The world is facing a crisis that is unlike anything most of us have seen in our lifetimes. Most businesses are struggling to stay operational and many are facing a lot of uncertainties in terms of jobs, consumption, demand and supply. And the worst part is that we do not know how long this might go for. People who have been running businesses smoothly for ages are struggling now.
But does it have to be this difficult? Not really. We have to play our cards smarter and keep the game going. Before the pandemic, you might have been using one or more of the following methods to gain market share:
- TV ads
- Newspaper ads
- Paper insertion
- Pamphlets and flyers
- Hoardings
- Direct sales
- Referrals
It’s time for us to analyse how well these techniques are going to work in the current situation. Most of these techniques are either expensive, ineffective, not measurable, do not compel people to take action, or do not fulfill the needs of the customer.
Due to the lockdown and pandemic situation, we can see that people are slowly changing their lifestyle in terms of content consumption and buying behaviour. Don’t you think as a business, you also need to change the way you reach your customers and get them to consider your brand as part of their buying decision?
Table of Contents
How To Market During A Pandemic
Focus on brand awareness
Most people are not ready to spend money until the uncertainty is over, except for items and products that are essential. But when things do get better, people will come back again to buy. Many brands make the mistake of completely stopping all the marketing thinking it won’t help at all at this time. But this is the best time to build brand awareness with your consumer. Moreover, advertising is cheaper now than ever before!
Go online – It’s now or never!
We all know people are spending a lot of time online for entertainment, learning, and many other activities. No matter how small or big you are, it is time for you to take your business online. This is the only option that you have to boost your business. Create your online store by building a website, an online catalogue site or just using WhatsApp business or Facebook marketplace with zero investment. But act now and go online!
Use digital marketing to make a mark
Traditional marketing approaches like hoardings, flyers, newspaper ads, have lost a lot of their reach and scope. At the same time, there has been a significant rise in engagement on social media platforms — an increase of 30% to 40%! This means that people are spending a lot of time on social media. As the rule of marketing, we need to put more effort and money where people are more active. Social media, digital content creation is cheap and the best way to market your product right now. If you have a good budget, consider running paid ads and create original content showcasing your product.
Take it one step at a time
If you are a small business trying to go online, it’s better not to burn your hand by putting a lot of money on advertising. Instead, start generating simple content about your business and start using the power of WhatsApp and other popular social media. This will be a good first step to taking your business online.
We definitely can’t generalize marketing approaches and strategies. But no matter what business you run, this will be a good starting point for you. Strategy can be finetuned and improved by taking into consideration the nature of the business, budget, resources availability and other factors. At any point of time if you think you need our help in improving your strategy reach us out at 099864 60086 or mail us at [email protected].