Where does one begin with this pandemic? Where do you even start to think about what must be done, how people must be approached, what new business models need to be put in place? The world is suffering deeply – job losses, new ways of working, coronavirus casualties and hunger.
It’s hard sometimes to even feel like what you’re working on or selling is even worth marketing in this climate. But you also have to put food on your table, support and pay your staff as well as carry on some semblance of routine and normalcy.
As we went week after week into lockdown, I admit I was at times feeling paralyzed. I must admit I have panicked. I’ve panicked that my work will dry up, that my clients can’t pay me or that my partner will lose his job. I’ve panicked about paying my mortgage and where my next income is coming from. I’ve now finally realised that I can’t stay paralyzed any longer. I need to rethink who I am and how I want to be in this new world.
Certain industries are more affected than others. Travel and hospitality are hardest hit. What will this new world look like when we all come out of lockdown? Will travel, as it used to be, still happen as it did? Will travel agents still have work? Will commercial rentals still have a business? Will customer attitudes change towards what they’re purchasing? Is the latest Instagram beauty influencer still relevant? Will the age of aggressive self-promotion (bordering on narcissism) still have a place in this world?
How is the world re-evaluating itself?
How will consumer behaviour change?
The economic downturn should see consumer behaviour change drastically. Maybe you could be asking yourself what stage of life your are customers in? Are they retiring or retired? Small business owners? Disposable income will be nearly nonexistent. Buying habits will change and businesses should take this all into account.
So when it comes to marketing your services, what is still relevant, where will the opportunities lie, what will be worth communicating and what will be the backlash should your communications be tone deaf to the zeitgeist of the moment?
Don’t be exploitative
There will be marketers who will exploit the situation. They will prey on the fears of customers and mark up prices on essential goods. Government is already coming down hard on them. Their outlook is myopic, selfish and frankly disgusting. Don’t be one of those people!
Will there be anyone to market to?
People are losing their jobs by the millions. Industries that once boomed are shutting down. It’s a time of complete fear and paranoia. People are not thinking clearly. They might have no money to buy your products (unless we’re talking food) and services. So what are you supposed to do?
It’s true that people are cutting back because the economy is predicted to run into a recession.
You can either be paralyzed by what’s happening or you can see it as an opportunity to thrive.
10 ways to find marketing opportunities in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ask yourself :
- What are some of the interesting ways I can engage my audience during this time?
- How can I stay top of mind without breaking the bank? Marketing budgets will be slashed. That means that competitors you usually competed against might leave the arena. That means the costs of advertising will decrease. It might be that we see the cost per thousand impressions (CPM) decrease across auction-based platforms because businesses are cutting back on marketing spending and so you might have an opportunity to get seen by customers, but now for less. In fact, long-term studies show that the right approach during economic uncertainty is to increase — not decrease — your marketing spend. Don’t get caught on the back foot when the economy starts to blossom again.
- Be sensitive to what’s happening in your customer’s lives. Adapt your messaging and review all marketing material that’s currently live in the market. Takedown tone-deaf communications immediately (think paid search ads that are running in the background and automated emails that you haven’t reassessed.)
- Remember, there is no data for this period – no one knows how people are reacting, what strategies work – there is no playbook. It’s up to you to deeply empathize with your customer and test various tactics, and learn from your experiments. Assess, evaluate and adjust. All the time.
- Do you need to re-assess (or use the word of the moment, pivot) your business? Does your business model need to change? Can you move your shop to a complete online solution? eCommerce is now more important than ever.
- Where can you be relevant without looking manipulative? Picture this – You’re a stationery brand – If you know there’s a need in the market, for instance, with overworked teachers giving their all to embrace remote learning, how can you as a brand bring awareness to their plight and support them?
- Always come at a challenge or the situation from the angle of adding value – What can you do to help? You’ll garner far more fans this way and build goodwill. What can you give away for free to help people? Maybe you have a huge amount of knowledge that you can quickly turn into an online course and give that away to people for free. Or maybe you can offer discretional discounts to customers who need your products or services the most.
- Where do your internal processes need to change to become more agile? How can you turn ideas around quickly based on a sudden opportunity? Where are the bottlenecks? How do you constantly improve throughput for your organisation?
- Research your customers – This is another way to stay in touch and a great way to assess their challenges and how they’re feeling. All the better for you to come up with possible solutions to their problems. Plus you have a fresh set of data that doesn’t have to cost the earth to execute.
- How can you go digital, if you haven’t already done so? The pandemic has forced businesses to digitally transform overnight. Businesses had to immediately deploy a remote workforce with all the technology needed to communicate remotely. Businesses have also been forced to see that as the situation isn’t changing soon and possibly costs and overheads are decreased through remote working, it’s actually a beneficial situation. Remember, digital has also become the key medium for marketing and customer communication.
At SoulBusiness, we like to think that we’d rather rise to the crisis instead of let the crisis crush us. COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on the world. But you get to decide what impact it has on your business and your life.
