How to effectively market your business during the Coronavirus and beyond
In this post we highlight the top consumer trends amidst the Coronavirus so that you can market your business effectively in this economic climate.
7. 4. 2020 • 9 minut čtení
Aktualizováné dne 15. 7. 2020 uživatelem Closed User
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Marketing your business to a new world
The most effective marketing strategies are not set in stone. They're flexible and always adjusting to the changing needs of customers. This is especially important now with the Coronavirus pandemic drastically changing consumer behavior almost overnight.
In this post we break down the latest consumer trends to help you market your business most effectively during the Coronavirus pandemic and beyond.
Top 8 business trends initiated by the Coronavirus
The Coronavirus pandemic is creating some fascinating changes in consumer behavior. These changes mean that you might need to modify your business solution before sharpening your marketing tactics.
If your business solution is not relevant to your target audience, even the world's top marketing gurus cannot help you sell a single product. The trends below should encourage you reevaluate the relevance of your business solutions in this new economic climate.
Trend #1: Consumers are shopping in stores less, but they haven't abandoned them.
According to the March 2020 survey of over 7,800 consumers by Prosper Insights & Analytics, less people are shopping in brick and mortar stores during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This isn't a surprising trend. What is surprising though is that everyone hasn't completely transitioned into the online shopping model.
There are two highly plausible reasons for this.
One is that by physically going to the store, customers are instantly getting their products (if they're in stock) without waiting for delivery.
The delivery of online purchases has been greatly affected by the Coronavirus, with some deliveries being delayed for up to a month , so even avid online shoppers are being forced to head down to their local store.
The other reason is that many shoppers prefer to examine each product before adding them to their cart to ensure they are choosing the highest quality items.
If brick and mortar stores want to effectively service their customers during the Coronavirus outbreak and through any future outbreaks, they need to adjust their online shopping experience to accommodate for these variables.
To ensure their future relevance, brick and mortar stores should invest in the research and development of more innovative delivery options that can service a larger volume of customers at a faster rate.
Some conceptual examples include drone delivery services and autonomous delivery trucks . These delivery solutions are already in the process of being developed and will eventually revolutionize the future online shopping experience.
To accommodate for the requirement of physically examining items before purchasing them, augmented reality technology could be integrated into either a mobile shopping app or a website
This technology is already beginning to surface across different shopping industries and it's forecast to explode in popularity in the near future.
Here are some fascinating examples of AR tech in ecommerce:
If all brick and mortar stores had a strong online shopping solution, it could have possibly prevented the closure of over 15,000 stores as a result of the Coronavirus.
Besides the advantage of being more resilient to future pandemics, the average online shopping order is also higher than comparative purchases in stores, so its superior profitability will also help businesses weather future recessions .
Grocery stores are under the most pressure to innovate their online shopping experience since their archaic sales funnels almost burst from the unexpected demand amidst the Coronavirus.
This is a fantastic opportunity for entrepreneurs to come up with a business idea that could help grocers evolve their online shopping and delivery processes.
Trend #2: Retailers are moving away from an on-demand inventory model
While keeping inventory levels low is a great way to cut overheads costs during a recession , this strategy doesn't support sudden spikes in consumer demand, as evidenced by the empty toilet paper shelves in stores globally.
"The current crisis highlights the need for retailers and manufacturers to improve their digital supply chain operations to better balance the desire for lean inventories with the need to be ready for surges in demand. This really should be a strong signal for many to be better prepared should something similar happen (in the future),” he said.
One way retailers can find this balance is by reshoring all manufacturing operations . This will reduce lead in time which supports a lean inventory model while keeping shelves nice and plump with stock.
If you have sufficient stock to service your customers, you should prominently display this information on your website home page and in email newsletters to sway pragmatic prospects.
Trend #3: Value > Pricing. Even in panic mode.
Because Coronavirus panic buyers have caused a global deficit of essential items in stores, consumers are turning to alternative shopping sources, even if it means they'll be paying a lot more than they normally would. This is known as the product substitute effect .
Of course this isn't a suggestion to unfairly hike up prices to take advantage of increased demand, such unethical behavior will give only your business an unpleasant reputation. It does, however, highlight that consumers are willing to pay more for higher quality products, even during a crisis.
So if you're planning to set yourself apart from your competitors by drastically lowering your prices, it may not be the wisest strategy, it could actually end up backfiring.
An increasing number of face mask scams is causing consumers to become highly skeptical of items that are too cheap.
Trend #4: Consumers are more skeptical
Because this spike in online scams is creating a new wave of highly skeptical consumers, businesses need to place a greater emphasis on demonstrating their integrity and trustworthiness.
This is best achieved through customer testimonials, ideally video, since they are the most difficult to fabricate.
Most scammers avoid phone calls so you should make phone conversations a readily available option for prospective customers. This will also demonstrate your first rate customer service and therefore the superior value of your product, which will result in a natural referral process.
The skepticism of consumers during the Coronavirus has not only been triggered by online scams, there has been a spike in cyber attacks with hackers intercepting remote collaboration software. The video conferencing solution Zoom is the most notable example of this with hackers infiltrating meetings with racial slurs and pornography .
Software solutions, therefore, need to adjust their marketing strategies to position their security measures as a major selling point. It doesn't matter how sophisticated a solution is, if there is any chance of a security loophole it will not sell. Online security is especially an important factor for businesses since most have now adopted a remote workforce model .
Trend #5: Loss aversion psychology is very powerful marketing
The fear of the unknown and the prospect of not having the option of buying the items you need when you need them, has been the self feeding mechanism that fuelled the global buying pandemonium.
As people continued to clear grocery shelves, the prospect of stock running out became more of a reality which encouraged more and more people to clear grocery shelves.
This behavior is explained by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky’s “loss aversion” principle which in an economic context could be defined as spending that's fuelled by the feeling that you're missing out on something if you don't take action.
Retailers did not need to explicitly market the consequences of running low on essential items to encourage sales, in fact, marketing campaigns didn't initiate the panic buying process, consumers fell victim to the fear they conjured within themselves.
This highlights two important points about effective marketing strategy in this climate:
1. Since we are still at the tail end of the panic buying season consumers are still highly sensitive to loss aversion psychology.
2. The concept of loss aversion is an extremely powerful marketing tactic. It's so powerful, infact, that it requires little to no prompting, consumers are naturally inclined to make the connection in their minds.
So if you're confident that your business solution can help a prospective customer flourish during the Coronavirus, focus on highlighting the consequences of not buying your solution, it may initiate a healthy dose of loss aversion anxiety that results in a sale.
Trend #6: Consumers are hungry for entertainment (more than ever)
Entertainment has always been a highly profitable industry, but now, with most of the world in isolation, the dependence on stay at home entertainment is escalating.
Here are some interesting facts amid the Coronavirus:
Disney has sped up the release of Frozen 2 and Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker in an attempt to win over a large share of the market.
Video gaming is up by 75%
Consumers are yearning for a distraction from all the news flooding their feeds and they're willing to consider any option that might help with that.
This is a fantastic marketing opportunity for businesses to create highly engaging and highly entertaining content. This should include social media posts amongst other dedicated marketing projects.
The options are numerous, but if you want to give your business the greatest competitive advantage you should focus on an industry with the highest retention rate. Gaming.
Gaming has always eclipsed other entertainment categories, and it's not hard to figure out why. They're a lot more exciting because users are challenging themselves rather than just sitting back and watching a screen distract them.
The rise of the gaming industry has led to an innovative form of marketing known as gamification. Gamification the application of a gaming framework to a non-gaming context.
One of the most popular applications of gamification is fitness apps. Fitness apps turn regular exercising into a game by celebrating completed sets and rewarding users as they level up their progress.
Coming up with a gamification concept is easy. Simply identify a problem your target audience struggles with then create a mobile app that makes the solution a fun process.
It doesn't need to be an actual game per se (such as mario kart or donkey kong) but rather an entertaining tool to use.
Here are some examples.
If you work in finance, you could develop a mobile app that helps users keep track of all of their receipts. You could include a scoring system that helps users monitor the transactions they've consolidated.
If you're an interior designer, you could create an app that allows users to decorate a virtual home subject to different styling conditions.
If you're not a skilled mobile app developer, you can simply hire one to create your app for you.
The beauty of gamification is that you have complete control over your conversion strategies. Leads could either be promoted to contact you after they complete a certain level or you could send them push notifications at any time with custom marketing messages.
While gaming is the most entertaining form of marking it isn't your only option. A highly engaging ebook or blog post can be an extremely entertaining prospect to leads seeking intellectual stimulation.
Trend #7: Out of home ad spending is decreasing
Because more of the world is now spending a majority of their time indoors, out of home ad spending is likely to heavily decrease over time.
The ROI of billboard campaigns has always been questionable and they may even become obsolete as marketing conform to the new trend of stay at home consumers.
So if you want to market your business through advertising campaigns, focus on digital platforms.
But before you inject all of your marketing budget into social media advertising, consider some of the less popular yet highly lucrative options such as podcast advertising.
Trend #8: We are entering an empathy revolution
The darkness of the Coronavirus creates a stark contrast to the response of kindness in the community, causing them to shine brighter than ever before.
These stories instantly produce a flurry of sharing activity on social media because the world responds positively when we all care for one another.
This should encourage businesses not to be purely opportunistic in their marketing strategies but rather to adjust their approach to the changing needs of customers while being sensitive to their struggles.
Demonstrate to your consumers that you truly care for their wellbeing during this crisis, this could involve special discounts or even tailoring a bespoke solution to cater to each individual's financial situation.
In a world where online scammers are taking advantage of those that are desperately trying to sustain themselves, consumers will be drawn towards businesses that demonstrate sincere empathy.
Final thoughts
The Coronavirus is drastically changing the way consumers respond to marketing tactics. To ensure your business continues to win over customers in this new world, you need to align your marketing strategies with the new pain points, desires and even fears of your evolved audience.
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