Lost lives, falling economies and the growing possibility of retrenchment have been shadowing us with the rapid spread of the coronavirus. As the need for isolation grows, consumer spending dips by the minute, affecting businesses across the world - some more than others. After all, industry experts are saying that we should prepare for a global recession in 2020.
Fortunately, the Singapore Government has come up with measures to help affected businesses. However, relying on these alone is not enough in helping your brand tide through this tough time.
Here’s our take on how you as brands/business owners can market your way through COVID-19:
Going digital
With most countries either on lockdown or on self-quarantines, people are staying in. This means it’s time to adapt and move your marketing to where all the eyeballs are.
There’s a plethora of channels you can utilize within the digital space - Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads and Influencer marketing via social media platforms to name a few. Depending on the budget you have available, the reach and engagement will vary.
And as more entertainment venues and retail outlets are forced to shut their doors, consumers are spending more time on social media and e-commerce platforms. Obvious.ly has seen an increase in engagement for their campaigns on Tik Tok and Instagram, with the latter receiving 76% more likes on sponsored posts.
Image: @terrycrews
If you still need convincing, even the World Health Organization (WHO) enlisted the help of influencers and celebrities across various social media platforms to educate users on good hygiene practices.
Connecting with your customers
Layering on with going digital, this is the best time to connect with your customers if you have not been doing so. They are already familiar with your product/service so your cost of marketing to them is significantly reduced. Sources have shown that the cost of acquiring a new customer is up to 30 times that of keeping an existing one.
You can pick your choice of platform to connect with your customers; the most common ones are usually Facebook and Instagram, depending on your customer demographics. These channels are not only great for informing your customers of any ongoing changes but also to connect with them on a deeper, more personalized level.
Image: @forever21
Some brands have also been coming up with Instagram Story templates to engage with customers. This is considerably low in effort and it has a potential of going beyond your customer base as well. Other brands have been pushing out feel good messages while weaving their promotions/CSR efforts in.
For instance, Stuffed pushed out on social media that they will be offering free burritos for anyone who might be facing trouble putting food on the table. This not only garnered the approval from existing customers of the brand, but helped them gain some new ones too. Doing so helps consumers make a conscious choice of choosing to support your brand over another as they support the initiative you push out.
Of course, this might not be an option for every business as it is a cost, however, if your business can handle it, we highly recommend it. Your customers will remember you not only for your product, but also what you as a brand, stands for.
Image: @stuffedsg
Now more than ever, you’ll need the support of existing customers, considering the 20/80 rule, 20% of your customers should generate 80% of your revenue. It might not be exactly this but you get the drift.
Stay relevant
In times like these, joining the conversation is a good way to attract eyeballs. Riding on the fact that coronavirus is the most talked about topic, with proper, well thought out content, it could spark conversations and affinity with existing and new customers.
What we’re saying is turn your adversity into an opportunity. Advertisers commonly stray away from sensitive and taboo topics but when done right, the benefits are aplenty. As backed by South China Morning Post’s VP Ian Hocking, multiple brands have indicated that they’d like to “positively target this content… since COVID-19 content is highly engaging and important to readers.” Joining the conversation now is a sure way of being seen and heard.
On the operations front, staying relevant is important too. After marketing your product, you need to figure out how to get the products to your customers. And right now, online deliveries/e-commerce is the way to go. Grab saw a 20% increase in orders in Feb-March and RedMart saw an unprecedented demand. Now is the time to invest in this if you haven’t already.
How we helped some of our clients
It’s a known fact that F&B and retail outlets are taking a big hit as everyone is trying to stay at home but not all hope is lost. Circling back to our earlier statement of going digital, brands and businesses should focus on online deliveries/e-commerce. This way, your customers can purchase from the comfort of their home. Again, moving and focusing on where the eyeballs/your customers are at.
Here are a few examples of what we did for brands like A-One, Yakult, GoPure and Captain Oats. All of these brands ran their campaigns within Feb/March. The objective of the campaign was to drive sales and drive awareness. All of our users purchased the items based on the campaign brief, created content and shared about it on their own Instagram pages.
Image: @j.chatred, @_shixuanxuan, @minicolee
The bottom line is, in times of crisis, persist, adapt and keep investing; you will be in a better position when the situation stabilizes. Now is definitely not the time to cut marketing budgets as you need to stay at the top of people’s mind. Stay relevant and visible - this mentality should continue even after riding through this storm.
Get in touch for a free consultation with Partipost now.
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