As a digital marketing agency, we have the privilege of working with a wide range of companies from all sectors of industry. Since Covid-19 has devastated the world and our economy, it has been an unfortunate reality that along with the health crisis, once healthy businesses had to shut their doors due to forced regulations or became momentarily financially unsustainable.

Despite all of this though, a lot of our clients have been able to adapt by simply auditing their marketplace and developing an updated marketing strategy. This generally does not require a complete ‘pivot’ from a business position just adjusting things to the current situation. 

Here are 4 useful tips on updating your business now we are coming back out of lockdown.

  1. What do we want? Value. When do we want it? Now!

Now is the time to really evaluate your offering, come up with a creative post lockdown promotion, and deliver an experience that really packs a punch in terms of value. According to online researchers, GlobalWebIndex, 42% of Australians expected to see some level of negative financial impact and 37% have either experienced or are expecting to have a big to a dramatic impact on their personal finances.

Due to this along with the talk of a looming recession people are more price-conscious than ever. It’s time to be real, honest and fair when it comes to your pricing and service. Consumers are feeling the pinch with the latest research showing 55% of people now pay more attention to prices compared to last month

For most industries the customers are still out there they are just much more price-conscious so you need to do more. 

Here are some tips to help:

  • Incorporate flexible payment options.
  • Look at your pricing, get price-conscious within your business.
  • Offer trials and free versions if applicable.
  • Organise smart delivery options or contactless pickup.
  • Put together some great specials and promotions.
  • Be responsive with customer service and communication.

  1. Start selling online, if you haven’t done so already.

Since restrictions on travel, gatherings and personal contact have been put in place, Australian’s have turned to online shopping as means of acquiring goods and services. To date, it has become pretty clear that people are leaning more towards buying online or at a minimum doing more online browsing before making a purchase.

In fact, 1 in 5 Aussies claims they will visit stores less frequently choosing to spend more time looking online as a first option. When you combine this with the fact that 49% of Australians have cut back on their day to day spending and a large percentage of them are planning to keep shopping online more frequently after lockdown.

  1. In the “Stay at home economy”, video is a key currency.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, video conferencing was always on the rise with Zoom bringing in around 10 million users a day in December 2019. But in April 2020 they had 300 million a day! This growth in video is not just for business either, recent studies by Statista have shown that 39.4% of people are spending more time on YouTube, with only 1.2% saying that their YouTube consumption had reduced.

OK, so people are watching more videos. What does this mean for me?
It means that running video ads on YouTube and Facebook networks could be a great channel for you to obtain massive exposure, at cheaper rates by the way. Recent feature releases such as YouTube for Action on the YouTube network means that video platforms like these can actually be used to deliver direct performance and doesn’t have to be seen as a brand awareness exercise only. I highly recommend you consider video as a means of reaching more people.

  1. Dial your communication into overdrive

The world is in a pretty weird place right now, consumers are scared, confused and worried about the future. They have genuine safety concerns and are trying to navigate their daily lives in challenging times. 

What should I be doing as a business to address this?

Your role here is to make sure your communication strategy is on point, alleviating any concerns customers might have to make sure there are no barriers that stop them from purchasing from you. This is the most important point of all, you cannot successfully achieve the previous three points without effective communication. Here are some tips to consider;

  • Adjust your message to talk about safety. How will you keep your customers and your staff safe? What precautions are you taking to ensure goods get delivered, picked up or business is conducted in a way that meets the new normal?
  • Show empathy and do not try the hard sell.
  • Communicate clearly your flexibility when it comes to things like payment options and arrangements.
  • Reply to enquiries, reviews and social media quickly.
  • Accurately communicate the availability of your products. Everyone is over the toilet paper debacle.

We are truly sailing in uncharted waters it seems, but it is important to know that you are not alone in the quest of keeping your business thriving. I hope that some of the experiences we have shared here with our own clients and tips outlined prove to be useful and inspire you to review your current strategies and make some adjustments to push forward.