With the government warning that the Coronavirus pandemic will be a long haul, we face a challenging time ahead. Instead of decreasing your marketing, now is actually a good time to review it, plan for the coming months and increase your marketing online.

If we look back to the 1920’s, Kellogg’s and Post were at the forefront of the breakfast cereal market. When the Depression arrived in the 1930’s, Kellogg’s wisely decided to continue advertising while Post cut their advertising budget. When the better times came along Kellogg’s came out shining and are still one of the major cereal companies in the world today.

So, what can we learn from Kellogg’s? Although scary as it may seem to continue advertising, it really does put you in a great position in the future. Consumers will be aware of your brand and it will seem to be stable as you have appeared to have the budget to market throughout the challenging times. If you stand still you could end up losing out to a competitor who has the foresight to fight through these tough times and keep the brand awareness alive. If you fail to plan you plan to fail.

Here are some points to consider when reviewing your own marketing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Help your clients/customers by providing value and support

Your clients and customers will need to feel supported by you at this current time. By distributing valuable content you will build trust and nurture those important relationships. For example, you could give valuable advice via a Blog, Podcast or social media post. Consider the ways you can provide additional value to your audience. What can you help them with?

Find new ways to market your services

You may find that your business can no longer provide the services it once did a few weeks ago, so reviewing your services, sales and the way you market could be essential to keeping your business thriving over the coming months. You may find you are delivering your services in a completely new way such as in-person meetings which now need to be delivered online via Video Conferencing or you may be a teacher who is launching an online course so social media marketing is now required. Researching and finding new ways to market your services will bring new opportunities and customers to your business.

Increase your social media presence

More people than ever are using social media and there has been a dramatic increase of people online over the past couple of weeks, so it is important to continue posting on your business accounts. Remind your audience you are still here to help. This is also a good time to plan out your social media schedule for the month and write new engaging content.

Review your target audience

What do your target audience need from you right now? Has your audience changed? If you are suddenly providing new services or variations on existing services, you need to think about who your ideal client is and where and how you can now connect with them. It is helpful to do some research around your ‘Ideal Client Avatar’.

Plan ahead with 90-day goals

It is difficult for us to predict when things might get back to normal but by using any spare time you may have to plan for the coming months will help you navigate through these turbulent times. Writing 90-day goals will give you targets to aim for and a plan to revert to and update over the coming weeks.

Review your Marketing Budget

Does your business have a marketing budget? If not, then now is a good time to create one. By monitoring how much money is being spent on marketing activities you can measure what is and isn’t working. Regularly reviewing your marketing spend can help keep costs down and guide you as to which types of marketing you should be focusing on more than others.