Why now’s not the time for you to take your foot off the marketing pedal
2020 has been a particularly crisis-stricken year, given the recent tragic death of George Floyd, the chronic COVID-19 outbreak and economic meltdown. In the midst of all of this, you could be contemplating cutting your marketing spending – but we say “Not so fast!”
True, the current state of the world poses numerous challenges for businesses. However, the trick is to readjust your promotional strategy rather than relinquish it, as the following tips attest.
Be sensitive to the difficulties your customers are facing
Yes, your business is probably working hard to weather a financially tumultuous time right now, even as the UK continues to ease its lockdown and more non-essential businesses reopen their physical outlets. However, your customers are likely to be struggling in their own way.
Therefore, you need to be open and sincere with your communications, rather than risk looking as though you are attempting to shamelessly capitalise on the current climate. Expressing solidarity with, say, Black Lives Matter can count for little if you don’t back your words with action.
Meanwhile, if COVID-related supply issues lead stock of certain products in your inventory to trickle just as your customers especially need them, be sure to indicate clearly that, yes, COVID-19 is at fault. Let shoppers know that you are thinking of them and awaiting fresh stock.
Adapt your online presence to the COVID age
Though you probably originally transferred more of your corporate operations to the online sphere out of necessity (legal, practical or both), one silver lining of paying more attention to your online efforts is that you could more easily notice where they are lacking.
If you haven’t already done so, make sure your site indicates how your firm is operating within the COVID-enforced parameters. This will reassure customers that you are truly on the ball and still open for business without having left your site untouched since the pre-pandemic days.
Of course, though, what exactly your company can do for customers can change rapidly in the current climate. Fortunately, your social media pages are great places to, say, report when your physical shop or office will be reopening and what anti-COVID measures will be enacted there.
We have a team of copywriters who, on your request, can efficiently write that extra text for speedily adding to your website.
You can still hold events digitally rather than in person
Not everyone feels at ease with the current rate at which the lockdown is loosening. Some people believe it is happening too quickly and are determined to stick to their government-mandated habits from the height of the COVID crisis. For such people, you can make your next event a digital one.
Whether you had lined up a conference, product launch, networking event or, indeed, any other type of in-person event before the pandemic struck, you can still have that event live-streamed or otherwise captured on video – with the bonus that the event could now attract a much higher number of people than would have been practically possible in normal circumstances.
