Are you considering creating a marketing plan? If so, read on…

Whilst life post lockdown gradually becomes a reality for many businesses, a ‘return to normal’ is just not going to happen. Instead we all need to adjust to the new normal – people are still scared, social distancing is here to stay, the economy has shrunk, many customers and suppliers have been hurt financially and, for many budgets are severely restricted.

No doubt, it is going to become harder to attract business. So, sales and marketing departments need to work smarter to understand their (potential) client’s new requirements in the Covid-19 world.

The biggest issue that many companies will face is the fact that their focus has not been on creating a marketing plan for when we come out of lockdown. And so, those early days / months may be a confusing, worrying and frustrating time for any business who hasn’t properly prepared.

But, if you have not yet planned your marketing relaunch, don’t panic – there is always time to do so.

Communication
It is crucial to let your customers know that you are / how you are there for them post lockdown and what they can now expect from you.
Let them know that you understand their concerns.
Let them know if you are implementing new measures based on government guidelines.
Let them know if there are any differences in your service offerings (services, products, costs, lead times, approach, terms).

However, communication is a two-way street. You need to speak with your customers and understand how their requirements may have changed and what they may now require from you. The more you know, the better positioned you are to react to any changes in customer demand.

Goals
So, what are you short & medium-term goals?
Write a list of them and share this with the team for their input. Are they realistic? If so, draw up a staged plan regarding how you are going to reach them and think about what you can put in place to measure that you are on track to hit them.

Marketing Collateral
Ask yourself:
how are you going to communicate your marketing message to your customers?
what resources (time, people, budget) do you have in place to do so?

It is imperative that businesses are aware regarding which marketing routes work best for them, their clients and their budgets.

At the moment, there is certainly an issue with certain types of marketing, specifically live exhibition marketing, printed publications and print advertising. Because of this, it is not unsurprising that most businesses are focusing on digital marketing.

Live exhibition marketing will eventually bounce back in 2021 but, the short-term future does not look so bright for print.
There will always be direct mail in the marketing mix but, for many companies, the additional costs of print and distribution fees has limited its appeal. Add that to the fact that consumers are now wary about handling brochures that others may have touched, and you can see why printed collateral is no longer a go to solution.

But, digital marketing is certainly king right now and so it makes sense to ensure your website and any PPC campaigns are up to date and optimised effectively

For online retailers, they will have noticed a shift in behaviour – not surprisingly, online ordering throughout the lockdown was significantly higher than ever before and the good news for them is that this is not expected to drop significantly immediately after lockdown is over.

Over the lockdown period, consumers have embraced digital shopping and so, if you want to keep their business coming in your direction, you need to focus on client retention activities including regular communication: eMarketing, social media posts, social media advertising, etc.

Planning your digital marketing now will help you cut through the noise of the increased competition.

E- Commerce

During the Coronavirus pandemic, there has been a significant shift in consumer behaviour. With the majority of people cooped up at home, buying online quickly grew to be even larger than it already was. The online retailers who experienced this sudden increase in demand often couldn’t keep up with orders leading to delays or temporary closures. 

This of course varied by industry, but what we learned is that devoting major resources to e-commerce was the best way to stay relevant, operational, and even to grow despite the unprecedented turmoil. 

Now that lockdown restrictions are lessening, this change in consumer behaviour is unlikely to dissipate. Anxiety around the coronavirus and social outings is expected to persist in the coming months. Many customers will still be hesitant to venture out into busy public spaces, and others may be advised not to due to being considered ‘at-risk’, which means e-commerce may continue to boom after brick and mortar businesses reopen. 

For this reason, e-commerce will remain to be the best course of action for B2C businesses. It is important to remember, however, that there will be increased competition with many businesses coming to realise that they can’t afford to not be online. Planning your online marketing now can help you stand out from the crowd, and Red Media’s creative marketing and design can help you make an impression in noisy competitive business environments. 

Can you handle it?
If there is a marked increase in demand for your products & services, then can you handle it. Of course, the last thing you will want to do is to turn business away so the more flexible you can be, the better.
When you are creating a marketing plan, start thinking about this best-case scenario, how would you best handle an increase? Do you need to change your terms (longer lead times perhaps)?

Let us show you the way
Marketers have a saying: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you will never know if you have got there.”
A good plan will help preparing for your future: establish the destination, the best route and the number of steps to get there. All to ensure your brand and business objectives may be achieved.

If you would like some support in creating a marketing plan to get you set up and on track for success, we would love to hear from you.