by Charlie Swift, General Manager, Adstra Services
February 4, 2025
It’s cliche by now, but it’s true: change is the only constant in marketing. Whether it’s the rising frequency of climate-driven disasters or sudden shifts in the media ecosystem, the job of marketing is increasingly one of managing the unpredictable. From the immediate fallout of wildfires, hurricanes, and floods to the uncertainties of platform ownership and regulation, the context in which brands operate can and does change overnight.
If you are focused too much on individual channels or platforms, navigating this volatility can be extremely difficult. Managing disruption, whether environmental, social or technological, requires adopting an audience-first approach.
The Importance of Disaster-Responsive Marketing
As a volunteer firefighter in the Northeast United States, I’ve experienced firsthand how crucial it is to adapt quickly to rapidly changing circumstances. In emergency response, success depends on your ability to pivot in the face of new information. Marketing during disasters requires the same readiness. Natural disasters disrupt entire regions, and marketers must act with sensitivity and agility to avoid missteps that can alienate audiences.
Timing and tone are critical. In the immediate aftermath of a crisis, people don’t want to see promotional messages—they’re focused on recovery and survival. Yet there’s a point where support from outside organizations becomes vital, and well-timed, relevant offers can aid in the recovery process. Knowing when and how to engage in these situations requires empathy, precision, and a deep understanding of your audience.
This is where tools like suppression files can help. Suppression files allow marketers to pause campaigns in affected areas, ensuring ads don’t run where they’re irrelevant or, worse, insensitive. For example, during wildfires, suppression data can prevent ads from targeting areas with blackouts or evacuations, preserving budgets and avoiding reputational harm. Disaster-responsive marketing is also about knowing when to reengage, leveraging real-time data to align campaigns with community recovery efforts. These strategies are critical in ensuring that brands remain ethical and effective during crises.
Navigating Platform Disruption
The media ecosystem is as volatile as the climate. Platforms that once seemed like reliable staples can become risky overnight. TikTok, for instance, faces ongoing regulatory scrutiny and potential bans, leaving marketers uncertain about its long-term viability. Similarly, X’s (formerly Twitter) upheaval under Elon Musk’s ownership has prompted many advertisers to reconsider its role in their strategies.
Marketers who adopt an audience-first mindset are better equipped to navigate these disruptions. Rather than relying on a single channel, an audience-first approach views platforms as interchangeable tools for connecting with people. If one platform becomes unavailable due to political, technological, or regulatory changes, brands with an audience-first strategy can pivot seamlessly to alternative channels. For example, marketers heavily invested in TikTok could adapt their campaigns for Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts, minimizing the impact of TikTok’s potential restrictions.
This agility depends on having the right data infrastructure to track audience behavior across platforms. By prioritizing the audience over the platform, marketers can create campaigns that are resilient to change and capable of thriving in a dynamic environment.
Why Audience-First Marketing Enhances Agility
At the core of both disaster-responsive marketing and platform diversification is the principle of audience-first strategies. Channel-first marketing creates rigid frameworks that are difficult to adapt when circumstances shift, while audience-first marketing allows for dynamic decision-making driven by audience behavior and needs.
For example, a channel-first marketer might design a campaign exclusively for TikTok, only to face disruption if the platform becomes inaccessible. An audience-first marketer, however, designs creative and messaging that can easily transition across channels, ensuring campaigns remain effective regardless of external changes. Similarly, during a natural disaster, an audience-first marketer considers how the event affects their audience and adjusts their approach to avoid being tone-deaf while remaining supportive.
Audience-first strategies also support better measurement. By focusing on the total impact of campaigns across all channels, marketers can assess their effectiveness holistically rather than through isolated metrics. This approach aligns with the evolution toward omnichannel marketing, where success is measured by how well all touchpoints work together to drive results.
Practical Steps for Adopting an Audience-First Approach
- Invest in Data Infrastructure: Build systems that provide a unified view of audience behavior across channels, enabling agile responses to disruption.
- Leverage Suppression Strategies: Use suppression files to pause campaigns in regions affected by disasters, ensuring sensitivity and efficiency.
- Diversify Your Media Mix: Maintain a presence on multiple platforms to reduce dependency on any single channel and identify new engagement opportunities.
- Prioritize Omnichannel Measurement: Evaluate campaigns based on total audience impact, not just single-channel performance.
Remaining stuck in a channel-focused approach is more than just a missed opportunity—it’s a liability. Platforms rise and fall, regulations shift, and unexpected events, from natural disasters to political disruptions, can render a once-reliable channel ineffective overnight. Marketers who cling to rigid, channel-dependent strategies risk losing touch with their audiences when those channels falter or disappear. Worse, they may find themselves unable to respond effectively when their messaging is needed most.
In contrast, an audience-first approach positions marketers to thrive in this unpredictable environment. By focusing on the needs, behaviors, and preferences of their audiences, brands can adapt to change with agility. When a platform becomes inaccessible or a disaster strikes, audience-first marketers already have the infrastructure, insights, and flexibility to pivot without losing momentum. In a world where change is constant, staying audience-first is not just a strategy; it’s the key to resilience, relevance, and long-term success.
