NEWS FLASH: Cost of Facebook ads down by 35%!
But should you advertise during a recession?
Ad agencies, consultants, and the network say YES, but is that self-interest or truly a case of getting ahead when your competition has stopped advertising?
The cost of Facebook traffic is down 30% since more people are stuck at home and most advertisers have stopped campaigns.
But from an ROI perspective, unless you’re Brandon Hurtado (selling tons of BBQ for pick-up) or Amazon, your stores are shut down, so you can’t sell.
Sure, personal trainers can do online workouts via Zoom, but the travel industry is hard-pressed to make money with their physical assets being closed.
Measuring the efficacy of advertising during a recession is so fraught with challenges that it’s nearly impossible.
I’ve looked at a dozen studies and they’re all garbage because of confounding factors– mainly because of selection bias. In other words, when a recession hits, the winners get stronger and the losers go out of business.
BOTTOM LINE: if you can afford to advertise for 3 months (even via the dollar-a-day strategy)– with no revenue– go for it. “Advertising” is now paying to deliver your content, which isn’t necessarily sales material. It could be helpful training or good news you’re sharing.
Think of your advertising as “digital postage”.
