Marketing is perhaps one of the most dynamic industries, where changes and the need for continuous adaptation are the only constant 😊. 2020 and the Covid19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way of living, and with that, the need for businesses to revise and adapt their marketing strategies has naturally arisen.
Looking back, the most important marketing lesson we should have relearned is that consumer welfare always comes first, and brands have an ever-increasing responsibility to contribute to it.
The increase in the cost of living and the growing economic uncertainty marked the first 5 months of the year. Consumers are once again faced with the need to change their daily habits and brands once again adapt their marketing efforts to respond to them.
While budgeting and finances present a challenge for consumers and businesses alike, we highlight several key aspects and opportunities that brands should consider in dealing with uncertainty:
As the shopping basket becomes more expensive, consumers are increasingly thinking about their shopping habits and becoming more “sensitive” in the process of deciding which product or service they will buy.
In these conditions, it’s important to once again prove (not just say) why your brand is right for them. Focus on meeting their needs and offer a solution to the challenges they face. It doesn’t always have to be a price cut. Perhaps you can improve your product or expand your range and thus offer them more value. Or to make your product more available through new distribution channels or to change the way of communication and promotion. In any case, doing nothing is the worst option, so be brave and see unfavorable economic conditions as an incentive for even greater creativity in your work. 🙂
When sales results are not the best, businesses often focus only on quantity and put the main focus on attracting as many new customers and clients as possible. While this in itself is not a wrong goal, the priority should always remain on the care and attention your loyal customers and buyers should receive.
The cost of attracting and obtaining a new buyer/client is always higher than maintaining the existing ones. Therefore, when we have unfavorable economic conditions in the market, brands should first focus on maintaining and (possibly) improving the user experience of their loyal customers.
One of the conclusions from our online survey is that 65.5% of people learn about new brands and products through recommendations from friends and relatives. This is another reason why you should focus on satisfying your loyal customers/clients and thus turn them into your additional marketing and sales channel.
When it comes to strategic marketing communication that creates a long-term emotional connection between brands and the audience, we always suggest content marketing as an approach. Content marketing is the development and marketing of original, relevant and useful content whose purpose is to educate, entertain and/or inspire the audience.
In conditions where managing the household budget becomes a challenge for consumers, this approach and type of content becomes even more important, as it can offer a kind of “break” for the audience from the standard sales messages with which they are bombarded on a daily basis.
As we have already said, the well-being of consumers always comes first, and the communication approach can be another field through which you will offer them additional value, differentiate yourself from your competitors and be the first choice at the moment of purchase.
Unfavorable economic conditions more or less affect all businesses and brands that have to make efforts and invest to adapt to the new environment. In conditions where we all have to fight the same “enemy”, cooperation is often the best strategy.
Why not join forces with another brand that offers products or services that are complementary to yours and combine to offer even greater value to customers?
Offer the products as a set or perhaps create a completely new product together. Use each other’s strengths to reduce or eliminate weaknesses. It may sound cliché, but we are truly always stronger together.
Absolut and Heinz recently showed that cooperation is possible even when it comes to products that at first glance have nothing in common. 😊
Although in times of “crisis” businesses instinctively resort to cutting marketing costs, this has not proven to be a wise strategy. A “bad” business climate can be a good opportunity to review our marketing strategies and see how to maximize the effectiveness of our marketing activities instead of reducing them.
You may call us biased, but past experiences and research continuously indicate and prove that brands that spend “smartly” and for which marketing is not an expense, but an investment, prosper in conditions of “crises”.
Still, one thing is for sure, there are many ways we can transform limitations into opportunities. If you want to discuss them together, contact us here 😊