There are two buzzwords I’m sure you’re hearing in almost every conversation right now: Economy. Recession. While officials will be the ones to decide whether or not we’re in a recession at the moment you’re reading this, what’s unchanged is the fear companies have when it comes to making long-term plans at this moment.
I’ll add another word that will explain why things have likely changed several times between now and when you read this: Uncertainty. The uncertainty part is a little different this time, but we’ve been here before. It’s true – and we know the playbook for winning.
2001 is 2007 is 2020
I’ve been lucky (or unlucky) enough to have been in this industry for more of these recessionary periods than I can count. But I could tell you what I learned after my first one, in 2001, and the learnings would hold just as true today.
Right now, CEOs are saying to their CMOs, “Let’s make sure every dollar is working and accountable.” When this happens, it’s important for marketing leaders to be on the ball, making sure they’re able to prove the performance they promised.
Every time the industry weathers recessionary periods, marketing mixes have shifted away from above-the-line to below-the-line. From long-term brand building to near-term demand generation. Without looking, I can tell you the sites that are on most companies’ media plans: Google. Meta. The New York Times. The Trade Desk. Part of that is because they’re popular destinations for consumers. But another reason is because those destinations are accountable, which is increasingly important for media buyers in uncertain times.
Beyond buying accountable inventory, it’s also important for marketers to be able to see campaign performance as it’s happening. Waiting until the end of a campaign to optimize is an outdated tactic. Savvy marketers leverage real-time views of their performance and optimize in-flight. Testing, learning, and quickly adjusting is the way to make the most of every marketing dollar.
What I’m saying is, marketers who leverage omnichannel connectivity and measurement – which LiveRamp enables – will be better-equipped to deal with whatever macroeconomic headwinds we face.
Recessions Are Where You Win
Almost everyone hunkers down during recessions. It’s the safe play. But the companies looking around for the right growth levers and opportunities are going to grow leaps and bounds over those that are focused on defense. Data collaboration is one of those opportunities. Here’s why:
- Brands can deepen partnerships with publishers to find new premium audiences and deliver better experiences to audiences
- Retailers can enable offerings on par with media companies, like connectivity into CTV and social, and measurement like CAPIs that enable real-time optimization
- Data owners can add incremental revenue by leaning into channels that make their unique first-party data more discoverable and accessible
What’s more, we already know what the key to the next phase of market growth will be: AI. Every company is trying to figure out how they can leverage AI, and how AI can bring more to their business. But AI models need data to be intelligent. They need signals. And if you’re dealing with consumers, or marketing, or experiences, there’s a limit to how much you can train AI for marketing if you’re only training it with the world’s public data.
Whether you’re training AI models to enhance customer experiences or connecting data across new AI-powered channels, it all starts with data-driven marketing. Marketers who measure what matters and collaborate across their data have a clear edge. No matter where the economy goes, they’ll be best positioned to lead the next wave of marketing.
What to Do Today
So here’s what you need to do – and these aren’t closely-guarded secrets. In fact, you should be doing these things anyway:
- Know what’s working in your marketing strategy
- Do more of it
- Don’t settle for only winning today when you can win tomorrow, too
Through data-driven marketing and by tapping into the world’s most powerful data collaboration network with LiveRamp, you can better drive, measure, and optimize your marketing outcomes. From omni-channel connectivity to measurement and data collaboration, if you’re not already using the tools that enable this, you need to start now. Because the next wave of winners won’t wait for the storm to pass – they’ll build the engine to thrive through it.
