Media planning for natural disasters. How to shift your marketing and communications in response to a serious event.

Transcription

1 Media planning for natural disasters How to shift your marketing and communications in response to a serious event.

2 It s not uncommon for residents of areas where natural disasters happen whether hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, or floods to plan ahead for them. They may not happen often. But when they do, the impact on daily life is so severe that some advanced preparation is crucial. But for marketers to plan for natural disasters? Not as common. For some businesses, a natural disaster means a significant reduction in business activity, if not shutting down entirely. In some situations, you re likely to suspend your marketing efforts. Maybe because you re unable to continue operating because of power outages or other limitations. Maybe because the event halts shopping and other ordinary consumer behavior, so marketing during such an event is ineffective and pointless. And for other businesses, a natural disaster can be an important moment to communicate. Think of companies that work with property owners to cope with their losses and repair the damage. Insurance companies. Roofers. Tree services. Whether you re in a business that needs to dial back marketing or dial it up, it s important to think ahead about how your marketing plans are affected by a natural disaster. You need to understand the geography and anticipate the seasonality of natural disasters in the locations your business serves. And especially for businesses that need to ramp up marketing during a disaster, it s also important to: Plan ahead so you can react quickly in an organized fashion Know how people use media during and after a natural disaster Let s take a closer look at all of these considerations. 2

3 1 Three considerations for a natural disaster marketing plan. KNOW THE LAY OF THE LAND. Make sure you re clear on which geographic areas are more prone to specific types of natural disasters and how they match up to the markets you serve. For instance, hurricanes are most common in the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard. Central Texas to Nebraska is known as Tornado Alley. And earthquakes are most likely to occur in Coastal California, Oregon, and Washington State. Of course, each type of natural disaster affects people and businesses differently. And the recovery activity that follows a tornado looks very different from an earthquake or a flood. Know how the landscape is likely to be affected. 2 KEEP AN EYE ON THE CALENDAR. Disaster planning becomes much more important to campaigns scheduled for the months when the disasters most common to a geographic area are likely to occur. Tornadoes are most common from March to May. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from mid-summer to November. Wildfires are most common in summer. And, while flooding occurs year-round, there is some geographically driven seasonality based on things like snow melt, topography, and coastal storms. (Of course, earthquakes have no seasonality.) JAN APR JUL OCT TORNADOES HURRICANES WILDFIRES FLOODING 3

4 3 PREPARE FOR YOUR MEDIA USAGE. The most important wild card a natural disaster introduces into campaign planning is media usage. Most marketers fundamentally understand how their target audiences use different media from day to day. But less is known about how media use changes when disaster strikes. In 2014, Butler/Till conducted a nationwide study to learn how media is used in advance of, during, and immediately following a natural disaster. 1 50% Mobile D Right before an event, TV usage increases most, followed by 100% radio. 40% Comput Together, the two account for 75% of all media use. Not surprising, 90% since they re the most-used sources for local news and weather. Then, 30% Radio 80% during a natural disaster, TV and internet usage drops, while radio, mobile 20% Televisio 100% 70% Word- of- Mouth devices, and word of mouth increase. In fact, mobile device usage more 10% than triples. This is largely due to the loss 90% of 60% Newspaper power. After an event, radio 0% 0 Before During After is typically the first medium people turn 80% to for information, 50% even after Mobile Device/Tablet Before During A8er power returns. But TV and internet usage 70% quickly bounce back as the Word- of- Mouth Word of mouth 40% Computer/Internet recovery begins. 60% Newspaper 30% Radio 50% Mobile Device/Tablet 20% Television 40% 10% Computer/Internet The social media factor in natural disasters 30% 0% Radio Channels like Facebook and Twitter have become the go-to points of 20% Before During HURRICANE Television A8er SANDY connection for millions, making social media a major media resource 10% SOCIAL STATS: during recovery efforts following natural disasters. Research shows 76% of survivors use social media to contact friends 0% and family. People post images and share stories of their harrowing experiences. Before During A8er After Hurricane Sandy struck the Northeast in 2012, Instagram users uploaded 10 Sandy-related images per second. During the same period, the top five shared terms on Facebook were 1) we are OK 2) power 3) damage 4) hope everyone is OK and 5) trees. Government, relief organizations, and businesses contributing to recovery efforts find social media one of the most effective ways to locate people who need help. They also turn to social media to keep communities informed about assistance. Plus, 37% of Sandy victims say they used social media to locate supplies and find shelter. Following the super-storm, the American Red Cross had 23 staffers monitoring 2.5 million Sandy-related social posts % 90% 80% 70% 60% MEDIA USAGE: BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER 37 % USED SOCIAL MEDIA TO LOCATE SUPPLIES AND FIND SHELTER 2.5M SANDY-RELATED SOCIAL POSTS Word- of Newspa 4

5 How to prepare your media plan to leap into action. There are several best practices you can follow to ensure that when disaster hits, your response is immediate and effective, whether your business needs to ramp up or if it s time to put on the brakes. RAMPING UP? START HERE. If you re in a field that requires you to increase communications and marketing due to natural disasters: Be aware ahead of time of all your local media options and the geographic coverage they can provide. Natural disasters rarely match up with market/dma lines, so you need to be clear on the effective and waste coverage that will come with any media option. Pre-negotiate rates/schedules that can be quickly activated when needed. Maintain a database of multiple contacts from each media vendor you work with including mobile phone numbers to ensure 24/7 vendor availability. Build a creative toolkit with prepared messages you can adapt to varying circumstances. And be sure your messaging is sensitive to your audience s plight. PUTTING ON THE BRAKES? START HERE. If you think you might need to put your marketing efforts on hold because of a natural disaster: Develop specific criteria ahead of time to make it easier to decide which events would prompt you to cancel or pause a campaign. Know the cancellation policies for media tactics used in each campaign. Have appropriate alternative messages ready to go and ready to traffic, in case you aren t able to cancel a schedule. Maintain a database of multiple contacts from each media vendor you work with including mobile phone numbers to ensure 24/7 vendor availability. The bottom line. A natural disaster can come on with little warning. Sometimes days, sometimes minutes. And sometimes with no warning at all. By understanding when they may be more likely to hit, and how people s use of media changes in the midst of an event, you can be ready with a smart communications plan. Whether that means you shift into action or quietly wait for the right moment to return to normal marketing, planning ahead can help you make good decisions when there isn t much time to shift gears. 1. Methodology online survey conducted January-March, 2014: sample size 228 adults 2. Source: Creative Signals

6 About: Butler/Till We are a media and communication agency that delivers progressive ideas for engaging audiences across multiple platforms, channels, and media. We dream it up, build it, execute it, measure it, and continually improve it. We d love to start a conversation with you. Actually, Amanda would to be more exact adevito@butlertill.com Amanda DeVito Vice President of Engagement 6