Recently, Tom Hespos wrote an article on iMedia about how Online Marketing ad budgets are more at risk in an economic downturn than traditional media. He correctly attributed this to brand managers having a better grasp of the contribution to branding/exposure of traditional vs. online media as they have been working with traditional media longer. However, he stopped short of an even more important point.

In an economic downturn it is more important than ever that ad budgets have measureable and efficient results. When the choice is between funding a branding campaign or a direct response and the direct response campaign can be driven by ROI/Profit metrics, the direct response campaign should win, because it reduces the risk of the marketing spend.

Not everyone can do direct response marketing. I wouldn’t try to market grocery items this way, for instance (although grocery delivery is another story). Most companies can, however, and almost every B2B company should. When you combine the power of testing and optimization in direct-response campaigns, and the flexible pricing controls in PPC, you suddenly have a combination that has the potential to drive profits while reducing risk. Even in a down market.

So, are online media budgets at a higher level of risk in this economic climate? Only if there are no measurement controls in place and the marketing team is not tasked with driving profits.

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