saw that people were still buying soap. They launched new products like Dreft and Drene, and doubled down on advertising — running daily radio shows, pioneering branded entertainment (the original “soap-opera”), and staying front‑and‑center in newspapers and early TV. While competitors cut back, P&G secured brand trust and remains a dominant household name nearly a century later.
More recently, during the pandemic, Coca-Cola paused most of its marketing efforts and cut advertising spend by about 35%. At the same time, Pepsi chose a different strategy. They kept running campaigns, stayed visible, and even supported pandemic-relief efforts.
The result?
While Coke’s revenues dropped around 11%, Pepsi grew by approximately 5%—proving that staying visible during economic downturns can directly translate to market gains.
The lesson?
When you stop talking to your audience, someone else will start.
Lost share is expensive to win back. Staying visible, even at a lower spend, helps ensure you’re still part of the buying conversation when conditions improve.
Everyone says they want to be a long-term thinker — until things get hard. But that’s when long-term thinkers earn the right to lead. And short-term reactionists are looking for the next hole to crawl into and hide.
So how do you balance the need to see the forest through the trees and resist the urge to crawl into a hole?
Spend like an investor: strategically, and with intent.
Here are smart marketing strategies that help brands thrive during downturns.
Organic social. SEO. Email marketing.
These channels aren’t free — but they’re cheaper than paying for every click. They build a foundation that compounds over time.
Email remains one of the highest-ROI channels out there. SEO investments mean long-tail traffic doesn’t disappear the minute you stop paying.
A downturn is the best time to get ruthless about targeting.
Use your customer data to refine audiences. Retarget your highest-value segments. Cut spend on broad, unprofitable clicks.
Better data = less waste = more efficient spend.
Acquiring a new customer is far more expensive than keeping one.
Focus on loyalty programs, win-back campaigns, and personalized experiences that make existing customers stick around longer and spend more.
Your next win isn’t in activating another channel or tactic; it’s likely already in your CRM.
Your creative, messaging, and landing pages should never be set-and-forget.
Small improvements like a better headline or clearer offer can significantly increase conversion rates without increasing spend.
Your customers are uncertain too. They’re watching their wallets, comparing brands carefully, and choosing based on trust, relevance, and perceived value.
Your messaging needs to acknowledge that:
Brands that come across as helpful, human, and honest will win loyalty that outlasts any downturn.
If you believe in your brand, going dark in a downturn isn’t cost-effective — it’s self-sabotage. This isn’t just about surviving the storm. It’s about sharpening your edge while others play it safe.
Every dollar you spend with purpose is a down payment on future growth. The brands that stay visible, useful, and trusted now will be the ones leading when the dust settles.
That’s where Oodle comes in. We help brands stretch lean budgets into smart strategies — by targeting precisely, creating with intention, and building momentum that lasts.
Ready to turn less into more? Let us make your budget work like hell.
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