Marketing & COVID-19: Develop Your Strategies on the Long Run
Last update: 22 April 2021 at 01:33 pm
4.20/5COVID-19 is hitting Europe since March 2020, and it didn’t take very long for the effects to be seen. No industry has really been spared, and marketing is no exception.
Just in a couple of weeks, we were able to see a large number of evolutions happening in the marketing landscape, and we felt the importance of compiling those changes in a single document: The marketing barometer – COVID-19 special edition.
Based on the data at our disposal, this analysis will introduce you to which marketing expertises have been growing thanks to the pandemic, and which expertises have been in decline for the last couple of weeks.
In order to push the analysis even further, we asked for agencies members of Sortlist to share their opinions and their views on how marketing will come out of this crisis. Among them, Wirelab, Leadist, and Brandelicious all come back on the importance of preparing the after-crisis and developing your strategies for the long run. In the following lines, you will be able to learn what those three agencies are recommending to reduce the risks induced by the current situation.
Develop your strategies for the long run 📈
Wirelab : An opinion from Cheryl Bunskoek
Think about preparing the after crisis
Though short-term strategies are essential to respond to the current situation, brands and companies shouldn’t forget to think about their long-term efforts. Not the market, but the world we operate in will be different as soon as we’re allowed to return to our offices and resume our businesses. What are you going to do as soon as this crisis comes to an end?
As a digital agency, we tend to think along with our clients in current and future needs. Instead of getting stuck in the problems of the current crisis, we support companies and brands in discovering opportunities that are beneficial to their business. Digital transformation was already a high priority but is becoming even more relevant now and in the future. Don’t sit back, but rediscover means and use them to move a company forward, even in times like this.
Being a partner that offers guidance, clarity, and opportunities is key in this time and the times to come. As agencies, we need to rethink strategies, come up with solutions and work together with businesses and brands to survive now and grow when this crisis is starting to blow over.
Leadist : An opinion from Marion Min
Turn the crisis into opportunities and actions
In our case, we do see a decrease of 20-25% of investments made in online media performance as well as influencer marketing, both for March and April.
We can therefore relate to the data being exposed in this marketing barometer, at least for the direct impacts on the online advertising investments made by brands and companies.
This is paradoxical according to me because we know that this period of crisis is an ideal moment regarding audiences since they are literally exploding on every single channel. Online channels of course, but not only (Television, Radio, etc.). Despite this fact, it’s a moment where just a few brands wish to maintain and even increase the pace of their communication efforts.
However, as a marketer, I think it’s very important to consider all the opportunities that can come out of this crisis and transform those opportunities into possibilities for developing our companies.
This crisis has been an incredible accelerator of online business development. A lot of small actors began to have an online presence, which was set very rapidly of course, but it’s something that will last in the long run. Agencies will now have to work with a lot of small industries and local businesses that did not have an online model before this crisis happened.
In our case, I see a lot of opportunities in performance marketing and influencer marketing. However, this will ask us to adapt our services to the new needs, budgets, and strategies required by our clients.
Brandelicious : An opinion from Rodrigo Varona Ruiz
Build a long-term relationship with your clients
While the hotel and restaurant industry is in shock, certain clients are taking advantage of the moment to build new ideas and push them forward. They are usually those who have creativity and medium / long-term vision in their DNA.
With our # juntossaldemos campaign, we want to do our best to support the various sides of the sector and their efforts in these tough times. We can do it by investing, by amplifying their visibility, and by leading new projects.
I believe that these weeks and months will push us to (re)discover some of our technological and personal skills, but above all to build an enduring relationship with many of our customers and with each other.
Conclusion
What we should keep in mind from all those insights, it’s that in front of this crisis, it’s necessary to keep cool and to not only have a short-term vision. Of course, the current situation makes it necessary to adapt and to find new ways of working for your organization. However, as we have seen it, this crisis won’t be eternal and there will be an after, for which we need to prepare.
Getting through the present is important, but preparing for the future to take full advantage of it matters just as much.
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