Something has gone horribly wrong.

The All-American CEO has transformed into All-American Rejects.

An ELITE pop-punk band (for the record), but a terrible decision-making model during a “not recession” recession.

Meanwhile, marketers are taking strays left and right.

Budgets are being slashed. Layoffs keep happening. Marketers are limping through the quarter trying to keep their team afloat sans achilles ala Kobe.

Like every recession, there are calls for execs to keep their cool and invest in growth. Like every recession, these calls are being ignored.

The problem is that executives think marketers are simply being self-serving when recommending budget stability let alone re-investing in growth.

And maybe we are?

Fine. Let’s agree to pack up the spin zone kit. Today we’re going to focus exclusively on the data.

There are 3 common traps CEOs fall into that we’ll address directly:

1. Undervaluing the Importance of Brand

2. Cutting the Number of Marketing Channels

3. Dependence on Performance Marketing (LEADS!)

We’ll systematically make the sad-boi CEOs ignore all logic and go full Kendall Roy to kill our marketing spend.

Let’s dive in.

Exchanging Emotions for Data

We’ve already established that executives are more emotional than Millennials watching re-runs of Friday Night Lights (…no? nobody else? just me? carry on…).

As marketers, we have to help the C-suite shift from emotional to data-informed decision-making.

The EMO CEO Playbook

Executives immediately run to the cutting board when recessions hit. For many (emotional) reasons, Marketing is quickly identified as a potential cutting measure. Execs adopt a loser mentality that sounds like this:

• “We just need the sales team to work harder.”

• “Marketing is too soft…we need LEADS.”

• “I can’t afford to advertise right now.”

Each of these has major logic flaws, but the primary issue is the lack of data to drive decision-making. If your CEO is talking like this, tap into their love of history (they all have it) with this nugget:

Listen. We get it.

Cost-cutting is obviously a necessary tactic in a drawdown. The key is knowing where to cut from.

Again, it’s our job to move execs away from the common wisdom and back to the facts.

The Data Playbook

If we’re going to tell the CEO their playbook is incorrect, we need to bring an alternative to the table. Rather than being accused of convincing someone to do something with the dark arts of persuasion; let’s once again rely on the data.

Data Point #1: Brand > Performance Messaging 80% of the time.

Takeaway: Double down on brand (everything gets commoditized in a recession - how are you different to your prospect?)

Using multiple channels increases ad impact by 35%.

Takeaway: Culling down the places you advertise will have an adverse affect. Touching your prospect 6-8 times across platforms gives you a higher likelihood of conversion.

75+% of the opportunity to outperform ad competition comes from improved creative.

Takeaway: Taking investment away from creative is a great way to ensure your ads look and feel (and perform) the same as the rest of your industry.

Put it in Practice

Ok. Now we’ve got the CEO’s ear, and at least have a chance to put our best foot forward. What’s next?

Last week, Entrepreneur published a recession planning guide that folds in perfectly. I’ll share 3 of their suggestions with practical tactics along with each:

1. Optimize Your Profit Picture: Use your budget to deepen relationships with existing customers, and find ways to enhance customer success opportunities
   
   Tactic: Film customer testimonials with existing clients. Use the opportunity to deepen relationships, learn more about client business, and let your biggest fans do your talking for you to the market.
   

2. Test New Areas: Like we said above, now is not the time to cut channels. Testing new channels you can efficiently engage with clients will be key to surviving the recession.
   
   Tactic: Pitch testing new channels/ad platforms as a cost-cutting measure. You’ll only double down if you see results.
   

3. Open the Top of Your Funnel with Creative: We already talked about the importance of creative as a differentiator. But there is also a benefit of earning wins with organic creative that saves your working budget.
   
    Tactic: Develop new creative concepts you might not have considered before like using vertical video on Youtube or Tiktok or building a direct-to-consumer media brand for your business.

At risk of sounding emo myself - here’s one last piece of advice: don’t give up. Recessions have come and go before. The best brand builders keep their heads down and continue to provide value despite the circumstances.

If you do lose your job or decide to switch careers, stay tuned - next week’s issue is all about how to build the brand of YOU.

If you enjoyed this issue please share it with 1 other friend, or reply and tell me your EMO CEO horror stories 😈 .