COVID 19 – adjusting your Promotional Mix
The impact of coronavirus has an indeterminable effect on markets globally, affecting businesses small and large. If you’re a small business owner protecting employees and mitigating the damage of coronavirus is the highest priority. Here is some guidance on what you can do to help limit the risk…
Interruption Loan
If you’re a small business owner you may be eligible for Coronavirus Interruption Loan, the scheme will support loans of up to £1.2million from the British Business Bank, the government will guarantee 80% of the loan to support small businesses with invoice, overdrafts, asset finance and term facilities liabilities.
You must have a turnover of less than £41 million and be UK based business, further information, details on eligibility and how to apply can be found on the British Business Bank website here
Adjusting Your Promotional Mix
Core markets affected to date are health, hospitality, education, retail, leisure and travel sectors, of course, the impact of COVID-19 extends far beyond that, regardless of the industry you serve or are in marketers and business owners must adjust their promotional mix and messaging accordingly.
If events or your core service is delivered face to face, then remedial and interim solutions must be developed and deployed quickly to limit losses on revenue where possible. Educational providers are already looking at alternatives to deliver learning digitally to mitigate the risk of spreading infection.
Digital channels will seek to placate the disruption to the promotional mix but we also expect to see a decline in digital ad spend due to a lack of consumer confidence which in turn affects decision-makers’ ability to commit to marketing budgets at this time of uncertainty. But business owners cannot expect to sit and do nothing while the pandemic takes hold of its operational future…
Digital Solutions To A Very Offline Problem
If your primary source of leads is events, consider alternative methods of communicating your message. Events hold a tangible magic that can’t be replicated elsewhere but that doesn’t mean to say we should stop trying to communicate with audiences altogether.
- A well designed and constructed webinar with engaging visuals is hugely effective if the proposition is strong enough, there’s the scope to capture a wider cohort of qualified leads also.
- Meet with all your clients face to face? Remote meeting services have always had a strong case for saving businesses money and time but now they are the only feasible way to facilitate face to face meetings for the time being. Try Zoom or Skype
- Retail sales are expected to decline further, and e-commerce is expected to see immediate gains in light of the outbreak but with uncertainly over supply chain’s ability to supply, it’s a concern that the sudden growth of e-commerce may come to halt. Try and get a thorough understanding of how your supply chain may be affected.
- Reach prospects through social media, update them with what you’re doing to protect them if you’re a service-based company, if you were planning an event consider delivering with through a social platform you know your customers to be users of with Live events.
- You can try and monitor the impact through web analytics, anticipate and try and forecast changes in audience demographics and adjust your campaigns accordingly.
- Print isn’t dead, coronavirus could contribute a revival of direct mail, strengthen corporate communications with staff, make an impact with customers and use it as an opportunity to increase fond feeling towards your brand, just make sure it is helpful and adds value.
Schedule a phone call
If you need advice on how to adjust your promotional mix and marketing campaigns, talk to our team who will be happy to advise help free of charge, because we’re all in this together.
Futher Information:
You can get further information on how to react to Coronavirus here:
See how markets reacted during and after past viral outbreaks here: