Marketing through disruption: 8 tips for navigating any crisis
Every business eventually faces a period of real disruption. The COVID-19 pandemic was the most dramatic and universal example in recent memory, forcing nearly every company on the planet to rethink its marketing virtually overnight. But it was far from the only one, and it will not be the last.
Recessions, supply chain shocks, natural disasters, economic uncertainty, and industry-specific upheavals all create the same core challenge: customers change their behavior, their priorities shift, and businesses that do not adapt their marketing accordingly fall behind. More than half of business owners say the world has become a riskier place, and nearly two-thirds say they value risk management more than they did five years ago, according to Gallagher's research into small business resilience since the pandemic.
What the pandemic proved, more clearly than any prior disruption, is which marketing instincts actually work under pressure and which ones backfire. The data is remarkably consistent, not just from COVID-19 but across nearly a century of economic downturns: businesses that pull back entirely tend to lose ground that takes years to recover, while businesses that adapt thoughtfully often emerge stronger than before.
Research from Peter Field and the B2B Institute found that brands investing in advertising during downturns experience five times more significant business effects and 4.5 times greater annual market share growth compared to those that cut back. These are not new lessons, but the pandemic gave them their most visible, large-scale test case in a generation.
The following eight marketing tips, originally developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, hold up well as general guidance for navigating any period of business disruption, whether it is a recession, a supply chain crisis, a natural disaster, or simply an uncertain economy.
Why marketing matters more, not less, during disruption
The instinct to cut marketing spend the moment business gets uncertain is understandable, but the historical record argues strongly against it. A study of 3,900 companies worldwide found that those who continued investing in growth, including maintaining marketing spend, during the 2008 recession achieved a 17% compound growth rate during the downturn itself. Samsung is a frequently cited example: it maintained marketing spend through the 2008 financial crisis and used the moment to reposition itself as an innovation leader, climbing from the 21st most valuable global brand to one of the top 10 within a decade.
The pandemic produced its own version of this pattern. Expedia invested heavily in marketing throughout the pandemic and outperformed Airbnb, which pulled back its marketing in 2020 and experienced a delayed recovery as a result. A 2023 comparative study of Starbucks and Luckin Coffee during the pandemic found that brand identity played a crucial role in whether organizations emphasized resilience or agility, with each brand's pre-crisis strategy shaping how successfully it adapted.
Going quiet rarely protects a business. It typically just makes it invisible at the exact moment customers are deciding who to trust.
1. Give back to your community
If there is a way you can adjust your overall business strategy to donate or volunteer for the benefit of your local community, especially during a period of widespread hardship, you should do so.
Not only is it the right thing to do when and where you can, it can also help raise:
- Community support
- Brand awareness
- Overall goodwill
Be sure to communicate your community efforts openly as well. Disruption is not going to end overnight, but do not lose hope. Focus on your wins, learn from your losses, and communicate in every possible way with your customers. Your audience needs to understand your value in their lives during difficult times, whatever form that disruption takes.
2. Emphasize the value of your product or service
Consumer needs change in nearly every industry during a period of disruption. It is imperative to communicate how your brand, product, or service is still relevant under the new circumstances.
This can be done with a few tweaks to your website in connection with specific messaging in your email and social media marketing. Whether it is something new you are offering amid a disruption or something you have always done that is still needed today, do not assume your customers, or potential customers, will automatically remember or even know.
What was seen as a luxury a month ago may need to be repositioned as a necessity once circumstances shift, and the reverse can be true as well. Pay close attention to how your audience's priorities are actually changing, rather than assuming they are the same as before.
3. Audit your competitors
What are your competitors doing during the current period of disruption? Are they hosting AMAs (Ask Me Anything sessions) on social media with their leadership team? Are they streamlining their ordering process? Engaging more with their social media followers? Adjusting pricing or product tiers for cost-conscious customers?
It is important to understand the ever-changing landscape everyone is operating in. A structured competitive analysis can reveal where competitors are gaining ground, where they are stumbling, and where genuine inspiration for your own strategy might be found. History shows this matters: during the 1991 recession, McDonald's reduced its advertising budget while Pizza Hut and Taco Bell sustained or increased theirs, resulting in sales growth of 61% and 40% respectively while McDonald's saw a 28% decline.
4. Prioritize trusted relationships with your customers
During periods of disruption, while it might seem counterintuitive, consumers often weigh their relationship with a business more heavily than finding the absolute lowest price.
With uncertainty pressuring many businesses, your customers' loyalty is pivotal to keeping yours stable. Reward your loyal customers (or members) as appropriate, and be sure to over-communicate what your business is doing during a difficult period and why, so that you stay top of mind.
Marketers who continue marketing during economic, political, health, or environmental crises recover faster and build stronger customer trust than those who cut back, according to current industry research on crisis marketing. One of the foundations of building trust is consistently meeting your customers' needs. Every business does that a little differently, but it should always be top of mind. Take nothing for granted, especially when circumstances are shifting.
5. Continue purposeful experimentation
If your reflection on how your business has pivoted during a difficult stretch feels like a blur, you are definitely in good company.
The immediate need to pivot for survival as a disruption begins often forces thoughtful experimentation with your marketing strategies to take a back seat. Once the most urgent fires are out, pause and take a look at what you are doing now. Where can you A/B test to ultimately drive better results? See our guide on 9 tips for more effective A/B testing for a practical framework.
Of course, anything you are experimenting with needs to be measured and analyzed, so carve out the appropriate time to do so, even when (especially when) everything feels urgent.
6. Do not put off new partnerships
Partnerships can be a powerful growth lever. They enable businesses to reach new markets, attain resources they could not create on their own, or both.
Because of the disruption a crisis causes for so many businesses, partnerships are easy to put on the back burner. Review who you might have been talking to before the disruption struck. Can you restart that conversation? If you did not have any in the works, take some time to research who might be a good fit moving forward. Partnerships can truly bring new life to not only your marketing but your overall business as well.
7. Social media is more important than ever
If it has been a while since you have audited your social media strategy, now is the time to do so. Too many businesses fall into the trap of simply broadcasting to their followers. Do not be one of them, especially during uncertain times.
Social media is a place, many places, actually, where you can engage in real conversations with customers and potential customers who appreciate company responsiveness more than ever during a period of disruption.
Where can you better humanize your brand? Who on your team can go live to better connect with and update your audience? Are you reflecting the atmosphere the world (or your industry) currently finds itself in? See our guide on 7 tips for going live on any social media platform for practical guidance on using live video to build that connection.
Asking yourself these questions and adjusting your social media marketing strategy accordingly will only help build that all-important trust factor for your brand.
8. Invest in online
Every business is different, but with online sales only continuing to grow, this is an opportunity you cannot afford to sleep on.
Whether it is live-streaming workshops or classes, upgrading the ecommerce features on your website, or simply featuring them more prominently, put yourself in your customers' shoes. Online browsing tends to increase during periods of economic uncertainty, since it is free, low-commitment, and feels safer than impulsive in-person purchases, a pattern that held true during the pandemic and continues to hold during economic downturns more broadly.
What other barriers can you remove to make it easier than ever for people to support your business, no matter where they are? See our guide on landing page benefits for your small business for practical steps to strengthen your online presence.
RecommendedAcross nearly every economic downturn studied, from the Great Depression through the 2008 financial crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic, the businesses that fared best shared a common thread: they did not necessarily spend more, but they spent smarter, stayed visible, and kept communicating clearly with their customers. Cutting marketing entirely is rarely the answer. Reallocating it toward your highest-performing, most relevant channels almost always is.
Disruption will happen again. Preparation is what changes the outcome.
The pandemic is not going to be the last major disruption any business faces, but it left behind a clearer playbook than any prior crisis. Give back to your community. Communicate your value clearly. Watch your competitors. Build trust over chasing the lowest price. Keep experimenting and measuring. Do not let partnerships languish. Treat social media as a two-way conversation, not a broadcast channel. And invest in your online presence, because customer behavior that shifts online during a crisis rarely shifts all the way back.
Whatever form the next disruption takes, recession, supply chain shock, natural disaster, or something none of us has anticipated yet, don't lose hope. Focus on your wins, learn from your losses, and communicate in every possible way you can with your customers.
If you need assistance with digital marketing automation so that you can focus on the bigger picture during any period of disruption, schedule your free demo of DailyStory today.