Understanding social norms and your target audience is a key driver to any marketing activity. If your customers and they way they live their lives has changed, then maybe you need to look at how you need to adapt your marketing to ensure you remain engaging and relevant to your target market.
I digress.
In the middle of a lockdown where maybe you’ve got some spare time of an evening or a weekend to stop and think about your biz and where to from here. What’s next after lockdown? Does your current marketing strategy still fit the needs of your customers? Do you need to change the way you do things to keep up with the changing business landscape?
If your customers and they way they live their lives has changed, then maybe you need to look at how you need to adapt your marketing to ensure you remain engaging and relevant to your target market.
The lot of us have been through a very tough and somewhat transformative time over the course of the past 12-18 months, and the world that existed pre-Covid has been and gone. Life tends to be more reactive, where we can be shut down at a moments notice, and many areas of life, business and society have changed radically.
Really Elise, radically? (Stay with me!)
Think about it, the standard 9-5 office-based work pattern has died. Businesses need to be more accommodating and adapt to a more flexible approach to operating their businesses – work from home, flexible hours or compressed hours (to name a few).
We tend to shop more online. Whether its for groceries, the birthday present for the party that’s no longer going ahead or for the winter tracksuit cause it’s got bloody cold all of a sudden.
We tend to feel more socially isolated as a result of cancelled events, parties or the inability to just pop around to Grannys house for a cuppa. Leading to a greater focus on mental health and wellbeing, both in the workplace as a part of society as a whole.
I’m not here to list all the ways COVID has changed the way we live, but rather make you ask what’s all this got to do with your biz marketing?
Understanding social norms and your target audience is a key driver to any marketing activity. If your customers and they way they live their lives has changed, then maybe you need to look at how you need to adapt your marketing to ensure you remain engaging and relevant to your target market.
Here’s 5 questions to ask yourself…
- Are my customers still engaged? Have you adapted and are you in-tune with you and your customers ‘new normal’.
- Is there an opportunity to talk about the transformation of our brand to communicate how we’re evolving and are on the same journey as our customers? (In summary what’s your story and how can you relate to them).
- Has our industry seen much of a change? As a bookkeeping business, do we need to promote how we are remote and can service businesses no matter their location? If you are a restaurant, do you need to speak to your large outdoor patio so people aren’t so concerned about being cramped indoors in arms distance from the stranger on the adjoining table?
- Am I making the most of online sales? Maybe you’re the florist down the road who historically has solely relied on foot traffic without the need for a website. Do you need to create an e-commerce site to ensure your targeting the individuals who prefer to shop online, or make up for the downfall in foot traffic.
- How can we make the most of the what we’ve already got? I get it, funds are tight (like my jeans post lockdown LOL!). Have a look at what you’ve already got. Is there something that has really been working for you? Maybe its your social channels, other local businesses or your network of contacts. Have you got an epic database you’ve never touched cause you haven’t had the time? Do you have another set of skills which you’ve parked that you could utilise to expand your offering? Chances are that if you look hard enough you’ll actually find affordable ways to adapt to the changing business landscape as well as promote your business without breaking the bank.
Sometimes simplicity is key, and your next marketing plan might be right in front of you. BUT if you do need an ear, an idea or just to chat through what your options might be, don’t be afraid to reach out. Navigating business post-COVID is one thing, but don’t feel like you have to do it alone!
If you need a hand with your marketing strategy, planning or just an extra hand for help, you can reach Elise here.