Smart communication when funds are tight

In challenging economic times, many companies' first instinct is to cut their marketing and communications budgets and focus their investments on the parts of the business they believe are essential for survival. As understandable as this reaction may seem at first, it is also wrong. This is because it ignores the long-term consequences of reduced or even completely discontinued external communications. 

Developing and implementing a successful communication strategy requires time, patience, and an upfront investment. In this respect, communication can be likened to a high-speed train: a lot of energy is needed to get the engine to its full potential. However, once you have reached this point, you have momentum on your side. Then it rolls quickly and almost by itself. But if something slows down this train, the same energy is needed as at the very beginning to reach this speed again – perhaps even more if you have just come to a standstill on a hill. Thus, the self-imposed break can cost more time, money, and reputation than continuing at a reduced speed. 

In addition, silence gives competitors the opportunity to fill the gap and take control of the narrative on current issues. Those who remain silent on current developments and fail to provide their own impetus quickly lose relevance with important stakeholders. The result: in the worst case, customers, partners, and the media turn to other companies that they perceive as more active voices and trustworthy partners.

Communications managers now face the challenge of remaining visible in the market even with reduced budgets – and that requires new approaches. The key to this lies in clear strategic planning: What are the most important milestones in the coming quarter? What core messages does the company want to convey? And above all: What specific business goals should communications contribute to?

Based on these insights, you can either set priorities temporally to plan communication peaks around an event or strategic announcement, for example. Alternatively or in addition, agile tactics can be used to further feed the background noise. Here, communicators need to find clever ways to place their messages. After all, smart PR measures can have a big impact even with limited resources.

Creativity pays off, especially in tense market situations. This can be achieved, for example, through clever topic selection or the targeted use of cost-efficient approaches, such as having a high-ranking spokesperson comment on current events and developments in your own industry or carrying out creative PR stunts with manageable effort.

Other possibilities may include:

• Active presence on social media with valuable content
• Networking and personal exchange at selected events
• Empowering employees as brand ambassadors

In the best case scenario, the limited budget is only a temporary action. However, in order to strengthen their position within the company and provide arguments for a (re)increase, communications managers must make their successes measurable. Only if they can demonstrate concretely how their work contributes to the company's goals will they be heard in future budget decisions.

The following can help, for example:

• Media response analyses with qualitative evaluation – i.e., a clear classification of published media coverage on a specific topic or company, evaluated according to tone, weight of the medium, risk factors, and other metrics
• Expansion of social media reach and interactions – in other words, more followers, more reactions, more shares, more comments, and more discussions
• Tracking website traffic from PR activities – for example, using tracking links to show how relevant PR materials direct visitors to the company website
• Leads and contacts from PR activities
• Feedback from customers and stakeholders
• Direct sales success through PR measures

Those who reinforce their relevance in this way will be perceived as a strategically important part of the company, even in difficult times.

Experience shows that companies that remain communicative even in difficult times emerge from crises stronger than before. They retain control over how their issues are interpreted, remain relevant to their stakeholders, and can seize new opportunities more quickly. For example, despite an economically challenging situation, one of our clients prioritized its communications and aligned its content focus with its current business objectives. With an issue jump and thought leadership-driven media strategy, we were ultimately able to significantly exceed the previous year's results and achieved the jointly agreed annual targets by the end of the third quarter.

The trick is to achieve maximum impact even with limited resources. This can be done through clear prioritization, creative approaches, and demonstrating measurable success. Communications managers should therefore confidently advocate for the relevance of their work and show how they can contribute to the company's success even in times of crisis.

If you would like to learn more, please contact us at hello@oseon.com.

Image source: Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash