In times of uncertainty, the first thing most businesses do is review their budgets and look to reduce costs. With minimal control over incoming cash flow, businesses reduce their expenditure, with marketing often one of the first expenses to go. However, marketing is a valuable tool for organisations, and those who leverage it will emerge in a more stable position long term.
While temporarily stopping your marketing activities may seem like a good short-term solution to reduce cuts, the lack of communication with your customers and prospects can have a damaging long-term consequence. A sudden drop in communication signals that there is cause for concern. This lack of reassurance can lead to future missed opportunities and potential customer losses.
As businesses begin to adapt, their needs and priorities change. By using marketing as an opportunity to engage your customers and prospects, you can emerge as a trusted partner. This sense of reliability and stability is the foundation to building valuable, long-term partnerships.
Here are three ways to get the most of your marketing during uncertain times:
1. Adjust your marketing messaging
During uncertain times, businesses change. This leads to the emergence of new challenges, and subsequently new opportunities. By recognising these changes and adjusting your marketing plan and messaging to reflect and communicate these needs, you increase the chances of your customers and prospects looking to you for solutions.
It is important that during times of disruption you continue to communicate and support your customers as normal. If you usually send a fortnightly eDM, continue with this same frequency. The only change needed is to the messaging to reflect their current situation.
2. Redirect your budget
The recent global shift to remote working and isolation has meant that Australian’s are spending longer online. The National Broadband Network (NBN) recorded a daytime usage increase by more than 70 per cent since February 2020.[1] This means that while events are being postponed, businesses have an opportunity to redirect this budget towards digital marketing.
With digital uptake increasing daily, the first interaction many prospects will have with your business is via your online presence. Having a strong website with up-to-date, relevant content is the first step in generating positive brand recognition. Supported with a range of creative eDMs, Google Ads, social media ads and content marketing, you can ensure customers and prospects are getting a consistent and clear funnel of communication from you.
3. Provide valuable content
Don’t talk for the sake of talking. With so much content available online, customer and prospects will soon disengage if you are providing unhelpful content. Instead of clogging up their inbox or social media feeds with recycled or irrelevant content, share value-adding, relevant content that they may find useful.
For example, if you know your customers are struggling to motivate their employees while they work from home, try publishing a blog, or hosting a webinar to share tips and useful strategies they can implement to help the issue.
While this may not result in immediate sales, it reflects your expertise and ability to adapt, laying the foundation for future relationships.
Partnering with a marketing agency is a useful way to relieve some of the pressure off internal teams, and a great way to discover market insights. Using their expertise, a marketing agency can help work your budget harder by targeting known channels that deliver results.
To find out how we can help, contact us today.
[1] https://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/media-statements/australian-data-demand
