Should You Advertise or Improve Brand Awareness During a Pandemic?

Last Updated on May 7, 2020

While things change over COVID-19 (Coronavirus) or a pandemic, so does consumer buying habits, brands, and business, and selling is mostly an uncertain outcome. There are still many questions as to how the next few months will affect the global market, both professionally and personally, so it is essential to look at both aspects to make smart decisions regarding marketing or advertising investments. Throughout this article, I’ll share my opinion on some key factors to consider regarding the question being asked right now: “Should You Advertise or Work to Improve Brand Awareness During A Pandemic?” With two main criteria to think about:

1. Consumer behavior
2. Impact on specific industries.

This may alter when it comes to how long a business has been operating, as it may be even tougher for newly formed companies to advertise during this time.

Behavior Of Buyers And Shifts Of Trends

When a pandemic such as the COVID-19 pandemic comes about, you will likely see far more consumers working from home, which will also lead to an increase in the amount of time spent online browsing their interests. So likely, if you are still advertising, you should see a boost in impression counts, possibly click counts depending on what types of advertising you are putting forward. Since naturally, there will be many advertisers scaling back their marketing efforts, those who continue to advertise at their typical investment will likely start to see their total cost decrease due to less competition making the same investment.

This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on which type of industry you are in, but in my opinion, it would be a good thing because of cheaper brand awareness in the end. But you will have to keep in mind that, just because total impressions may increase, this does not mean that sales will naturally increase. We know this because, during this time of COVID-19, there are a considerable number of consumers that have lost their jobs or have had to scale back on their spending do to their income steaming coming to a screeching halt. Even with that, this will not affect their interest in products that they show a liking to.

So, even though your typical consumers may not be buying at this time. If you continue your advertising, they are surely going to see your brand. This will contribute to your brand awareness,even during a pandemic, while your competitors have scaled back. And on top of that, it should cost you a bit less than your usual advertising spend level when it is all said and done.

How Certain Industries May Be Impacted

You will have to keep in mind that industries that cater to events or large gatherings will likely take a big hit as far as the impact of a pandemic such as COVID-19. Activities such as sporting events, tradeshows, or larger size events that have travelers coming from all over the world will come to a halt as well. When it comes to local businesses that will take a big hit, you are talking about malls, restaurants, movie theatres, or local shops and companies that cater to local gatherings larger than ten people.

To go along with that, there are some industries where groups are not part of the equation, but will also likely take a big hit in the process. These industries, such as Uber, Lyft, Hotels, Air BNB, and transit type industries, will probably feel the impact as well in a big way. Industries like this will undoubtedly face challenges, as users are opting to avoid close contact in exchange for staying at home as many counties and states have ordered. This will not only impact those all of these company’s bottom lines but also their employees’ work schedules and employment status as over time we all weather through the pandemic.

So as many industries are hit in different ways, the impact is likely to be similar in the effect, but as far as total impact revenue and investment-wise, the results may be far different. So decisions of looking forward will need to be made by businesses as far as how to proceed during the pandemic such as COVID-19, as well as how to recover after the pandemic. As personal health concerns continue to grow, businesses have been keeping their employee’s health and wellness in mind to help prevent the further spread of COVID-19.

Is Brand Awareness Advertising A Valuable Option?

Now that we can see there are a considerable amount of businesses and jobs that have had to be put on hold for the time being, there may not be the same buying demand for a particular product or industry’s goods. However, that does not mean that the same level or increased level of brand interest is not there in the meantime. Depending on how much average budget that was being spent on the advertising campaigns, there will likely be a much lower competitive advertising market since many advertisers will scale back or pause their advertising altogether.

If at all possible, this may put your business or brand in a perfect position to become far more visible than before the pandemic,  which may pay volumes later after all of the pandemic quarantines starts to subside in the coming weeks and months. It will not only cost you much less depending on how much outreach you actually want to go for, but the fact that you and maybe a few others will be at the forefront of a much broader interest base as more and more people are browsing the internet in their stay at home time.

Lifting Your Brand Awareness During COVID-19

In closing, yes there are going to be some trying times when it comes to a pandemic such as COVID-19. Times may look very grim for small businesses in specific industries that will have a more substantial impact, but there may be a shining light if planning and forward-thinking is something you may be able to afford. While competitors will likely be scaling back their advertising campaigns or pausing their advertising efforts altogether, this could be a huge opportunity to continue advertising on much smaller spend levels while acquiring a much more visible brand by being seen by those interested in your products and services.

Realizing for some, that it may not be possible to keep marketing efforts going as money going out is not an option. However, for those, it may still be possible to brand themselves a bit more using social media, blog posts, articles, press releases, or any other platform that does not require a budget during this time.

However, if it’s at all possible those who can afford just a light cut back in advertising spend could very well stand to make a huge impact on their website visibility and brand awareness during a pandemic. The result would be growth in future consumers when all of the pandemic effects start to subside. Forward-thinking, in this time of uncertainty, maybe the determining factor to the above questions asked regarding a particular industry. And I hope that this write up helps shine a little bit of light or raises some key points that may help a particular business moving forward through all of these hard times we have all had to endure.

Google Ads Certified

Senior PPC Consultant

That! Company

Bobby Pena