The article written by Bernard Marr in Forbes describes well the relevancy of digital marketing in the current state of affairs. In the coming months, companies will depend more than ever on their digital strategy.
The disappearance of all channels related to physical events and conferences, as well as many significant barriers that companies must face, an enormous challenge is created. The key to resilience is the development measures to mitigate this loss.
B2B companies rely primarily on tradeshows to prospect and build relationships with customers. The majority of industrial companies are generally less sophisticated in their digital growth strategies. For small companies that are used to getting new customers by word of mouth or on the basis of a hard-earned reputation, the current situation of COVID-19 doesn’t help at all.
Large companies are also in a vulnerable position. Many of them have potentially lost millions due to cancelled events where they will not recoup the time and expense of preparation. However, insurance and cancellation policies will leave them with a marketing budget to redistribute. Thus, digital is likely to be the big winner in this area and companies, including those who may not have social media platforms yet, will have to turn to social marketing, content marketing, SEO and influence campaigns.
You can read the full article on the following link: Why Companies Turn To Digital Marketing To Survive COVID-19
Don’t stop your marketing!
You might be tempted to stop your marketing efforts. Of course, the current period is pushing us all to save money, especially when things are uncertain. However, the data shows that companies that continue advertising and marketing activities during a downturn have a better post-crisis recovery than companies that downsize and scale back their operations.
Balance this with the short-term impact on your business, as you need to survive it to gain on the other side.
Here are some ideas to help you think about what to do:
- Update your content strategy;
- Writing blog content;
- Review your website;
- Update your social media or create a company page (Facebook, LinkedIn)
- Evaluate advertising campaigns ;
- Implement a retargeting strategy;
- Brainstorm A/B testing for future campaigns;
- Analyze different digital platforms and identify ways to improve your campaigns;
- Update collateral documents;
- Set up webinars or informative video capsules;
- Evaluate the overall marketing strategy;
- Develop an editorial calendar for releases of interesting content;
- Hire a marketing firm to recommend suggestions and set up certain processes.
Two examples to follow
GLM Conseil
As a first step, take for example GLM Conseil, a firm that provides operational and digital excellence to industrial companies. For their part, they visit companies to perform analyses, audits on their digital strategy and implement solutions according to industry standards. Inevitably, the current state of affairs has cut them off like many companies in the same situation. However, they have decided to launch their live and online formations through their website in order to continue giving a boost to the companies.
GLM Conseil was already well prepared. It was their intention to provide these trainings in the near future. The current crisis simply forced them to launch the project on the spot. For our part, we were mandated by GLM Conseil to propel their training project on social media and thus target interested people. It is understandable that this is an excellent idea, given that the majority of the people targeted are currently working from home and looking for interesting tools to improve their operations.
Eco-Depot Batteries Industrielles
Secondly, the company Éco-Dépôt Batteries Industrielles, which specializes in the recycling, purchase, sale and service of industrial batteries, is also affected by the current situation, like any other company. If most industrial companies have to close their doors for a few weeks, it is inevitable that the use of batteries for their forklifts or pallet trucks will become less significant, except, of course, for the companies considered “essential”.
Although, even if the company could sit idly by, they decided to automate some of their sales and marketing processes with the HubSpot platform. A sequence of emails will be sent to customers, suppliers and partners of Eco-Depot to inform them of their operational status during the COVID-19 crisis. This will make it easier for the company to operate their sales and marketing projects while working from home with a platform that centralizes all efforts.
The new Éco-Dépôt Batteries Industrielles website will be online in a few weeks.
Being “proactive”
Proactivity is the key right now. If we decide to panic and put everything on “standby”, when it starts again, we won’t be ready and it will be even harder to get back on track.
To wrap it up, remember that quarantine won’t last forever. We can’t know when it will end, but by all indications, we expect to come out of quarantine sometime this year. We encourage you to prepare for this transition in a thoughtful and proactive manner.
At times like this, we remind ourselves that marketing issues are not matters of life and death. But you are also reminded that you need to feel productive and able to add value to your business while you have time to give it time. We realize that many people who rely on this feeling may have lost it suddenly or may feel demotivated by what’s going on, and our heart is with them. We are also there to help !
