Amanpreet Kaur

HOW CORONAVIRUS CHANGED MARKETING?

"Coronavirus", you must be thinking about it right now or probably did a while ago. The unprecedented global pandemic situation has taken a toll on everyone, be it mentally, physically, financially, or socially. This diabolical situation has impacted millions in a variety of ways. It has altered the way people think, act, celebrate, create, and also MARKET! Yes, among the multitudinous ways the Covid situation has affected people, it has changed the way people manage their businesses and market them.

In the business world, the function of marketing is to provide value to customers. To some extent, marketing functions depend on how consumers think and respond to everyday situations. But what are your customers or even potential customers up to during this pandemic situation? It's vital to find the answer to this question before revamping your marketing strategy. Let's get the basics cleared first. Some people are scared of stepping out of their homes, some are affected mentally, some are struggling with their finances and some are grappled health-wise. One thing, however, to be taken into consideration is that almost everyone is turning to social media for a sense of community. There's a lot of potential once you delve into this deeper as a marketer.

Having talked of changes in customer behavior, we shall now see how the whole spectrum of marketing has changed or is likely to change soon. Companies with a clever marketing acumen have tapped the best use of the situation. You must have heard about Nike's "Play inside, play for the world" campaign announcement. It's lovely how it both connected with its followers emotionally and marketed its Nike Training Club app. That's exactly what people want! They want you to connect with them, engage them, and ask them if they are okay in times of this unpleasant emergency.

Talking about the forms of marketing, there has been a huge shift from making use of traditional channels to online marketing. There has been an increase in digital ad spend over this year simply because people are hooked to their phones and prefer buying online rather than stepping out. With a spurt in the percentage of people busy on their mobile phones, trying to find an "escape" in the form of engaging content to tackle the feeling of emptiness and burden of loneliness has become a daily thing.

But what can you do as a marketer?

How can you increase the visibility of your brand online and make sure people remember you?

One thing to know before diving into the strategies is that spending on traditional marketing is not likely to give you the desired results during this time. Also, as many established brands and even startups are making use of "digital" as their marketing weapon, competition is bound to increase. So it is essential to know that CONTENT is king. If it works, people like you and if it doesn't, it will become hard for you to keep your customers.

Here are some strategies for you that might help your marketing during this time-

1. TAP THE POTENTIAL IN SOCIAL MEDIA

People are consuming social media and digital content even while cooking, exercising, or even while working from home. Although covid-19 has socially distanced people social media has been the unity thread. People are turning to their favorite and trusted brands to deliver content that shows true consideration for the consumer.

TAKEAWAYS:

Tap the potential in the field of social media. Direct your efforts in curating content centered around the emotions, feelings of your consumers. Addressing mental health issues, black lives matter, staying physically fit during covid-19 are some topics you can get started with. Nike has been doing just that!

2. RUN ADS:

Invest in online advertising and curate a budget for the same. It is undoubtedly the best time to get the attention of people who don't know about you. Google Ads, Facebook ads, Instagram ads are some of the most economical and fast ways to expand your following. Targetting plays a pivotal role in any type of advertising campaign you might run in the future. Targetting the right age bracket living in favorable demographics and having related interests will result in a successful campaign.

3. CONTENT IS KING

How engaging and valuable your content is, truly defines how well your marketing strategy is. It should be informative, entertaining, or just add value in any form. With the rapid increase in the online presence of brands, it is important to focus on revamping your content strategy to maintain the lead.

Use social media to initiate a conversation with your followers. Ask them what they like, prefer, or do during the day. Engage and entertain them by running contests, organizing online giveaways, curating a quiz for them, and much more. It's time to brainstorm on content ideas if you want to stay in the race.

During the pandemic, many industries have found it difficult to connect with customers thus losing their brand presence. But "Internet" is the perfect solution for them as it provides more enhanced, well-targeted, and cost-effective marketing channels than traditional ones.

It's an "If not now then when" situation when it comes to brands shifting digital. It will help them both during and after the pandemic situation to reach a wider audience.