Should you cut back on your Marketing during this current crisis?

Written by Andrew Shelton BA DIPM MBA, an experienced Marketing Consultant, who has personally been involved in helping companies with their Marketing during recessions and difficult economic times in the UK since the early 80’s.

At the start of the Pandemic last year, I wrote an article trying to make some sense of the situation we all found ourselves in and what we should all be doing about our Marketing. I thought it would be useful to revisit this as we enter 2021 and our third Lockdown…

For those interested in reading the original article, take a look here https://www.sheltonassociates.co.uk/should-you-cut-back-on-your-marketing-during-this-current-crisis/

Essentially, at the time, I identified 3 main stages of the Covid-19 Pandemic to consider as far as our businesses are concerned…

Stage 1-The Immediate Crisis - What to do about my Marketing Activity now and for the next few weeks/months?

Stage 2-The Aftermath - What to consider once this immediate crisis is over?

Stage 3 -The Recovery - How to be in a position to benefit once the recovery starts?

Having gone through the uncertainty and difficulties of Stage 1 ‘The Immediate Crisis’ last year, I believe that we are now well into Stage 2 ‘The Aftermath’ and need to get our businesses in a position to take advantage of ‘The Recovery’ Stage, when it finally transpires…

It has clearly been a difficult time for many businesses over the past 9 months, particularly in sectors like Retail, Leisure and Hospitality, but interestingly many other businesses have, to quote Harold MacMillan, reputedly ‘Never Had It So Good’! Many of these businesses were fortunate enough to already be in sectors such as Online Selling which as we all know has been booming during lockdown (certainly based on the number of Cardboard Boxes in our Garages) and Online Selling now accounts for 36% of total Retail Sales. Some of our clients selling their products on Amazon, for example, increased sales by 500-600% during lockdown. Other businesses which had products to sell but whose premises were closed, showed true entrepreneurial spirit and set up online sales capabilities virtually overnight to not only keep trading but in many cases to significantly increase their sales, using platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Not on the High Street etc., or through their own eCommerce sites, using sites such as Shopify/WooCommerce! Consultancy and Training companies, such as our own, turned face to face training courses into 1-2-1 Zoom Sessions and public Seminars became Webinars…. Other companies, faced with a situation of not being able to trade the way they have traditionally done so, have virtually re-invented themselves to stay in business and survive - sometimes looking completely different to what they were at the beginning of Lockdown.

During Lockdown I have been working with many local businesses on our Marketing Transformation Programme which has been 80% funded by Skills Bank (Sheffield City Region) and I have been inspired by the determination, skills and spirit shown by these local SMEs to not only ‘get through’ the Pandemic but to emerge stronger and fitter at the end of it to take advantage of the eventual Recovery. As business Guru Peter Drucker said ‘The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence – it is to act with yesterday’s logic’. During these difficult times, we want to learn from ‘Yesterday’s Logic’ but not be held back by it. There are increasingly many business opportunities out there, we just need to identify them and perhaps change what we do and how we do it to capitalise on them! For more information on the Marketing Transformation Programme, take a look here https://www.sheltonassociates.co.uk/covid-19-marketing

In the original article last year, we asked the question- ‘Should I cut back on my marketing now?’ and strongly argued that we shouldn’t on the basis that previous recessions have proven that those businesses that keep investing in Marketing during difficult times generally come out better at the end of it. We did though suggest that the marketing activity you do may well be different to what you have done before. The Pandemic Lockdowns have actually been an opportunity for many people to Rethink, Re-evaluate and Restart their Marketing - In fact to Transform their Marketing! Not just carrying on with the same old marketing activities that they have always done, but to review everything that they do from a Marketing Perspective, identify what works and what doesn’t work, setting Covid-19 Marketing Objectives and undertaking only those marketing activities that help to achieve the Objectives! This is likely to involve increased digital marketing activities at the moment (Website Lead Generation, Facebook/Instagram, Video Marketing through YouTube etc, eCommerce, Platforms such as Amazon, Webinars for Lead Generation and Training etc) but may not do - it all depends on what needs to be done to achieve the Covid-19 Marketing Objectives that you set in your 2021 Marketing Plan.

I hope you have found these initial thoughts useful and I am offering a FREE chat about the marketing issues you and your business are currently facing.

Book a Free Chat with Andrew Shelton.