05 PLAN AND INVEST Baseline Scenario Planning, Immediate- and Mid-Term 14 different networks, and listed merging and acting on disparate sources of data, individually The landscape for marketers is still fraught updating bids and budgets, and accurate and unpredictable, with a difficult economic campaign management as their three biggest landscape likely to take hold after the crisis pain points. period is over. Nonetheless, planning needs to start as soon as possible. Working with the Renegotiate with Providers finance department and leadership on a set of scenario plans that are informed as much With markets facing so much disruption and as possible by sales and engagement data costs being squeezed across the board, it that you’ve generated will help to stabilize makes sense to reevaluate vendor and provider assumptions from all sides and set the company contracts and relationships in parallel with up to weather the storm, adapting to the reviewing channel strategy. circumstances and avoiding any surprises. There may be platforms or tools that no Invest longer fit with your strategy; contact vendors directly to understand if there’s any room for Scenario plans need to include scope for cost negotiation. Doing so will enable you to investment. Assuming that the rebound will redirect funds into investment areas, giving lift all boats equally is not enough; marketers you the room you need to establish new digital need to put themselves in the position to capabilities. perform. The crisis has shown the importance of emerging technologies in enabling marketers to unearth opportunities and value that is vital for success even in tough times. This lesson must be learned for the future: Smart investments into innovative technologies such as automation, data analytics, e-commerce optimization, and many more are not optional extras but central to rebounding strongly and protecting and expanding market share. The importance of this point is evidenced by new research by Adjust, which found that 81% of marketers said their company was planning to increase its marketing or advertising automation budget in 2020. The study also highlighted the complexity of campaigns and marketers’ difficulty managing them: Marketers were found to handle an average of 19 advertising campaigns across approximately