2021’s advertising trends may continue this year — or maybe not. No marketing strategy can predict the industry swings, but a well-thought groundwork can produce contingency plans to manage the uncertainties. Even with a 14% growth forecast in the US ad market, marketers must continue to stay agile for underperforming, less desirable, and even overperforming campaign results.

Why should advertisers create an advertising contingency plan?

Related: Deliver More Results On Tentpole Events With Always-on Advertising

Tentpole events carry the same excitement but have been up in the air lately. Organizers and TV broadcasters have faced challenges brought by COVID, forcing them to downsize, reschedule, or worse, cancel the event. Event uncertainties may impact ROAS harboring significant ad campaign losses. Developing a contingency plan will lessen the percentage of having an unfavorable outcome. 

As cited by Whatis.com, “A contingency plan is a course of action designed to help an organization respond effectively to a significant future event or situation that may or may not happen.”

With the digital advertising explosion, 22% advertising revenue growth and uncertainties due to unforeseen situations, businesses should focus on building layers of contingency plans.

Identifying and realigning objectives 

Are we producing a backup plan for user acquisition or retention in an always-on campaign? Or is it a seasonal push to boost sales? 

The quadrennial Olympics set a global stage for brands but advertisers got cold feet with the recent Tokyo summer Olympics viewership result. Last year’s event recorded the least-watched primetime Olympics for both Summer and Winter international games. There are 15.6 million viewers per night, down 21% from the 2018 Winter Games. Alongside Olympics, most TV sports events have experienced a downfall. Cancellations and postponement resulted in the arena’s half-filled or empty venue, but television primetime was less attractive.

Marketers should understand that the main goal is to keep ads up and running 24/7 reaching the target audience regardless of the situation. Being prepared for the different outcomes of your campaign, either hitting or missing the mark, planning for the next course of action is the top priority during this phase.

Analyzing the good and the bad scenarios

After defining the scope, setting the objective, and identifying key drivers, marketers can develop different scenarios based on research data. Drafting a scenario allows better decision-making and creates an opportunity from an uncertain situation. 

Developing a scenario doesn’t just focus on advertising challenges but it includes overachieving campaigns. Connected TV has been a growing platform and has continuously evolved in giving a more personalized ad experience. The big screen made a name for itself last year. YouTube streams more than 50% of its inventory through CTV, and 63% of the YouTube audience found themselves consuming video content in front of Connected TVs.

The type of analysis that considers the practical effect on both upside and downside can develop a more performance-focused contingency plan.

Stay proactive in short term and be agile in long term planning

After months of operating under crisis, media planners can now identify how consumers have adjusted their engagement with the brand. The pandemic pushed the average spent time of users on social media.

Based on Statista.com, people consume content on social media for 65 minutes and above every day. YouTube viewers stay on screen for an average of 40 minutes daily. TikTok’s recent data have shown an average of 33 minutes viewing time. 72% of US Instagram users are American teens, browsing for an average of 30 minutes. An increase in time spent can lead to a more customer-centered strategy by understanding consumers’ behavioral evolution. 

For shorter planning cycles, actively optimizing campaigns and managing daily results will lead to a more flexible strategy. With the help of in-depth historical data, hundreds and thousands of social ads inside Campaign Lab, advertising technology allows media buyers to have more visibility and control.

A more comprehensive planning strategy can focus on Always-On advertising on paid social platforms. Running ads for a prolonged time shows a more manageable cost than pulse advertising. Besides having a more stable ad expenditure it has a higher success rate. Social advertising platforms see stronger results with more data. Campaigns that can build iteratively on top of previous data will be more successful than net new campaigns.

Take control of the advertising outcome

Developing an advertising contingency plan produces substantial actual and calculated output findings for more comprehensive decision-making in attaining advertising objectives. A scenario planning process allows advertisers to adapt to unexpected changes by results-based actions. Marketers can predict benefits and risks for each step taken in addressing critical situations.