Why Cutting Your PR Budget Will Cost You Dearly

It might seem like we’re biased, but all the evidence points to the fact that maintaining the PR budget is one of most important things you can do when times are tough.

It’s well known that during a recession one of the first things businesses look to cut is the marketing budget.

At the start of the pandemic, the marketing industry reported that budgets contracted at the fastest pace since the IPA Bellwether began more than 20 years ago with all areas of marketing impacted, especially PR which is often considered a luxury not a necessity in business but it wasn’t long before businesses across different industries realised that scaling back on their PR could affect their relationships with their audiences, whether internal or external.

Covid-19 has truly changed the business landscape and from keeping clients at ease to writing crisis communications plans, PR has played a vital role for businesses so far and will continue to do so for those who understand its value.

So, when you’re looking at scaling back on your budgets during uncertain times, make sure you don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Here’s how PR can help you emerge stronger from a crisis.

One step forward, two steps back

Firstly, recessions don’t last forever and stopping or pausing your PR activity means that you’ll have a mountain to climb when things pick up. PR can help you stay relevant and meet your stakeholders’ changing needs during tough economic conditions.

You’ve already spent time to build your reputation and understand your audiences so you may be thinking that you can press the pause button and pick up where you left off once things start looking up. The problem is that everything will have moved on without you. PR will help you move with the times and stay relevant in people’s minds and even reach new audiences. During the pandemic, many people reported that they started using a new brand because of the innovative or compassionate way it had responded to the crisis. Economies may stagnate but your audiences are still listening and you need to be talking to them.

Maintaining faith in brands

Maintaining your profile signals strength and reliability to your customers and stakeholders as in uncertain times, people want brands and companies they can rely on. People will come to rely on you as a trusted source of information and that’s not just because you’re still being featured in the press, winning awards, and are active on social media. It’s because it also shows that engaging with them through these channels still matters to you. When done right, PR is all about helping an organisation to build relationships and listen to the conversations around them and understanding how to engage in these conversations. What would you think of a company that would just stop doing that because it didn’t think it was important anymore?

Go forward or stand still

A cautionary tale about cutting your marketing budgets is what happened to Nike, Reebok and Adidas in 1991. At the time Nike was the third most popular brand of the three but when the 1991 recession hit, unlike the other Reebok and Adidas, they stepped up their budget, invested in new ideas and kept pushing their message. By the end of the recession, they were the biggest brand of the three.

If you are thinking about cutting your budgets, think about your competitors. If they are increasing or maintaining their marketing and PR budgets, they’ll be the ones in a strong position when the economy starts moving again. Do you want to be left behind?

Make the most of opportunities

PR stories told through editorial and social can have a massive impact on raising awareness of your company. Free media exposure is perhaps the most cost-effective way to reach your audience, especially during times when marketing budgets can be tight.

A few years ago we secured an online article for one of our clients in a national newspaper. The story got picked up by magazines, newspapers and broadcast media around the world, results beyond their wildest dreams! This coverage not only helped the client raise awareness of their cause and drove traffic to their dedicated webpage, it also helped them reach an international audience. There’s no way that they could have achieved these results through advertising or other marketing methods.

A great piece of coverage can also last a long time, if you know how to make the most of it. E-shots, social media posts, re-posts and blog posts are just a few of the channels you can use to communicate your story to raise awareness and influence your audience.

PR is a powerful tool

In times of crisis, great communication is key and as PRs, it’s our job to reach out to your clients, investors, employees and anyone who has a stake in your company to keep them informed and engaged. PR and comms professionals are experts at adapting to fast-changing environment and let’s face it, that’s one thing you will definitely need during turbulent times!