How quickly things can change. Many businesses are deciding to ‘power down’ their marketing efforts until the COVID-19 pandemic blows over - but here’s why that might not be such a good idea in the long term…
Across the entire business world, we’ve seen a huge amount of changes in a really short space of time. Organisations are looking to adapt to new ways of working, with many of their teams moving to home working environments because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Will we ever return to how things were before the pandemic? What is the new normal? Everyone has been forced to change their behaviour, making more use of technology, reducing travel and personal contact, and cleaning our hands every five minutes.
It is unclear how, when or if these patterns will reverse, and what long-term impact they will have on consumer requirements. It seems likely that hygiene and maintaining a positive environmental impact will remain top priorities.
Maintain a strong presence
Some businesses are being proactive, sending regular updates to their customers via email - but you can go much further than this to secure and maintain customer loyalty.
Stay in view by using your marketing channels - with so many people restricted to their homes at the moment, social media usage has soared, and is therefore a great way to do this. Maintaining a brand presence will ensure you stay at the forefront of your customer's minds, instead of fading into the distance.
Be responsive, and engage your customers through these channels, being mindful of their potentially changing situations and needs. It could be an idea to review your normal scheduling to make sure you aren't posting anything insensitive or inappropriate. And remember the golden rule of quality over quantity - posting a few well thought out updates puts you in a much stronger position than posting a whole bunch of any old thing.
Use time wisely
You probably have a little more time at the moment to ponder than you are used to, so use this time in a positive way. Take time to think, imagine, dream, be creative and consider how you could do things differently.
As we emerge from lockdowns, what will people want? How can you market and supply your goods and services effectively? How can your business grow and prosper in the emerging new environment?
Not only do you have a little more time on your hands, but so too do your customers, partners and providers. Capitalise on this and use their resources to test your ideas, ensuring they are desirable for the customer and achievable by your supplier chain.
Don't get left behind
It makes sense to be working together towards future ideas and promotions now, rather than wait. Don’t let your competitors start with an advantage; be first out of the blocks by planning now and engaging your customers, and experts who can help you to develop your ideas.
Just make sure you're ready to launch your goods and services that will be fit for the future.
Whatever the new environment looks like, we can be sure it will be busy and there will be limited expert resources to call upon. Everyone will be jostling with the competition to get their goods and services out there; it just makes sense to use this ‘downtime’ wisely, plan ahead, pivot or expand your products or services, engage your partners and providers now, and they will be there to support you when the rush to re-launch begins. Make your business a priority for those whose services you will be relying on to get back up and running.
