Marketing in Unchartered Waters
The words say it all: marketing in uncharted waters is marketing your services/products in the time of crisis or put it as in the time of uncertainty.
In times of uncertainty, it is quite natural that costs are cut, and investments are postponed. Marketing budgets could be one of the first things to get slashed.
However, in the long run, as the famous saying goes, ‘when times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise’ for a simple reason, ‘we are here to stay’.
When the chips are down, and uncertainty clouds our vision, habits will change—customer priorities change which will indefinitely influence their buying behaviour.
Ross Simonds of Foundation Inc says, “Search habits change. Social habits change. Email habits change. Smart marketers will recognize this and be empathetic to the realities of journalists, customers, and their industries. They will adapt the way they write, promote, and conduct outreach”.
So, keeping that in mind here are a few pointers that can help you improvise your marketing techniques, adapt, and overcome.
Collect data from various touch points: Unlock the full potential of customer data from across touch points to derive actionable insights. Use the power of consumer insights to understand how customer behavior and perceptions have changed and then devise a response plan accordingly.
Help people: Helping people will, in turn, help you to connect with your audiences/customers. A little empathy can go a long way. In times like these, care about adding value and just helping people out without being salesy or pushy.
We all have businesses to run but what good is a business if it cannot solve the most real problems of their customers?
Customer segmentation: Identity which set of buyers will pull back and understand which of your products are considered essential by your customers. As marketers, it is imperative to segment your buyers based on their willingness to spend in turbulent times. Among marketers, hyper-targeting or extreme targeting signifies an unchartered territory with a desire of conquering the furthest extent of digital marketing frontiers. For architecting a successful marketing strategy read our blog on Power of Hyper-targeting in the Digital Marketing Era
Last but not least
Take care of yourself: At the risk of sounding cheesy, we need you! We need you to take care and stay safe.
That said, businesses that spend strategically during downturns will have a competitive advantage during recovery.
