Advertising Techniques on a Budget During a Pandemic

The economy of the entire world is on a slump. The pandemic has pushed many people’s dreams back and into a horrific state rivaling the Great Depression and the Economic Downturn of 2008. Because millions of businesses around the world were forced to get shut out, global trade has slowed down.

As quickly as the coronavirus spread around the world, so did hardship. The World Bank has estimated that by the end of 2021, more than 150 million people are estimated to be part of the Extreme Poor category. The total number accounts for around 9.4% of the entire world. Aside from climate change, the whole situation is a new hurdle people have to live with.

Doing exceptionally well as any business is rare. Doing great during a recession is even rarer. All companies, whether big or small, are taking a beating during this once-in-a-lifetime event. No business is spared. Even the essential companies can’t grow appropriately amidst all the uncertainty. The most they can do is hold on to dear life.

Businesses are deferring to different ways to stay afloat. While multiple methods were tried and tested, only a few surmised to be effective. Even their marketing efforts had to deal with a curveball and adjust. It became difficult to balance saving up and spending on advertising and general marketing. The pandemic has caused a significant drop in advertising spending and revenue. Predictions of growth are being hoped for but not, in any way, expected.

The pandemic has caused a dramatic shift in consumer behavior. The regular businesses where advertisers used to align themselves, like cinemas, with were closed indefinitely. What are the most effective advertising techniques different companies employ on a budget, even amidst a pandemic?

Back to Print Advertising

Print advertising is surprisingly one of the cheapest marketing businesses and advertisers have access to it. Print advertising has gone a long way from how it was decades ago. Because of the prevalence of digital advertising, demand dictated the supply to go down. The lessening of the need for typical print media has pushed the price of print advertising down.

Gone are the days when a premium placement in the centerfold of a magazine or newspaper would cost the advertiser millions of dollars. Because of the shift to digital media, advertising through print media became cheaper. However, those who would venture advertising through print media must be reminded that the readers of said media have grown older—caveat emptor.

Moving to Guerilla Advertising

Guerilla advertising is already significant. Now that people are restricted inside their houses and their workplace, guerilla advertising is a venture you can take a look at. Lots of advertisers have been doing mobile advertising for decades. An example of guerilla advertising is the truck display advertisement you see on the highway.

Another example of guerilla advertising is a business paying car owners to attach car decal stickers featuring their advertisements to be seen on the car as they drive around town. Some advertisers even resort to stencil graffiti artwork to grab their audience’s attention. Guerilla advertising is cheap, cost-effective, and attention-grabbing.

Upgrading to Digital Advertising

Digital advertising is the new way advertisers can get a cost-effective return on their investments. Ever since the dawn of the Internet Age, more and more advertisers are moving the focus of their life’s work towards the digitalization of their marketing efforts. Digital advertisement is unexplored territory. There is still much to learn from the ever-changing landscape of endless information: The Internet.

Thanks to the famous social media websites, marketing agencies now have a basis and information on which market to target their advertisements to. The cost of digital advertisements has been effective due to the targeting cookies set on your profile. Digital advertising also allows businesses, even if they are small, a more extensive reach.

You can also reach your intended audience anywhere and through any means necessary, as long as they are online. According to a Nielsen study, digital advertising has a more effective reach than television — whatever campaign the businesses may be running. It is also the language by which those who are newly earning, Generation Z, are speaking. Generation Z barely uses the television or any other form of media. Digital advertisement is the way to go, especially in this day and age.

COVID-19 has shifted a lot of people’s perspectives on what essential things are. As a consequence, it has also changed the way people spend their hard-earned money. To survive, businesses must be able to adapt to the changing times. By resorting to more cost-effective marketing and advertising techniques, businesses, large or small, will have a chance to thrive.

Photo by Jose Francisco Fernandez Saura from Pexels