Marketing in a Time of Crisis?
In times of crisis, companies must rethink their strategy in order to be able to keep their heads above water and continue their growth against a lack of customers and website traffic. So for the most part, this is not a time to “take advantage” of the situation and use it as a marketing opportunity.
In a market like we are in today, you can do everything right and still have very little to show for it. This is not a time to ramp up your marketing spend; it is a time to retool for when the market is healthy again.
Having said that, there are some businesses that will thrive just by the nature of what they do…(should have bought stock in Clorox or Zoom), these businesses have an opportunity to build their brand and not be seen as taking advantage of the current market conditions. But for the rest of us, we have some serious work to do. So let’s get to it!
Play catch not pitch
First thing to do focus on inbound and not outbound marketing. If you have a successful outbound strategy, then you might not want to completely abandon it, but in this market, people are not at their desks and most small business are not in the mood to buy. This is your opportunity to work on your inbound strategy to have more customers reach out to you.
If your business has slowed down, then use this time to develop a strategy to engage new customers and a strategy to keep the ones you have.
Since the pandemic and the anxiety of not knowing what will happen next, there have been millions of emails, tweets, and messages sent individually and from companies all over the world. Twitter estimates that there is a COVID-19 related tweet every 45 milliseconds. People are bombarded with messages on this subject and will not appreciate why your product is #corona-strong.
Just let your customer know that you are still open for business and what you’re doing in these times to be available to your customers.
Don’t discount
If you are discounting to get new customers, you’ve already failed. I understand the knee jerk reaction when you see revenue dropping off a cliff, your immediate reaction is to do something. You can do something, but deep discounts is not the right move. Here is why.
- Are you going to discount all your existing customers? What will that do to your revenue?
- How will customers feel who just spend full price for your product or service?
- How will you raise your prices again…and when?
If you offer a service, you might consider something like this.
- Offer free trials during this time. People have more time, let them see the benefit of what you have to offer.
- Extend trials. For the next 3 months use our “_________” and together we will all get through this.
- Offer a grace period. If customers are calling to cancel, stop their payments for 2 or 3 months. They will appreciate it, and when this is over you don’t have to go back to try to get them as a customer.
- For existing customers, upgrade them for free to a higher tier plan or offer them something on top of what they are paying for.
At the end of the day, your product or service hasn’t changed its value so why should the price. Be creative and compassionate and your customers will stick around or come back really quick when this is over.
Reach out
The simple act of reaching out and asking how someone is doing can go a lot farther than you think. I am not suggesting that you reach out to offer your customers a deal, I mean reach out to ask them how their business is managing, how their family is coping, and more importantly, how they are doing.
A week ago, I had one of my customers reach out to me to ask me how I was doing, it made me feel really nice that he was thinking about me. He caught me doing a 1000-piece puzzle with my wife and daughter, so I send him a photo of the project that we started. Yesterday we finished the puzzle, so I sent him a video of us putting the last pieces to complete the project.
At the end of the day we are all human and need genuine human connections with each other. I think we can all see what isolation does to us, and with the added stress of not knowing the short and long-term ramifications of this can really hurt and create anxiety is the best of us.
Pivot
This can mean many things to many companies but there is no better time to pivot than right now. I’m sure you’ve heard of the companies that are modifying their production lines to turn out masks, face shields and hand sanitizers. But not all small business can do that, so what can we do?
- Cut costs where you can. Just like you are willing to help your customers, some of your suppliers might be in a position to do the same.
- Refinance and Government assistance. I’m not one to turn to the government for help, but in a situation like this you owe it to your employees and your customers to find all means of financial assistance.
- Join or start a support group. Find out what other businesses are doing to get through this. Chances are you might find some help or new opportunities in doing so.
- Focus on more digital communications. Using zoom for a host of reasons might be the engagement you need to stay connected to your customers. When things go back to normal you might have a new source of revenue.
The more value you can offer your customers right now, the more successful you’ll be as we shift to a new way of marketing and emerge from a global crisis that made our world a lot smaller.
The Bottom Line
A quick, honest, full disclosure response to a crisis is the best way of controlling damage, maintaining the trust of your customer base and minimizing loss of sales, which in most cases is inevitable. Eventually, however, if the principles of crisis management are implemented, sales will recover, customers will come back and you will survive!
VP Sales & Marketing
SmartDeskCRM Inc
