Looking back, never did we think in March 2020, that we’d be about to enter a period of lockdown, stuck in our homes for months on end with only a little light relief as we were able to stand our doorsteps and clap for the ultimate heroes of 2020, the NHS. I’m pretty sure that I can say that 2020 has been one of the hardest years on record, both personally and professionally. With most of the population working from home, brands were forced to rethink marketing strategies and look at new ways of engaging with customers.
Moving forward to March 2021, we’re still in lockdown and the majority of us working from home. Now with a light at the end of the tunnel and as long as the data and R rate stays low, we’ll be back to some normality come the summer.
This is great news and such a relief for the nation and businesses, but how do businesses and brands come back stronger?
With the nation being shaken by the pandemic and the nervousness being out and about in public again.
As things start to open up, there will be some understandable nervousness around being out and about and I can’t help thinking about what normality will look like? A lot of businesses are taking a back seat when it comes to marketing in the present scenario. On the contrary, businesses that put their efforts into marketing right now will come out as winners post-lockdown by helping them to gain a competitive advantage.
For a lot of businesses, this year’s marketing budgets are going to be understandably constrained due to limited sale revenue. So now is the time to reallocate the marketing budget and in the case that the business is running low on funds, they can redirect their marketing budget towards avenues which would cost less or have a higher ROI.
Businesses can reassess avenues which are suitable for them, like digital marketing, or customised trade show displays, and can also reduce their expenditure on digital ads and move that budget over to improve their content and content strategy. This will improve their organic ranking and give them an edge over their competitors once the pandemic is over.
Every business that has a database of their customers before this pandemic started can begin reaching out to existing customers, as its much more cost-effective than attracting new ones.
Businesses brainstorming for ideas to re-attract existing customers are most likely putting their bucks in the most efficient plan.
Some focus area takeaways:
Offering discounts or free products with orders.
In the case of delivery, existing customers can be prioritised, or their delivery can be expedited.
Bulk discounts or a point-based loyalty system for existing customers
Teaming up with other sellers to offer combined sales or service packages targeted at existing customers