Marketing During A Crisis

One of the most fascinating things I’ve been watching is how the 80 something USV portfolio companies are adjusting their marketing strategies during this pandemic.

It is all over the map, based on the unique situations of each and every company, with some pulling back on marketing, some accelerating it, and some keeping it more or less the same. Even the ones who are not changing marketing spend are changing their marketing mix a lot.

Digital/performance marketing, whether online or on TV (where there is a lot of targeted performance inventory now – talk to our portfolio company Simulmedia if you want to see for yourself) is really showing its stuff in this downturn as it is responsive to changing demand. Keywords/search is a great example of that. If there are fewer people searching for what you are selling, there is less spend. There are many digital/performance channels that work similarly.

Marketing costs have come down dramatically in some channels and companies are taking advantage of that to grow their customer bases and market share. But some channels have gone the other way with increased marketing costs. If you are selling something that everyone wants right now, it may cost you more to reach customers right now.

Making sense of all of this is not easy but important. You may have big opportunities that you are missing. Or you may have big problems you aren’t seeing.

Which is why I’m going to tune into this webinar by my friend David Steinberg and his friend John Sculley on Thursday at noon eastern. Full disclosure, USV is an investor in Zeta Global where David Steinberg is the CEO. I’m curious to hear about how their customers are operating in this environment and what is working and what is not.