Should You Stop Investing in Marketing Efforts During a Crisis?

As a business owner, you are likely to see drops in your lead generation and sales during crises. At the end of the day that’s a big part of what makes a crisis a crisis when it comes to business.

So, when things are not looking pretty, should you stop investing in marketing efforts and wait for the things to calm down?

That’s a big NO!

Marketing is Food, Not a Medicine

Some companies consider marketing as a medicine. They start marketing when something goes wrong or sales number drops. 

This is completely the wrong perception amongst inexperienced brands. Some brands are happy to get busy serving limited clients and think they can hold back marketing. It’s one of the reasons so many otherwise successful businesses wind up failing. 

However, the fact is, marketing is nourishment that’s required for the continued health of the business. The more you invest in marketing the more sustainable you business will be.  

Whether it’s about recession due to the COVID-19 outbreak or any crisis that may come in the future, marketing should become your need instead of choice.

Why Successful Companies Never Stop Marketing?

Here are four common (sense) reasons why the world’s most successful businesses are committed to robust, ongoing marketing efforts:

1. Marketing Consistency Prevents “Reputation Rot”: 

Marketing is like an added preservative for your business that keeps the brand reputation fresh with your target audience.  

If you have not performed any marketing or brand promotional activities for months, other brands are active enough to put your brand on the back (probably last) seat. 

Even if your company has come a long way from where you started, people’s perceptions tend to remain fixed unless you update them about your achievements. 

Successful brands understand the fact that it takes years to shape and define brand reputation. As a result, they keep their marketing strategies updated all the time.

2. Marketing Shapes Your Customer Base: 

Marketing is necessary to ensure that there is no blockage in growing your customer base. Even if you are working from home, marketing activities can still be executed. 

If you are concerned about the cost of marketing, you can use social media and email marketing to keep in touch with your clients and prospects. However, it is important to promote your brand wisely on social media during the crisis. 

As your business evolves, you might have to tap additional industries or sometimes a completely new audience. Either way, you need to be constantly evaluating your targets and adjusting your messaging, visuals, and strategy accordingly.

3. Helps to Ensure Consistent Lead Generation: 

To win in the market, you need to acquire new clients. 

To acquire new customers, you need to generate quality b2b leads consistently. 

For consistent lead generation, you need to prioritize consistent marketing efforts. 

Now that people are working from home doesn’t mean that lead generation should take a backseat. Instead, successful businesses take this opportunity to build a stronger brand and sales pipeline so that they can close more deals once the situation returns to normal. 

In a crisis, they put more effort into (less expensive) marketing efforts now and capitalize on them later.   

4. Secures your Company’s Future: 

The single most important reason to engage in active, ongoing marketing is simply because it secures the future of your business. Marketing generates business. 

You will have a lot going on right now but in six months will it still be there?

A year? 

Three years? 

This is how successful businesses think. 

Savvy business owners don’t leave their future up to chance. They start planting seeds now so that they can harvest next quarter, year, etc. 

So, make sure you and your team stay connected with your prospects when they are working from home. 

But Make Sure You…

Don’t Make a Joke About the Crisis. 

A few weeks ago, it was common to see online memes and humorous marketing campaigns being shared. 

We already discussed the three marketing principles during the global pandemic that you need to follow.. 

Making light of the situation is not only in poor taste, but you’ll likely drive away a good chunk of your target audience.

Don’t Play on People’s Fears. 

It’s one thing to use a sense of urgency to sell your product or service, but it’s another thing entirely to use scare tactics. 

For example, don’t scare prospects into buying your product or service with a message that projects that businesses won’t be able to sustain if they will not opt for your offering. Asking people to give extra importance to your brand in this situation will often backfire. 

Make sure your marketing approach and tone reflect the current needs and pain points of your consumers, without capitalizing on their anxiety.

What Business Owners Can Learn from COVID-19

If the pandemicis adversely affecting your business, it’s also a good time to reassess your business fundamentals and how CONVID-19 affects your marketing. 

Are there things you’d do differently to be more prepared or prevent losses?

We are standing in support of the business community in these tough times with our financial, morale, and operational initiatives.

Like everything else in life, this is an experience of learning. 

Stay home, safe and sound.