The COVID 19 pandemic has had significant effects on every aspect of our lives, including consumer behavior. Most people are now shopping online, and this is expected to continue with online retail sales estimated to reach $6.5 trillion by 2023!
We had a candid discussion with Mashhood Ahmed who is the Team Lead, Digital Marketing at Qordata a New Jersey-based technology company on tactics marketers can implement during an economic downturn, business trends since the onset of the pandemic, what marketers should do post the crisis and so much more.
Here are some pointers from the discussion that I believe will come in handy to you as a marketer or business owner to help your business stay relevant during a time of an economic downturn.
Now more than ever before, your business needs to be present, provide value, and be human and empathetic. At the same time, you need to protect your cash flow in order to stay in business.
There are 2 types of businesses which are running out of business:
Focus on providing more value instead of selling aggressively.
Take note of your marketing emails. If the open rates and click rates aren’t getting you the results you desire, it’s time to stop and change tactics.
On your social media Ads, be more human and gentle. Avoid the usual style of for example emphasizing the great features, product fanciness, and pricing, and focus on the value you are providing instead.
Downtime allows you to focus on important aspects that will improve your business, which are otherwise put on hold during busy seasons. Some of these include:
There are numerous awesome features in HubSpot. We asked Mashhood his most favorite features in HubSpot and I bet you’ll find his favorites expedient. They are:
Workflows streamline repeatable business tasks, therefore minimizing room for human error, improving efficiency, and saving you time and money.
Chatbots might be the best thing to happen to marketing yet. Just like workflows, chatbots automate certain tasks usually chatting with a user through a conversational interface. You might have heard that Chatbots are the future, and that’s so for a good reason. If you haven’t installed one on your website yet, we encourage you to consider the option of having one. It will also save you time, money, and make you more efficient.
Pro Tip: To create a workflow or even the chat tool conversation flow, first map it out with a pen and paper. Think logically and write in simple everyday language stating what happens when a certain action is taken, then convert it to a workflow. This way you’re more likely to get it right and minimize errors.
The HubSpot email marketing automation feature is available on the free version and comes loaded with many amazing features that make your work really easy for example great designs, templates, landing pages, analytics dashboards among others. You can also integrate it with other amazing tools you use every day like WhatsApp and phone calls.
It’s unlikely that consumers will go back to where they were before COVID 19. For example, in that time, we called Batman a hero, today, doctors are our heroes.
People’s perspectives have changed and they’re focusing more on what provides tangible value.
This is a great time for learning, and practice being more mindful, human, authentic, and relevant to real human needs; and avoid the same old ‘fanciest, fastest, best’ way of marketing. Communicate what extra value you bring, not only from pricing - show the extra mile you are going.
Feel the people’s pain and bring real solutions. People are more aware of what brings them real value and they’ll hold you accountable.
In short, now and post-Covid 19, focus on empathy, authenticity, and over-delivering on your promises.