Strategy 5: Marketing Shift

Now that you have a survival plan in place you have to shift your marketing messaging and how you market your business to your existing and potential customers needs to change, now. The world has changed overnight and the old ways to market your business and your products doesn’t meet the needs at this time. If you don’t adjust and show that you tuned-into this new normal, customers will get turned off and potential customers will remove you from their consideration set.

To change your marketing, you have to:

1. Adjust your Messaging

2. Add Compassion and Empathy

3. Inject a new Sense of Urgency to your Messaging

4. Marketing has to Go Virtual and Digital

5. Know the Numbers and Measure Results

You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” –R. Buckminster Fuller

Consider that marketing in normal times is about “buying lifetime customers”, it's an investment not an expense. Acquiring a customer let’s say costs ￡15 when you account for the placement, creation and delivery of the marketing piece or pieces.

If this customer only purchases ￡10 from you and never comes back, your marketing is actually losing your money. But if a customer you acquire for ￡20 total cost makes multiple ￡100 purchases during the year, the marketing investment has a tremendous return on invest. So, you need to know some very important numbers to change your marketing quickly and effectively.

You need to know:

• How much your existing customers spend with you?
• How frequently do they buy from you?
• How long have they been your customers?
• How many referrals does a customer provide you?

Once you understand the numbers and have a grip on what is working and what is not, you can adjust additional parts to your marketing.

Change the Tone: In times of crisis or dramatic economic declines, you have to ensure that the tone of your marketing adjusts. The level of sensitivity, empathy and compassion is paramount. If you don’t acknowledge the times are difficult, that loss of life and income are happening and aren’t sensitive to the concerns and fear of your customers and your potential customers, you can turn the audience off.

Brands that don’t adjust their messaging are seen as out of touch and tone deaf to the changes in the market and the needs of consumers.

Focus your messaging:

• Empathise, Engage, Educate
• HELP & GIVE vs. SELL & ASK
• Add value

Focus on what your customers will get in terms of value and migrate your copy from WE, I and US words to You, Yours to pivot the focus on the customer not your company.

You will need to build new campaigns with more focused target audiences. Choose the segments of your customer base that buy from you most often or are most profitable. Remember 20% of your customers account for 80% of your business. Build your new campaigns by homing in those targets.

Use a ‘what’s in it for them’ approach in creating your campaigns. Also, change your offers to provide additional value and reasons to buy.

Urgency - create some larger sense of urgency to make consumers react and buy more quickly is also key to successful marketing more so during a crisis. Adding more compelling calls-to-actions and adding value offers to encourage more rapid sales, is a good focus to have as you alter your marketing.

Increase Frequency and Touch Points - Crisis requires increased communication as already outlined. Marketing needs to be ramped up and you need to reach more potential customers than ever before. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend more, but it does mean you have to use channels such as your website, SEO and social media to be in front and stay top-of-mind for your customers and prospects. You need to increase the number of posts, the quality and frequency of your blog and to move budget you are spending in other areas to reach a more targeted audience.

Shift to Digital - As you consider budget, digital ads, social media boosted posts and email campaigns should take centre stage. While traditional marketing outlets may have worked well during a normal environment, as a crisis isolates your customers, you need to reach them in new ways. They are spending more time away from radios, aren’t driving and seeing billboards, so if you can shift the pounds to Google AdWords, Email Marketing and Social Media Advertising you will reach your customers more effectively.

PR And Community Outreach - Make sure you share stories about how your business is doing in the community and offer to be a conduit for services that benefit the consumer. You may be pivoting employees to activities that are community centred. Sharing what you and your staff are doing to help others is more newsworthy during a crisis. Find ways to authentically and organically place news and articles in the marketplace about your efforts.

Ramp Up Use of Metrics - Measure results, more than ever before you have to find out what is effective and what isn’t working. Without metrics and an understanding of your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) you can’t pivot and take advantage of those methods of marketing that ask them how they found it.

Marketing is the only way to ensure that you get and keep customers. In a crisis, it is an essential part of your plan to Survive and Thrive. Remember...

• Don’t stop marketing!
• Update your plan with your coach
• Shift how and where you market
• Shift your message
• Reallocate budget to new channels
• Test, Measure, Adapt!

I hope this advice helps to shift your marketing focus. Don't delay, do it now! I have lots more advice on how to shift your marketing strategy, if you would like some suggestions on how to measure your impact using a simple formula, updating your website, email marketing and social media content, please do get in touch.

Next weeks strategy will be 'Selling with Compassion'. Now that you have shifted your marketing focus, you need to make sure your sales team is ready to pivot as well.