- You want to do some brand marketing but the situation doesn’t seem right, right? Well, living in challenging times with all economic sectors being affected by the pandemic COVID-19, it is best to make marketing decisions quickly to be able to survive.
Yes, we are mostly now in survival mode.
Photo by Aditya Saxena on Unsplash
Photo by Aditya Saxena on Unsplash
The key is to focus on opportunities, rather than the problems and be creative, even innovative.
Marketing is more important now than ever because your marketing strategies must adapt to the actual context.
Brands must show empathy, tact and be very cautious.
Let’s talk about the marketing decisions you should take in this period to assure your business survival and success.
Adapt your marketing strategies to the current situation
If you had scheduled some campaigns for this period (prior to the Circuit Breaker or lockdown), those are no longer usable. You must postpone them and change your tactics.
Consumer’s behaviour is changing now due to the social distancing and the fact that most cities or countries are locked down, you should be focusing more online and your business must be present there for them.
Consumers still search for products and services but they do it now with a different approach.
Given the situation, you should invest more in SEO. Try to get a good ranking in the search engine. This will benefit you, your current customers and also gain new ones.
Your marketing strategies must follow trends and be built on deep insights regarding user behaviour. It is crucial to measure the consumption and trends regularly and adapt your communication and marketing tactics according to the changes.
Prioritise what matters most now to your customers and focus on this.
Consider acts of good as part of your marketing strategy
In this outbreak of COVID-19, we are all experiencing hard times, not just in Singapore and during this period, I feel that businesses must make sure that their branding is associated with good.
People will remember brands that do good or at least try to and more importantly, they will support them.
You can consider directing a percentage of the profit to hospitals, people affected by the crisis or try to find other ways to help the community.
Invest in your brand image and create a healthy business but also help people in need. It is a win-win strategy that will help your company survive and thrive in these uncertain times.
Change the way you communicate
As of now, I’m sure we’re getting used to it but if you haven’t already, you must rely mostly on online communication – use social media to address public messages that promote social distancing and other informative content of real interest for your audience.
Businesses must show sympathy and be there for their users.
One way to get creative is to pay attention to the challenges everyone is experiencing during COVID-19 pandemic and respond to their current needs.
For example, you can offer them tips on how to work better from home or entertaining games that they can play with kids.
Know your audience and find out what kind of information they need and provide it from them.
Make sure that you provide relevant, useful and correct content not only meant for sales purposes.
It is crucial not to be alarmist. Show tact and have excellent communication skills.
Avoid hard sale messages and be positive about the current situation but don’t neglect the adverse effects and don’t be ignorant.
We live in harsh times and as I always tell my team, communication is crucial now, more than ever.
Adapt your marketing content
People are switching their attention to brands to lead the way and deliver quality content. Now, as they spend more time at home, they are constantly browsing through content on the internet.
You must, therefore, consider adapting your content marketing strategies to their current needs.
Provide trustworthy information regarding mental health during the crisis or engaging ways to keep them busy, positive and excited.
Keep up with your audience’s current needs and help them with useful information because they will see you as a reliable source, a company that shows sympathy and is willing to help their customers in any way they can.
If you’re wondering, YES, this will help you with your branding efforts, as well.
COVID-19 outbreak changes the way we managed our marketing strategies.
We must focus on adding value in any method we can and inspire positivism and hope.
If you have your own marketers, they are required to adapt and be innovative, paying closer attention to behavioural changes of the consumers.
It is vital to find new ways of delivering the products or services that your company offers and not forgetting changing the way you manage the messaging and branding while showing support to the community.
We’ll get through this. Together.
