It has been more than three weeks, and the Webplanners team is working remotely. And for how long? We're still not sure. At the present moment, we can't say anything. In-fact nobody can. No business is untouched by the current situation with the COVID-19 Pandemic, which means most of the companies are renovating and re-evaluating their approach to marketing and sales. For many, this change has prompted an interest in digital plans & strategies.
What we have seen in the last couple of weeks is that companies are turning to digital channels and embracing the transformation. In the coming months, businesses are going to become more reliant than ever on their digital strategy. The key to resilience is the development of ongoing contingencies to mitigate this loss.The world has changed so much in the last few weeks, the economies, businesses, priorities, and also consumer behavior and many other things. Life has come to a standstill everywhere in the world, and businesses are 'stuck' not knowing what to do.
Though it is difficult to overcome these challenges, the truth is you HAVE to overcome all of them if you want your business to sustain and thrive during COVID-19 Pandemic.To overcome these challenges, you should work on two things;
It's undoubtedly true that the coming weeks, or months – or however long this situation lasts – will be a challenging time for any company that isn't ready to think about how it will replace the opportunities that are lost. Being confined to homes (working remotely) means marketers have more time to develop digital strategies. It means researching where your customers can be found online and how different approaches and tactics might impact your success. Businesses should look at it as an opportunity.
As Albert Einstein once said, "in the middle of difficulty lies the opportunity." So, let's put on our seatbelts and drive through this challenging situation with a vision to see opportunities that lie ahead. And keep doing what best we can.
Analyze leads from the last two years, such as leads from your Facebook account/page, leads from your YouTube channels, from blogs/landing pages, etc. What has worked for you so far? Based on this data, create a marketing plan to check what you are going to adapt and what you are going to perish.
Revamp your website content. Think of ways how you can connect with customers? How are you engaging customers? How you are going to convey your brand message with banners/pop-ups on your website and FB banners or banners on your social accounts– to let them know that you are active & connected with them.
If you are a marketing manager, this is your time to focus on developing strategies to execute now and when things are back on track. Ok, so you are ready to engage. But, are you prepared with the action plan? It can be a structural change or a change in your revenue model.
There are multiple ways you can adapt to this change.
For example:
Once you are ready with the revamped business model, think, how you can leverage technology to introduce these structural changes for remote-working arrangements to connect with your customers.
One of the main areas of marketing is communication. And in a tough time like this were getting new customers is complicated and is eventually affecting your business, use marketing to connect & communicate with your consumer.
You need to build an engagement plan that defines how you are going to communicate with your audience. Engage with your audiences on all the platforms. Be it your existing customers, your Facebook LinkedIn or CRM audience, and your prospects. Where your focus could be lead generation or just building relationships.
Guide & support your customers. When you connect with them harnessed with the right action plan, you look more confident, precise, and relevant. Which will, in turn, help your clients/consumers who are stressed and uncertain in this challenging time. Looking at your structural changes, they will feel more comfortable.
In the current situation, what started as an alternative approach to addressing business disruption and ensuring continuity is likely to become a new normal. As long as businesses approach the shift to digital marketing strategically, there's no reason why it should just serve as an emergency fill-in but could carry on providing long-term value when the world eventually gets back to normal. And of course, it would make companies more resilient to deal with any future crisis.
If your marketing is facing challenges due to current uncertainty and needs new direction or utilise this time to make maximum efforts, Lets chat and discuss how you can make things happen and change if needed. I am here to help you lets discuss.