Prepare Your Marketing for the Economic Recovery that Will Come

If you are a business leader responsible for marketing your business, marketing may actually be the last thing on your mind. Business today is no longer about thriving; we’re all just concerned about surviving. Our top priority is protecting the health and wellbeing of ourselves, our employees, our customers, and our families. Then we have the financial health of our companies to consider, many of which—being categorized as “non-essential” from a certain perspective—have had to shut their doors. As a result, we’re left with trying to stay informed about the complex and ever-changing assistance programs that may or may not help lift us out of this hole when the health risks begin to recede.

Despite the turbulent economic conditions, it’s important that you do not go silent. Certainly, your tactics and messaging may need to change, but your marketing strategy shouldn’t. Let me explain. At its most basic level, marketing is about communicating value. To remain relevant during difficult times like these, you just need to articulate the value you bring to your customers. What is the best way to do that?

1. Understand your key audience and the problems, challenges, and fears they face.
2. Demonstrate your ability to help them overcome these obstacles.
3. Provide customers with a clear blueprint to achieve success.

You should apply this basic formula to your marketing strategy regardless of whether we are in a time of crisis or a time of prosperity. Even if you’ve done a good job of communicating your value in the past, during a crisis, your customers’ fears and concerns may have changed, and you need to adjust your marketing accordingly. The same will hold true when the economy begins to recover and the needs of your customers change again.

So, while trade shows have canceled, advertising budgets have vanished, and doors have closed, don’t make the mistake of going dormant. In addition, there are opportunities to put your business in the right position for the economic rebound that will occur. Stay positive, it will happen! Below are some ideas:

• First and foremost, reach out and connect with current customers. Don’t try to sell them anything. Just check-in and see how they’re doing.
• Review your brand identity. Does it accurately reflect the image you want to convey to customers? Does it stand out from your competition? Do you apply it consistently across all of your marketing communications? If the answer is “no” to any of these questions, take some time to identify what you can do to change that. Bonus: A brand refresh—timed with the economic recovery—may communicate a position of strength and resiliency to your customers.
• Review your messaging. Do you show empathy towards your customers’ problems? Do you demonstrate the authority to help them solve those problems? The more relevant you are to prospective customers, the more your messaging will resonate and inspire action. Consider incorporating the 3-step formula above into your marketing communications.
• We’ve all experienced the desire to update our websites but could never find the time to get around to it. Now you have no excuse. Can’t afford to spend money on a web developer right now? That’s okay. Just take some time to reflect on the value you want to communicate to customers and outline the changes you want to make so you’ll be ready when resources are available.
• Speaking of your website, does it include content that offers objective solutions to your customers’ problems? If not, create a content development plan that addresses the 3-step formula above and begin implementing it as soon as it is practical. If you do have great content, are you generating leads from it? Are you capturing those leads in your CRM and using marketing automation to build prospect relationships that inspire further engagement? If not, take this time to upgrade your lead-generation system. You’ll be glad you did when the economy begins to bounce back.

While you may need to cut back on your marketing efforts and spending, you don’t want to completely abandon your marketing. It will only make it that much harder for your business to recover when this crisis is over. Communicating your value—in good times and in bad—is always a good marketing strategy. I sincerely hope each of you reading this comes out on the other side of this crisis healthy and prosperous!