While the economy is almost paralyzed with the strict regulations imposed due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, businesses must plan for long-term sustenance by investing in digital marketing strategy more than ever before.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the world to a standstill. These unprecedented times is likely to change a lot of things. The pandemic has taught us to care for our health, to value family and friends and to be cautious. While almost the entire world is under various levels of lockdowns with restricted public movements, businesses are being compelled to think of the days ahead and what changes they will have to adopt in order to survive the competition.
With limited business activities happening all over, these are challenging times for all. The supply chain is so severely broken that it is going to take a long time for things to get back to normal or rather the new normal. People are barely purchasing essentials and hardly thinking about buying luxurious or non-essential goods and services. This is having a rippling effect on multiple industries that are inter-dependent on one another.
Many businesses have begun down-sizing – in operations and in manpower. They are making efforts to cut costs at multiple levels so that in the coming days they can simply stay afloat. Many may argue that this is the only way to go forward considering the upheaval the virus is causing all over. But we have a slightly different view of things. While being prudent is important and absolutely necessary, making the most of this adverse situation is a sign of a true businessman. Instead of cutting costs at all levels and literally bringing your company to a standstill, you must invest in opportunities that will have long-term impact.
A business which halts all its marketing activities fearing bankruptcy isn’t thinking long-term. Marketing should never be considered bad investment. Those who think so may fail to reach their intended audience favorably in the foreseeable future. You will hardly save any money by not spending on marketing today as you will have to spend a lot more to merely reach your audience in the near future. That’s why we recommend that you ramp up your digital marketing efforts right now!
It is natural to consider cost-cutting. The Covid-19 situation has made it almost mandatory that businesses take pro-active steps to stay afloat yet cut down their expenses as much as they can. You must understand that any decision you take today will have a far-reaching impact. That’s why your decisions have to be responsibly taken. You cannot follow the lead of your competitors blindly. You must assess your strengths and weaknesses and take a few risks wherever feasible.
Next 3 Quarters Are Crucial
While we can only assume that the far-reaching effect of Covid-19 is going to change the world, we cannot tell how much things will change. That’s why we are attempting to look at the situation in a phase-by-phase manner. Numerous possibilities can occur in the next few months and we highlight few below. In our estimation, these are likely to happen over the next three, six and nine months.
- Due to fractured supply chain and stringent business regulations, your competition will face the heat and many will also have to shut shop
- Buying behavior of customers will alter and they will look for alternatives that best meets their needs
- Customers will rely heavily on search engines to look for newer and better alternatives
- This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many businesses to meet the altered demands of the market
What do these pointers indicate? They clearly tell that you are precariously positioned to either fall apart or rise above all odds and emerge victorious. If you can position your business to be at the right place and invest in the right opportunities, you can surely make the most of the current situation.
Businesses that decide to invest in a solid digital marketing strategy today will surely race it to the end. Though we know that the current situation is grim but you surely must look for the silver lining – the bright future. If you take the correct steps right now, you can not only survive the pandemic but also in the near future meet the altered demands of the customers, stay ahead of your competitors and continue investing in viable ideas.
If you want to survive the present crisis, you must think and act differently. You shouldn’t just think of the immediate losses but of the future prospects too. How can you do so?
- By analyzing your competition
- By assessing your market value and worth, and
- By analyzing customer preferences
Below we shall be talking about these things in details so that you can understand why you need to think ahead of times.
Analyze Your Competition
Analyzing your competition in such times is tricky. We are all in unchartered waters right now with no one wiser than the rest. However it can be assumed that those who have critical information and are structuring their responses accordingly will manage to sail through the tough times. America is currently worst hit by Covid-19 which has taken a serious toll on business. The country hasn’t witnessed a worst economic collapse than this since the Great Depression. Millions are signing up for unemployment benefits, the Federal Government is looking at ways to open the economy (but is hesitant to do so) while uncertainty and fear continue to cause upheaval everywhere.
The Covid-19 situation is all about unknown variables and fast moving changes which has caused unimaginable disruptions in business operations. Your competitors are facing just as many challenges as you are. But it is in these testing times that a smart business leader can rise like a phoenix.
If your competitors are slashing budgets indiscriminately, you need to take a more cautious approach. While others are cutting their marketing budget, you should focus your attention just there. Once you assess your current budgetary limitations, you must rigorously invest in marketing and advertising.
The reason is simple – everyone else is not thinking of advertising their products right now which means that there is a wide gap in the market. You can fill it up by playing an influencing role.
Assess Your Market Value
Do you want to be just another company that had to face the pandemic and wither without putting up a fight? Or, do you want to try becoming a leader when things get normal? If you are foresighted businessmen with acumen to judge complicated situations, you would grab the opportunity the current situation offers with both hands. Yes, the Covid-19 has presented businesses to position themselves uniquely in the upcoming days. If your company can now strategically plan for tomorrow, you can surely become a market leader.
You must start by assessing your own worth. How was your business doing before the pandemic broke out? Do you have enough funds to pull you through without worrying much about profit and loss figures? Can your company invest in marketing, specifically digital marketing without going into losses amounting to bankruptcy?
You could possibly be ignoring the most defining economic opportunity in decades by not taking pro-active steps right now. You could target new customers (who are looking for better options), you could erase your competition (because businesses will invariably shut shop) and you can possibly need to invest much lesser in marketing (since others would be freezing their budgets). Assess today so that you can act immediately.
Understanding The Changing Needs of Customers
You will manage to steer your marketing efforts in the right direction when you judge consumer behavior adequately.
Consumer behavior will change in the coming days. While much has already changed because of social restrictions imposed by authorities, this change is likely to continue even when things get back to normal. People will alter their buying habits. They are likely to look for newer services and products. They will search more on the Internet. They will prefer to connect with businesses on social media platforms more than ever before.
Search engines were already driving consumer behavior prior to Covid-19 but now people have a new perspective to life. Consumers are using organic searches more than ever before to find alternative goods and services. They are unlikely to go back to their previous suppliers.
All these are indicative of a new direction – you need to alter your marketing strategies so that you can meet the altered needs of people. Most online stores have already changed their shipping and delivery policies to suit the needs of the current times. Have you?
Why Take Decisions Now?
Are you wondering why should you take life-changing decisions now when the situation is so fragile and future so bleak? You must understand that though no one can yet predict the outcome of the pandemic backed with facts and figures, we can assume that the world will see a depression in the coming days. Things are going to go worse before they get better. Businesses should remember the lessons learnt during the Great Depression that completely changed the economic activities of the world especially in the United States. Companies which didn’t succumb to the threat of closing down during the depression, not only emerged victorious but many still continue to be market leaders.
Of course there are other reasons why you should be ready to take tough decisions right now, especially when the need is to concentrate on strengthening your digital marketing efforts. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why this is the right time to add more fuel to your digital marketing strategy.
- Determine where you want to see yourself in the next six months. If you want to be the company that meets consumer interest once all of this is over, you have to step up activities right now. You should take the risk of putting more money into advertising and marketing so that in the near future it can pay dividends.
- The decisions you take today will only show results in about six months. In digital marketing, it takes times to see results. Your SEO efforts will not improve your search engine rankings within a day or a week. Even your social media strategy has to be far-fetched only then will you see results. Assuming that the current situation will roll on for another 6-8 months, you have just about time to re-position yourself.
- If you start re-positioning yourself right now, you will be able to understand where your business stands once there is normalcy in the economy. After governments relax guidelines, workforce go back to offices, educational institutions re-open and public transport start functioning normally, your marketing strategies will show its impact. If you can target your messages in such a way that your customers come back to you after the economy opens, you can count yourself among the market leaders.
We must reiterate here that Covid-19 has brought in front of us a situation that is quite unimaginable. It has rattled us, shaken us and caused upheavel of unimaginable proportions. But it must also be remembered that the human race has survived worst pandemics and has continued to emerge victorious. This too shall pass. Only that things will get tougher before they get better. And that’s why as a business you must be prepared for the worst. Let Cyrusson Inc. be your partners in these tough times. As digital marketing strategists we realize the importance of digital marketing now than ever before. While we may not be any better prepared than you in facing Covid-19, our years of combined experience has definitely given us a better perspective of tackling emergencies and tough situations.
We will help you take a few tough calls, we will show you the path of effectively using digital media to promote your business and meet the altered demands of customers. We shall help you to prominently position yourself in various social media platforms and above all, for the next few months we shall strive endlessly improve your digital presence and visibility. In brief, we shall do all that is necessary to meet the unique demands of these testing times.
At Cyrusson Inc. we offer solutions in online ad campaigns, social media marketing, reputation management, search engine optimization, business strategy and development and much more. Get in touch with us today and let us work together to battle through these odd and tough times.