Jeremy Chen
There is no doubt the economic climate has changed in 2020 and as a result how we approach our marketing strategy must adapt accordingly.
Understanding your client’s needs and wants now is arguably more important than it has ever been, and there is a wide range of social and economic factors that need to be taken into consideration. Below we share some of the marketing strategies that have worked well for us with our client base.
Business in a pandemic
One thing that is front of mind is that every marketing dollar will be more scrutinised than ever. Whereas previously marketing budgets may have been thrown around or broadly classified as ‘brand building’, ROI is even more crucial especially when compared on company budgets against potential jobs at stake. In 2020 and beyond, focussed objectives behind every campaign have become a necessity to justify their existence on the budget.
There are 3 common themes we have seen this year that leading marketing managers are doing that we will outline below.
Make it personal
The very nature of the current WFH situation has meant the line between work and home life has been blurred – perhaps permanently. We have found the normal now to be contacting clients and team members on personal mobiles and delivering to home addresses is preferred – arguably making life easier for everyone. For us, connecting has been increasingly about being real, being communicative and checking in with people on both a professional and personal level. Empathy is more important as people can potentially be dealing with a wide range of issues. For example, in client relations the sales process has changed significantly and as a result, purchasing decisions can take longer in the current climate. Our ‘check-ins’ and more casual approach has had to adjust to reflect this longer sales development life cycle.
People are also trying to focus on staying positive and optimistic so make sure your offering has a positive reinforcement message. Without a doubt, our customer care packs have been hugely popular for clients who want to connect with their team and show their gratitude and appreciation. These care packs can include anything from home fitness kits, office essentials through to good food and wine. Another example of building a connection is some of our personal care products that we customise that have a crack at what we find to be witty messages that aim to bring a smile to someone’s face.
Make it easy
Everyone is spending more time online and things have become easier with one click checkouts such as Paypal and Amazon’s offerings. This makes it even more important for marketers to be able to offer their clients a similarly pain-free experience.
Gift with purchase aka complimentary products have seen a massive spike recently as companies see this tough period as a great time to build goodwill and brand capital. In the cosmetics, gaming and alcohol industries we have seen this done to particularly good effect, creating ‘moments of delight’ to please customers and attain more brand loyalty and recognition.
On the communication front, being contactable and being able to schedule calls and appointments without too much fuss is also key, which tools like Calendly and Hubspot can help with. The update of people using Live Chats has increased considerably as people want things quickly answered or handled in real time. Businesses and clients will always naturally gravitate towards companies that can respond quicker, quote quicker and ultimately deliver quicker.
Be relevant
Just as important is getting in front of the right customers in a relevant way. The one size fits all approach does not work – whole industries have had to adapt, such as the conferences and event space so doing a bit of due diligence goes a long way.
As parts of the country that have been locked down have found team morale and personal motivations have taken a major hit with dramatic increases in mental health issues. Acknowledging team members’ efforts has become a major recognition method, especially with everyone working from home, and can often be seen on personal and company social media platforms. With various lockdowns being in place around the world, people are spending more time on these platforms so consider using various channels that haven’t been used before to push your product such as Linkedin, Youtube or even TikTok.
Whichever channels you decide to use making sure your target audience is front of mind is crucial to your campaigns success.
