Overcoming the three biggest challenges marketers are facing in 2020

After a tough start to 2020, marketers must continue to prepare themselves for future challenges and opportunities. Right now every cent spent on advertising is now under scrutiny and expected to work harder than ever before. Many marketers are having to completely rethink their entire acquisition strategy and it is critical to find the most efficient tools and technology to support this. Fortunately overcoming the current challenges and reallocating resources doesn't have to affect a brand's visibility in the marketplace. There are many opportunities for brands to adapt to changing business needs and prepare for a positive future.

Staying visible with appropriate campaigns

The people have spoken, they don't want you to stop advertising but they do want you to reconsider your messaging. Rather than pulling the plug and stopping ad spend altogether, marketers need to cater campaigns to the current situation.

It will be the brands that craft purposeful messaging who will stay front of mind with consumers when normality returns. In previous attempts to do this, many brands have already been sent marching down a familiar path. This super-cut of COVID-19 response ads from the US is an eye-opening example of why it is important to avoid clichés and create original strategies for the immediate post-crisis.

Recent research shows that consumers want advertising to “talk about how the brand is helpful in the new everyday life”. While it can be tempting to take a familiar marketing route, brands must find a meaningful way to connect with consumers, helping to add value or normality to their lives or by assisting them to help others.

Working with reduced marketing budgets

Although history shows that those who spend through the bad times are better placed when better times return, across all industries marketers have had their budgets scaled back significantly. A global survey by the World Federation of Advertisers shows that in the first half of 2020 budgets have been reduced by up to 42% in some markets.

Reduced budgets do not need to lessen the scope for executing creative ideas, it simply requires increased innovation and data-driven insights to support it. Marketers must look at new ways to execute their strategies and leverage technology and new partnerships to increase yield and minimize wastage.

There are many opportunities for marketers willing to invest in ad spend right now. Digital consumption has significantly increased while the competition and costs of online advertising have dropped, making it an ideal time to spend and stay front of mind with your audience.

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Producing quality photo and video assets

In times of social distancing many production houses and commercial studios have been shut down making it difficult for brands to create content in the same way they were before.

To be able to execute their redefined strategies with reduced budgets, marketers need to find innovative solutions to produce original photo and video assets.

Using the Creatively Squared platform you can produce images and video up to 4x faster than with agencies or other commercial options making it possible to scale up the creation of high-quality branded visuals for just a fraction of your former budget.

Creatively Squared visual content creators are already set up with the equipment and experience needed to produce quality visuals from their home studios. Content is created to your brand brief in just a few weeks and is far more economical than traditional production methods.

The Creatively Squared platform streamlines the entire process, saving precious time and enabling the production of hundreds of unique assets at once. Find out how Creatively Squared can help you maintain your marketing efforts to reap the rewards and rebound quicker over the coming year.

In summary

The current climate is providing many challenges but also presents an opportunity for brands and marketers to rethink the way they operate and accelerate their digital transformation. In order to increase efficiencies and survive a new era of advertising, brands will have to move faster and make some radical changes. This will involve testing new solutions, technologies, and partnerships, guided by learnings from previous times of economic crisis.

Those brands that take these risks will be the ones that emerge from the downturn in a much stronger position, while those that take a conservative approach will see themselves lagging behind.