If you want to secure more advertisers in the second half of 2020, promotions like contests and interactive content that drive leads and database will be critical

I recently had the privilege to sit down with Gordon Borrell (Borrell Associates) to talk about how local businesses are dealing with the effects of COVID-19 and what they’re predicting for the rest of 2020.

While there’s uncertainty about how the rest of the year will play out, one thing is for certain. Promotions will be critical to the strategy of advertisers for the second half of this year. This puts your media company in the perfect position to thrive.

“And just like they did in the recession of 2008, promotions are going to be really, really big.”

Creating a sponsorship campaign around a promotion will have current and new advertisers eager to work with you to help them in their recovery process.

Leads are the New Currency

During the pandemic, the main focus of businesses has been to improve customer loyalty. This means businesses have been dedicating the majority of their efforts to retain current customers and strengthen existing relationships. But, the focus is about to shift.

Post-Pandemic Focus of Advertisers

As we begin to move towards post-pandemic recovery mode, the majority of advertisers are shifting their focus to customer acquisition. This means they’re looking for qualified leads, email database growth, and traffic to their site. They’re realizing they’ve done as much as they can with their current database of customers. Now is the time to get new customers; now is the time to try and get your competitor’s customers.

What’s the answer to finding new customers? Promotions.

Leads are king as businesses try to reopen, and promotions are your number one way to deliver them. When you’re able to offer a sure-fire way to deliver a lead list to a local business, it will give you not only the ability to retain your current advertising partnerships, but you’ll also be in a strong position to win new business.

Promotions are Gonna be Really, Really Big

When I spoke with Gordon at the Second Street Summit in June, he shared their data about how they envision the rest of 2020 will play out. Depending on where you’re located, your community could be on a path to a slow and steady recovery, or you might be dealing with even more lockdowns.

But when it comes to what your advertisers need – none of that really matters. Regardless of which scenario you’re in, the result is the same. Promotions remain front and center for solving your advertisers’ problems.

Promotions are Front and Center

If the economy starts to bounce back, promotions will attract new customers to reopened businesses. In the case that lockdowns are still prevalent through the holidays, promotions will drive customers to online stores and purchases as shopping shifts more to ecommerce.

“Promotions. Promotions. Promotions. No matter what scenario occurs, it is going to be critical to generate leads.”

You Need to Prepare NOW

Do you have a plan to take advantage of the impending promotions boom? Local businesses need help now more than ever. If you don’t have a solution for them, they’ll go elsewhere.

Now is the time to start reaching out to businesses. You need to start building proposals and developing plans with advertisers. Show potential advertisers how you plan to deliver measurable results like qualified leads, email database growth, consumer data, or increased site traffic.

As Gordon explained, now is not the time to have a wait-and-see attitude. As their advertiser data consistently shows, it doesn’t matter how this downturn and recovery play out. When it comes to solving advertiser challenges, promotions are always the right solution.

Editor’s note: Interested in hearing the whole conversation between Matt and Gordon? Watch it here. If you want to get your own copy of this slide deck with all the accompanying Borrell Associates research, download it here.