July – August, 2020 Volume 17 – Issue 96
What decisions have you made about your firm’s marketing to survive or thrive in these unsettling times? Are you one of the small business owners barely surviving this pandemic, or one whose business is actually thriving? There really are both options. The difference between the two options is simple. Everything is based on decisions you make.
How did you decide to handle this latest change in the business and economic environments? If you decided to stay on your existing long term path, you may be facing difficulties and struggling to survive. If you saw the major changes happening around us overnight and took some alternate directions, you may be surviving. But, the ‘lucky’ ones who are actually thriving aren’t just lucky. They realized early on that they would need to take a major pivot and change to strategies and tactics that would work NOW, not last week or six months to a year down the road.
Everything Was Great With My Small Business Until…
Back in February we were all asked to stay in our homes as much as possible and ‘maybe’ wear a mask. ‘Just long enough to flatten the curve’, they said. “We need to level the numbers of patients clogging our hospital system.” “OK”, we said, “no huge problem.” So, here we are, STILL in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Children are still out of school being taught at home by parents; who are also working from home, or at least trying to.
For some small business owners, business went on for some time almost as if continuing on their ‘same old, same old’ path would get them through. But, the goalpost kept moving further out into our future. Changes right now react like dominoes falling one against another until every single one is flattened.
Six months later, COVID is still here, which we all pretty much knew would be the case. Kids are still being home-schooled by overwhelmed parents trying to stay employed or keep small businesses operating. Those who had projects, clients and customers at the beginning are becoming concerned now that those original accounts are being finalized. Fewer people are buying, or at least fewer hot prospects are being heard from as when they were calling before the epidemic hit.
Should I Cut Back or Quit Marketing?
Is this the time for your small businesses to cut back on marketing efforts? Absolutely NOT! Even if you are forced to furlough your marketing staff, marketing should not come to a screeching halt. Believe it or not, a research study on by the American Association of Advertising Agencies on Consumer Sentiment during COVID-19 showed significant numbers of customers/clients want to hear from brands they already trust.
To the contrary, you should not only cut or eliminate your marketing efforts; you should double down on reaching out to prospects and customers. Individuals and firms are still buying, just not the same way they did before the pandemic rolled in. Statistics show people buying online from their safe, sanitized homes.
Interestingly, another study by Statista study indicates 49% of respondents are buying items important to them online and another 29% have not altered their offline buying habits at all. Clearly, there are still customers buying or hiring for services out there. It may be a little more difficult to locate them, but they are there. If they forget about you, customers won’t be doing business with you or buying what you have to offer.
What Are the Best Marketing Channels for COVID-19 times?
Email Marketing
Email marketing is an inexpensive way to market your Small Business. People are, for a good part, confined to their homes with time on their hands to open and read email messages. If you have already compiled a list of followers and prospects, you are ready to go. Do you use an email service provider (ESP) to send messages to members on your list? If not, get one now. Different providers charge monthly fees depending on the size of your list,. Some allow an option of free service on smaller lists. As your list size grows in size, monthly rates and features increase accordingly. Check some options in this ‘Best of ESPs’ list.
Get on the phone
If you don’t get the results you hoped for with a personalized email campaign, call people on the phone. Phone calls give you a voice and a personality that is often missing from email or other written messages. With no visuals, you can do these in your pajamas or sweats, but I don’t advise it. You still need to ‘feel’ and convey a professional manner.
Create a script for your marketing calls. Note the specific messages, features or benefits you want to convey during the conversation. Prepare to handle questions or objections your prospect may have.
Connect face to face via a digital platform
Overnight, Zoom has become the hottest name in digital conferencing. Good news is that industry is growing as more companies have employees working from home. Bad news is Zoom had some security issue when our world was heating up. They are not the only platform out there. Start here to begin your digital conferencing service search.
Find a platform that is simple and free, or inexpensive, that meets your specific needs. Put a face to your voice or written messages. There won’t be handshakes or hugs, but it will be YOU putting yourself in front of prospects, ready to answer questions and move them ahead in their Buyer’s Journey. Yes, you will have to get dressed for this one – pjs and sweats won’t provide the professional profile you want.
Don’t forget video marketing
As mentioned above about putting a voice and personality to your marketing, video can add even more. In addition to a voice, you are able to add YOU to the mix. Just like using digital conferencing, video sales and marketing messages are an excellent way to get customers’ attention. This can enhance any email or newsletter mailings by adding personality and moving your Know-Like-Trust game higher.
What Should I Say When Marketing to Survive or Thrive?
The best marketing messages relate to your audience’s challenges, struggles and pain points. How you show that you are the best solution for their issues is important. Sharing how you differ from competitors doing much the same thing is essential. But, we are in the midst of a major world upheaval, so your messages can’t be the same as usual. New issues and challenges dropped on everyone like a ton of bricks. Ideal messages now need to apply to what is happening now, not your usual long term marketing content.
You may feel like you are taking big steps back to what you spent a lot of time developing to showcase and market your business for the long term. And, to some degree, we probably are. Think of it as moving in a different direction, not backward. But, it is a necessity in the rapidly changing times in which we find ourselves living and doing business. If you find all of this overwhelming along with major life changes that have been forced upon us, and need some help, contact us.
