Editorial
The Gist
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Consumer confidence falls. Tariff concerns have pushed consumer expectations and sentiment to historic lows, which has impacted spending and economic growth forecasts.
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Clear tariff messaging. Brands vary in how they communicate tariff impacts. They must balance transparency with customer experience in pricing and timing announcements.
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Loyalty through communication. Effective messaging about tariff strategies and pricing can help brands maintain loyalty, especially when emphasizing stability and value.
Chaotic tariff policies have disrupted businesses and cratered consumer confidence. According to The Conference Board, consumer expectations for the future are at a 13-year low, having fallen for the fifth consecutive month as of April. Separately, the preliminary reading of consumer sentiment in May dropped to the second-lowest on record since the survey began in 1960, according to the University of Michigan. Both called out consumers’ tariff concerns as the primary driver of those low readings. As a result, experts have lowered their projections for both consumer spending and GDP growth.
Brands clearly recognize the risks that tariffs pose to not only their business operations but their relationships with their customers. That’s why some brands have already started using their marketing programs to position themselves with their customers to try to minimize the impact of tariffs on their customer relationships. And there’s more messaging to come in the months ahead.
Meanwhile, for brands that have minimal or no exposure to tariffs, there’s a huge opportunity to trumpet the stability of their prices during the months ahead when their competitors will be struggling.
Table of Contents
- The Rising Threat of Tariffs to Brand Loyalty
- How Brands Share Timing of Price Changes
- Explaining Tariff Costs in Product Pricing
- How Brands Can Position Themselves Amid Tariff Changes
- Helping Customers Find the Best Deals
- Best Practices for Clear Tariff Communication
- How Brands Without Tariff Exposure Can Communicate Stability
The Rising Threat of Tariffs to Brand Loyalty
If we’ve learned anything from the past few years, it’s that consumers hate inflation. Even if wage increases are outpacing price increases, they are acutely aware of price increases and are willing to abandon long-loved brands to avoid them.
Rising prices become even more of a danger to brand loyalty if consumers perceive that brands are raising their prices unnecessarily or opportunistically to increase their margins. Current tariffs policies increase this risk for many reasons. For one, tariffs affect brands differently depending on how much they are sourcing products internationally, and tariffs affect sourcing from different countries differently, sometimes dramatically. Also, the timing of tariffs on product pricing varies in the short term depending on how much brands loaded up on imports before tariffs went into effect. In addition, tariff policies are guaranteed to change in the coming months as tariff pauses expire and bilateral trade deals are struck, all at different times.
With all of those factors in play, different brands, product categories and individual products will be affected to varying degrees at various times in the months ahead. That makes communication extra critical.
With that in mind, let’s look at how brands have already been messaging about tariffs and what the common approaches are. This will help inform future tariff messaging.
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How Brands Are Communicating Tariff Strategies
Editor's note: Here are some common approaches companies are using to communicate tariff impacts while maintaining customer trust and loyalty.
| Communication Strategy | Purpose | Key Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Encourage purchases before price increases | Drive urgency and preemptively boost sales | Increases short-term revenue and prepares customers for upcoming changes |
| Break out tariff costs at checkout | Offer transparency around pricing components | Builds trust and makes it easier to adjust for changing tariffs |
| Bundle tariff costs into listed prices | Simplify customer experience at checkout | Avoids surprise charges and potential cart abandonment |
| Highlight loyalty programs and price-match guarantees | Provide paths to better deals despite price increases | Strengthens customer retention and expands contactable audience |
| Communicate efforts to find efficiencies or new suppliers | Reassure customers about efforts to keep prices low | Positions the brand as customer-centric and resilient |
| Promote Made in the USA messaging | Capitalize on minimal tariff exposure | Projects brand stability and national pride during economic uncertainty |
| Use crisis-style messaging templates | Convey seriousness and clarity | Boosts readability and emotional connection |
How Brands Share Timing of Price Changes
Brands that have been impacted by tariffs are communicating the timing. For instance, some brands encouraged their customers to shop before their prices went up. As the end of the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs approaches in July, brands will have another potential opportunity to urge their customers to grab lower prices while they can.
Explaining Tariff Costs in Product Pricing
While the administration has a clear preference, brands need to decide whether to break out “tariff charges” or “import costs” during checkout or to include them in the price of their products. Consider these pros and cons.
There are several potential benefits to separating tariff costs from the listed price of goods. While tariff costs have traditionally been included in the cost of goods, tariffs have never been this high before. Given that U.S. tariffs have changed multiple times this year already and will likely change many more times in the months ahead, it’s easier to change a tariff charge during checkout than to change the price of every product your brand sells multiple times.
This approach provides price transparency and builds customer trust by allowing consumers to see the price of products separate from tariff costs. This is particularly compelling for brands that are able to hold their product prices steady as tariff costs change.
However, there are also drawbacks. Surprising people with big changes in their checkout total isn’t a good customer experience.
Related Article: 4 Ways to Improve Digital Marketing Margins When Discounting
How Brands Can Position Themselves Amid Tariff Changes
Brands are telling their customers what they’re doing to minimize the impact of tariffs on their customers. For example, some are explaining that they’re looking for greater business efficiencies or alternative suppliers to reduce costs, while emphasizing they won’t sacrifice quality. Some are highlighting the Made in the USA products that they already sell.
Helping Customers Find the Best Deals
Coming at pricing from the consumer side, brands are telling their customers how they can make sure they’re getting the best price possible. For example, some are highlighting an existing price-match guarantee. This is an attractive approach for products that aren’t only made in the U.S. or products that tend to only be made in countries that are highly impacted by tariffs.
Some brands are also emphasizing that customers can get the best deals by joining their loyalty program or signing up for promotional emails or push messages. This is a particularly savvy way to try to grow audiences and get closer to customers during a critical time.
Lastly, some brands are highlighting financing options as a way to spread out the cost of purchases. This includes private label credit card offers and promoting Klarna, Afterpay and other buy now, pay later (BNPL) services.
Related Article: Email Marketing’s Future and Beyond: AI, Metrics and Customer Journeys
Best Practices for Clear Tariff Communication
Most of the tariff messaging that brands have sent so far have closely adhered to the crisis messaging templates used for natural disasters and other emergencies. Some key elements include using a plain text format with dark left-aligned text on white background, which helps convey the seriousness of the issue. Brands can also use a letter format with the signature of an executive, which makes it more personal. They can use bullets and bold text for key points and include links to important programs. These elements help make the message easier to scan.
Finally, they can use empathetic language. For example, they can say that they’re as uncertain about what will happen next as customers are.
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How Brands Without Tariff Exposure Can Communicate Stability
If your brand doesn’t have much or any exposure to tariffs, this is still a time for you to message your customers. Tout that what you sell is Made in the USA and that you’re dedicated to maintaining your prices. Lean into why your business is U.S.-based and tell a compelling story.
Regardless of your exposure to tariffs, communicating your values will be important in the weeks and months ahead as brands wrestle for customer loyalty.
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