To be successful in marketing, a business or organization first has to know their target audience - who they are, what they do for a living, what makes them happy and what challenges they face. Your brands messages then need to be tailored around that target market to figure out how they can best utilize your goods or services.
Up until March, most companies were doing just fine with their traditional marketing strategies, then Covid19 struck, shutting down most of the world and changing pretty much every way we think and operate down to buying toilet paper and hugging a friend. Jobs were lost, health was at risk, overall financial stability shaky, overall most people as you know were feeling pretty anxious.
So the question is, how do business when most of your customers are scared to leave their houses or spend money? First and foremost, have compassion and watch your words carefully, be transparent and sensitive. This is no longer the time for hard sales, it's a time to reevaluate your marketing plan.
Since the Coronavirus pandemic is unlike anything we have ever seen before, we are having to adapt with it. At first, many companies put out campaigns like "Stop the spread" then moved onto "We are here for you" but those quickly burned out. Now as society tries to return to this new normal they want positive messages.
If you are like many and have experienced lower sales, it's time to get creative. In my downtown neighborhood, since restaurants were not able to operate, many opened their windows and offered specialty drinks to go. Some of these beverages are really impressive looking too...adorned with flowers, fruit or frozen...bottom line they look delicious. Now you can't walk down the street without seeing every other person holding one. This is a great example of adapting to the market. These drinks allow people to be socially distant yet feel like they are doing something special while also supporting locally owned restaurants. They don't even mind paying upwards of $10 a drink. No doubt this trend will too pass, but it's knowing your market and constantly adapting to change that will keep you and your business not only afloat but relevant in these changing times.
