It’s a changing business landscape at the moment – day by day, hour by hour. We’re seeing so many business adapt to the situation at hand (where they can). There certainly won’t be much sleep for businesses big and small for some time to come.
SO, we thought we’d pop together a little ‘guide’ for navigating the current crisis through your marketing efforts…
Pivot, pivot, pivot
There is no better time to adopt new accessible ways for your businesses offering (and how you offer it) than during a crisis. Now, we are not suggesting you turn your business completely upside down and head into a new market completely, but by reflecting on the value that you currently (and have always) served your consumers and working on ways to further strengthen and maintain that role will help your clients feel valued in what may be an emotional time for them.
Take us as an example – we provide marketing services across a wide array of channels, but at our very core we deliver connections, innovative ideas and a feeling of partnership with our clients. We know this is valuable to our clients in what is a scary time and we are constantly adopting new ways to strengthen those relationships.
Assess the situation without rose-coloured-glasses
Now may not be the time to launch a new luxury product or crisis-focused-promotion – and that’s okay. It’s important to assess your market realistically and ensure that whatever avenues you’re adopting isn’t going to present more brand damage than benefit for you. While this crisis maybe (ideally) short-lived, it’s important to retain trust and credibility above all for the long-game.
Be generous and share the love
After all, people will remember how you made them above all else! It’s only natural in a crisis to want to be generous where you can – whether that be in acts of kindness or by curating offers for your market. Will these offers be of great value in this time? If so, go for it. That may be a product discount, giveaways, free virtual consults, a downloadable guide, or as simple as a business-to-business shout out. We understand small businesses will be hit hardest in the greatest time of need, so getting creative with how you can ‘share the love’ will only come back to you – that’s humanity.
Revisit your brand
If you find yourself with a little more time or are simply taking the time to reflect on your business deeply throughout a crisis, there is no better opportunity to revisit your brand and what it is you stand for. What your brands values? Is your current brand and tone of voice reflecting these values? Do you need to review any assets in the short term to ensure you’re on track? It’s more important than ever throughout a crisis to be 100% your authentic self, those who don’t will struggle to regain the credibility they once had with their market.
Don’t cut your marketing budget
It may be tempting to do so – we get it! But data shows time and time again that businesses who continue investing IN their business while others are cutting back continue to increase their market share and experience better value for their marketing dollar than normal (with less share of voice to compete with). This means once the market is feeling more positive again and spending starts to rise back (or hopefully) above previous levels you will have a head-start with your consumers. Of course, it will be important to reflect on the messaging of your any of your outward marketing initiatives or campaigns to ensure they are appropriate during a crisis. It would be naïve to continue a content strategy that simply didn’t recognise what was happening in the marketplace at that time – adaptability will be key.
Struggling with navigating a crisis at hand? Contact us here for advice on how your brand can weather the storm.
