Introduction: 

During this time of pandemic as a company’s meet-and-greet function,  marketing’s most important job is to recognize, capture with and convert  customers into valuable strength that create long-term cash streams. Marketers  have had to re-examine their strategies in a period of homebound customers,  social distancing, and an unpredictable environment that has forced many  companies into crisis management.

Numerous brands in market are not odd to the crisis management, but the world  wide scale and continued uncertainty around COVID-19 is a first for us all.

As the consumer needs are changing, the importance of the product or service  may change as well. It is dominant to emphasize how your brand is still necessary to your consumers and how it can be beneficial to their lives. This may mean  shifting focus from one product to another or highlight unique ways that the current offering can satisfies the audience’s needs. Companies should focus  on modifying their email marketing campaigns to address the special challenges  customers are facing. Instead of sending out the standard email content it has  always offered, change the tone, content and frequency to match the consumers  expectations. Stay on brand, but be aware of how your emails are adding value to  your audience.

1.Focus on social media marketing 

Chances are a large segment of the audience is on social media, so use that to the advantage and take part in the discussion. It has often been told to focus the  marketing efforts on the social media channels that drive a lot of your customer  engagement (such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram). Create relevant posts that  add value, education and entertainment, instead of strictly trying to make a sale.

2. Customers prioritize trusted relationships 

Marketers identify trusted link as customers’ highest priority over the next 12  months. The topmost percentage of marketers expect customers to pivot more on  “trusting relationships” than “low price,” in spite of the economic downturn. This  finding represents a remarkable opportunity for brands to try new products,  services or go-to-market models on willing customers who trust their brand and  are less price-sensitive than before. When asked which consumer behaviours they  had observed during the pandemic, only 43.3% noted the hesitation to pay full

price while just 24.9% note weaker loyalty levels. Moreover, marketers believe  that enthusiasm to pay full price will return to normal levels over the next six to  12 months. The strength of a trusting relationship may lie, in part, in the  company’s corporate social responsibility initiatives and 79.1% of marketers  believe that customers are monitoring their social boycotting, outreach and  investments during the pandemic.

3. Online and digital risk pay off 

Online sales have enlarged to the highest level in The CMO Survey history.  They now represent 19.3% of sales—a 43% increase over just three months ago.  Small companies (those with fewer than 500 employees) are taking superiority of selling online, with ecommerce accounting for 26.1% of sales.

4. Social media steps up—and pays off 

Social media has been an important tool for marketers to stay occupied with  consumers. Some 84.2% of marketers utter that they have used social media for  brand building and 54.3% say they have used it for customer preservation during  the pandemic. Giving this focus, marketers have increased their investment in  social media budgets by 74% since February—increasing as a percent of  marketing budgets from 13.3% to 23.2%.

5. Marketers should do more with lower headcount 

Around 62.3% of marketers reveal that marketing has become more important  during COVID-19, giving back the focus on using digital tools and interfaces to  connect with customers. Indicating to marketing’s priority during this period,  marketing accounts as a percent of firm budgets (12.6%) and revenues (11.4%)  have reached all-time CMO Survey highs, even though many companies are  undergoing diminishing revenues. Still, 9% of marketing jobs have been lost,  leaving marketing sector to do more with fewer people. This is anticipated to  continue into the succeeding year, with prepared marketing hiring dropping to the  lowest point in CMO Survey history and going negative for the first time ever (- 3.5%). These marketing organizations have proceeded their focus during the  pandemic to important strategic activities.

The challenge for marketers is to maintain their strength as they continue to  stretch their resources. At the same time, marketers know that rotating and agility

are challenging soft skills to learn in “normal” business contexts. Companies  should consider the pandemic an opportunity to work expansion in this area. To  do so, marketing training accounts will need a fresh look, given they significantly  dropped over the last year from 5.8% of marketing budgets to 4.4%. Marketers  may also need to focus to these internal groups to develop strong timetable or put  pressure on business schools to strength up their curricular offerings and  noncurricular activities to foster these important skills. The challenge for  marketers will be to maintain this axis-ready mindset among their teams once  things calm down.

Six months later, the industry has modified. Many supply chain disturbances have  facilitated elsewhere, companies have recognized alternative vendors. Rigid  health and safety measures have been put in place to keep workers safe and  companies that could do so rebuild production to produce critical supplies from  commercial place to personal protective equipment (PPE).

6.Strengthen your employer brand 

Strengthen your employer brand is how buyers and the broader public recognize  you, your employer brand reflects whether and how much people want to work  for you. Marketing during the pandemic gives a hidden chance to take a fresh  look at HR recruitment and messaging to ensure that it exactly meet up the

company culture. This is not restricted to how you are keeping workers safe, but  the health of your working conditions, whether or not there is a crisis. To attract  and keep top performing talent, you need to have a strong employer brand that  you can assist externally.

7.Strengthen your community goodwill 

Strengthen your community goodwill defines the place where we work is also  where we live and often, where our roots are. We need community more than  ever, and now is the perfect time to communicate how your company is an estimated community partner. Whether you’ve ramped up production of vital  supplies, contributed resources, or have employees stepping forward at a local  food pantry, it’s important to find ways to communicate what you’re doing.

8. Boost your online presence

It highlights the enlarging use of digital channels across a range of industries, for  consumers and business decision makers. This promotes a trend that’s been  growing for over a decade, potential buyers doing their homework – and making  decisions about whether to even reach out – before they pick up the phone to buy.

Conclusion: 

It can be concluded that COVID-19 has shown marketers to rethink how their  companies go to market and capture with customers. Those marketers who can  support digital, social and trusted relationships should be well-positioned to  navigate ongoing disturbances. However, marketers across all industries should  move beyond crisis management to hold lessons and investigate missed  opportunities to create more value for their customers and companies. To that  end, the courses shared here are offered to help marketers identify areas they need  to improve.