Three months into lockdown, the gradual lifting of restrictions has been welcomed by many businesses. The reopening of none-essential shops earlier this week was a significant landmark, offering the glimmer of hope that life – and the economy – is on the up.
So as businesses gradually return to work, many after months of being closed, how do they begin to get back on track with their sales and their stakeholders?
The answer, of course, is through their marketing.
There’s no denying that for many, the face of marketing has changed dramatically over 2020 – and in the very worst cases, ground to a halt. According to Marketing Week, only 14% of marketing strategies have been implemented as originally planned, with 86% of UK marketers completely reviewing their plans.
If your marketing activity has been put on the backburner during the pandemic, now is the time to get it kickstarted. Awesome Creative have put together a guide of the top areas to consider to ensure that it’s business as usual as quickly as possible.
Website
Lockdown has been the ultimate test of websites. For many businesses, it’s been their lifeblood, while others have found that their current offering has been totally inadequate, with weak areas becoming glaringly obvious. Top of the list for any marketing team should be analysing just how their business website performed during this period, with areas to consider including:
- Functionality
- Visits
- Most visited pages
Once this is clear, a new action plan can be implemented.
The brand
With the huge increase in the reliance on social and digital media during lockdown, when it comes to branding there really has been nowhere to hide.
The businesses that have thrived are those with a strong presence and consistent brand message – those who haven’t achieved this have been very much left behind.
Even for the more successful companies, a brand refresh can help bring a new energy and help your business flourish as we resume normality. Think of it as a post-lockdown facelift.
Review content
With social contact drastically reduced, businesses have had to rely on content more than ever before, to shout to be heard and continually engage audiences. Larger companies with a full content team have taken this in their stride, but smaller ones have been overwhelmed by the constant requirement to come up with content that is fresh, exciting and useful.
The implementation of a new content strategy should be a priority for all businesses. Start by looking at what has been done over lockdown and analyse what worked and what didn’t. Which posts got the most engagement – and which crashed and burned. Use this to build a robust plan utilising text, visuals and videos – and make sure that you keep the momentum going.
Customer thanks you’s
With “gratitude” the current hot buzz word, now is the time to show a little. Give out a whole load of thanks to your customers – from those who have continued to buy your products or services, to those who have been liking and sharing your social media posts. It’s all helped and these guys may well have kept your business afloat.
A phone call, a personalised email or even a branded gift would be well received here.
Re-engage with customers
A key element of any marketing strategy is to reach out to lost customers – and this is more important now than ever before.
A simple emailer or mail shot may be enough to engage and remember, with purse strings still tight, it may take a little longer than usual to reactive – so prepare to be patient.
Understand your new audience
Post lockdown, your audience will undoubtedly of changed. Everyone has been through the wringer, and while you may have lost some customers, new leads and interactions are likely to have surfaced. In addition, their requirements may well now be different. Corporate gift companies may now find themselves producing branded face masks for example, which need an entirely different strategy to cute USB chargers.
Businesses may find that their entire marketing strategy needs to be ripped up and started from scratch – and this isn’t always a bad thing.
