‘Coronavirus news’ has just hit the number 1 as the most searched for term on Google this week in Australia. This is the number one thing we are searching for, the number one conversation in board rooms, the number one conversation around the dinner table and the one thing we are all thinking about.
The current pandemic in our world is being called our generations war. Not a war against each other, but a war where we are all, all countries, fighting against the same enemy; a virus called Covid-19. During the world wars in the past there were a few smart business people who were creative and spent time working on pivoting their business, which led to them growing after the war and not closing down. The fear is real. What we are all feeling, what the media is fuelling, is very real. But in this time it is important for us to hold strong on why we do what we do, to pull together in community, to support each other and remember that this will end.
As marketers we are trained to be the best at adapting, evolving and pivoting when it matters most for a business. We know a business’s goals and we create a strategy to achieve them, but then we pivot when various external things happen that are out of our control, so that the business we represent can still achieve its goals. It is what we are good at. It is why we become marketers, because we thrive off the problem-solving nature and constant challenge of what we do.
As an owner of a marketing agency and after many conversations all weekend with my clients in this crisis, I have been thinking of all the other businesses in Australia who are sitting at work this morning and not sure where to go next in their marketing. It is only one part of what a business owner has to think about today, but it is a part that is going to determine a business’s longevity after all of this. So, I have put together this blog post with my quick thoughts about marketing to help you navigate your marketing strategy in this uncertain time. Things are changing daily and I believe we need to be supporting one another, so I hope this can help any small business owner to feel more confident in what they need to be doing in their marketing right now.
How has marketing been affected?
Firstly, for those of you who are not aware, let’s look at how marketing in general has been impacted by Covid-19 so far. We are already seeing a bit of a hit in drops in advertising spend, but also an increase in certain platforms. For example, television ad spend has increased as more people are at home consuming more traditional content than usual. People are also consuming more digital content, so ad spend for Facebook & Google has stayed level. The events area has taken the biggest hit, with markets on average spending around 21% of their marketing budget on events and now having to pull major events. We have seen Facebook, Adobe and Google all cancel their big tech conferences, YouTube has cancelled their annual Brandcast conference and other smaller brands are cancelling or postponing their client events. We will continue to see businesses alter their marketing spend and move allocations to different areas as these expensive events are cancelled.
Another thing that we are seeing is a move to businesses getting employees to work from home, which this is an amazing trial for remote working culture. Which I am all for! I think this will see the way we work in the future changed permanently as businesses see how incredible remote working can be for company culture.
Adapt a new mindset
This current time is forcing us to adapt a more agile mindset and think about how we are approaching our marketing. It is very easy for businesses to become stable in their marketing strategy and rely on the way they have always done things. But this time in our history is forcing us to think outside the box, to try new ideas, to approach problems differently. If you are not used to doing this, you will need to train your brain to think more agile.
Fear can lead to us only thinking about the next month and making rash decisions, but this could only be the worst thing you could do for your business right now. Ann Hadley yesterday said; “this is a key moment to slow down so we can speed up later. We need to challenge ourselves to act in the best interest of the next 10 years, not the next 10 days.”
Seth Godin also said over the weekend that this time is an opportunity to “react, respond or initiate”. He was speaking about how all businesses will fall into one of those categories over the next few months and we have an opportunity to decide which one we want our business to fall into. I know for myself personally, I want my business, Mountain Marketing to initiate. I want to remember why I do this, that I am passionate about supporting rural businesses in their marketing strategy and to do everything I can in this time to support, educate and give to my clients and my sphere of influence. I want to take the initiative to start working towards the things I want to achieve long term that will benefit my dream client base. I want to make the most of this time and not fall into the trap of quick reaction out of fear.
So, what do I do with my marketing?
These are the initial tips I have put together for you to think about and work through in this time. This is very basic overviews of many different topics, but please let me know if you want further to break down on any of these topics.
- Keep your company mission and vision at the centre. Write it on paper and put it on your office wall or desk. It is very important that in this time you make decisions about your marketing strategy that surround this and don’t compromise this.
- Put transparency front and centre. Focus on communicating well to your customers and being open about how the virus is affecting your ‘business as usual’.
- Don’t rush and offer unreasonable sales in a panic. Think well about your target market, are they spending money, do you need to focus on other products, do you have things they do need? Put together a new strategy for your advertising that doesn’t include just offering everything half price. For example, the airlines have just released new advertising campaigns that focuses on booking travel in 2021. So they have thought about the situation and have adapted their advertising strategy.
- Don’t make Covid-19 funny!! Re-asses your current social media strategy for this month. Use the platforms as a communication tool or to share knowledge and value-add. Don’t repost about the toilet paper! Understand your clients’ state of mind and cater your social strategy to that.
- Speaking of content, if you don’t have a content strategy now is the time to get one!! This is the best opportunity you have to build brand loyalty and grow your brand and it is all about content.
- While you are thinking about strategy, think about your long-term investments. Do you have things that always fall on the bottom of your marketing priority list because you never have time for them? Now is the time to invest in your long-term strategy. Do you need a new website as your old one hasn’t been updated in 10 years? Have you wanted to write an e-book? Implement a new CRM system? Now you may have time to do these things!
- Check your analytics on your ad spend. If you use Google Ads, make sure you are checking bid drops for keywords and reducing your bids. Even adding in additional negative keywords due to the way consumers are searching now. Also make sure you are stepping up your monitoring of comments on social media platforms as you don’t want to be contributing to the fear.
- Check your Google My Business listing and update with any information about how your business has been affected by Covid-19. Change your opening hours, your after-hours contacts, products out of stock. You can update this all in Google my Business.
Here are my initial tips for your marketing strategy this week. As the times progress and we watch as this all plays out, my hope is that you stay safe and cherish extra time with your family.
Businesses that pivot in this time has the opportunity to see themselves potentially excel after this is all over.
Let’s do the journey together to see that happen.
Speak soon,
Ams
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