The COVID-19 Pandemic is an unprecedented event that has caused uncertainty in the minds of many businesses and marketers.
How do you deal with and appropriately react to an event such as this? There’s no prior roadmap to go off of, and it seems as if the information is changing daily.
One thing is certain: the actions you take during this time period can and will affect your business for many weeks, months, or even years to come.
No pressure, right?
Now is not the time to panic. The world isn’t ending, and there is an extremely likely chance that you and your business will pull through. Many business owners have been through similar situations, such as the 2008 financial crisis, and are still here to talk about it.
No matter if this is your first economic downturn or you’re a seasoned pro, here are six things that can help keep you afloat and successfully navigate through this dynamic situation:
Keep Marketing
Pulling the plug on your marketing efforts is the absolute worst thing you can do in an economic downturn. If you’re experiencing slow or lost business, you’re most likely scrambling to find ways to cut costs.
Marketing is the pipeline that drives new business through your front door. Cutting that out will effectively kill any chance of making up for lost sales. By maintaining and building your brand through your continued marketing efforts, it will allow your customers and clients to maintain their trust and recognition of your organization.
They need to know that you’re still in business and here to help them. You can create content or promotional messages that will inform them of the fact that you’re open and the steps you’re taking to help keep everyone safe and serve their needs.
Perform a Market Analysis
Look at your target audience and their buying behaviors during this time. The Harvard Business Review put out an article in 2009 that looks at the psychology of consumer purchasing habits and behavior during an economic downturn. Some groups will completely cut out all purchases, while the “live for today” niche will continue buying as if nothing is happening.
Segment your market and focus your marketing efforts on those who are continuing to make purchases. There are many resources out there that can help you intelligently analyze your customer data as you build out a new marketing strategy.
Value the 20%
As the old saying goes, 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers. Do what it takes to keep these people happy as they can help keep you afloat during this crisis. If you want to retain their business, you need to keep communicating with them. By now, you’ve probably received many “COVID-19” emails from companies that you do business with. Follow suit and keep communicating and marketing to those existing 20%’ers.
Direct Marketing
With the marketing tools and technology on the market today, you can find out exactly who is using or interested in your products or services. For example, focus on those who visit your website.
You can identify anonymous visitors with Service tools such as LEADMatch or LeadFeeder. Once you have their information, send them a direct mailer (and let’s face it—due to everyone staying at home, you literally have a captive audience).
You can also retarget visitors using the Google Display Network alongside Instagram and Facebook social media platforms. Go after those who are browsing your services and products, and this will allow you to maximize your marketing budget for the highest ROI.
Track and Measure
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You can make every advertising dollar count and help eliminate wasteful spending by tracking EVERYTHING that you do from a marketing perspective. There are many tools on the market (both paid and free) that will tell you which channels are performing the best.
Once you have an idea of what’s working, keep refining both your marketing strategy and messages as you track performance. This will help you develop a sustainable and long-term marketing plan that can help you see your business through these tough times.
Dig In
It seems as if this Corona Virus situation seemingly came out of nowhere. One day it was business as usual; the next state governors are telling people to quarantine themselves inside their homes. Similar to a natural disaster, the COVID-19 situation came on like a sudden storm. It will take time to rebuild and for things to go back to the way they were.
Strap on your seatbelt and mentally prepare for the long haul. Keep in mind that some things will have changed irreparably, and you need to adapt to make sure that you’re staying relevant. A big part of digging in is keeping a positive mental attitude—it will allow you to not only weather the storm but quickly react and take advantage of any new opportunities that arise.
Marketing Help in New Bern
If you or your business needs marketing assistance, AlphaGraphics New Bern is here to help. We’re not only a print shop, but we’re also marketing experts who you can count on to help you when it comes time to market your business. To learn more about how AlphaGraphics of New Bern can produce and design your next project, you may
email us,
request a quote or call us at
(252) 633-3199.