Post COVID-19 Marketing Strategies and Practices

Post COVID-19 Marketing Strategies and Practices

There is no denying that COVID-19 has altered the course of our lives and influenced our perceptions, behaviors, and habits. As it traverses across the world, it dramatically affects everything in its path.

One main consequence of the pandemic was the drastic shift towards the online world, which increased online shopping and e-commerce platforms. There was a significant spike in e-commerce sales in the first half of 2020, owing to the lockdown and store closures’ consumer spending habits.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Economy

The onset of the pandemic has had significant implications on the global economy. The declaration of Covid-19 as a health emergency threatened the economy significantly, impacting businesses, both big and small. The last couple of months have forced numerous unfortunate companies to cut down costs, lay off staff, or even declare bankruptcy.

Businesses have had to alter their strategies and operations by the marketplace’s current climate to remain afloat during these trying times. Specifically, the brands used to rely on human interaction and touch to market their products or services have shifted to digital marketing and media completely.

What will the Post Pandemic Era Look Like?

As the world scrambles to keep themselves safe and hopes for the emergence of a vaccine, there is optimism surrounding the end of the pandemic. Unfortunately, however, things will not suddenly switch back to the way they used to be before the emergence of Covid-19.

Habits and practices will have shifted to a significant extent, forcing marketing practices to change as well. Businesses will need to fine-tune their marketing strategies to gain a competitive edge in the post-pandemic marketplace.

Effective Marketing Strategies

Fortunately, some marketing strategies will surely help your business attain new heights in the post-pandemic era.

Below is a list of five useful strategies you need to incorporate in your campaign as the world returns to its normal state:

1 – Prioritize Empathy

If Covid-19 has taught us anything, it is to be human; to be empathetic to our fellow beings and help them in any way that we can. The pandemic brought human beings together, in a tragic way, but united us nonetheless.

We need to ensure that we retain this spirit of empathy post-pandemic as well. Make sure that your marketing strategy reflects empathy.

We know that content marketing is the first and primary way to acquire leads and convert into customers. Before consumers even associate with your brand, they need to feel connected with it; and the best way to engage consumers is through relevant, appealing, and humanized content.

As the economy reopens post-pandemic, businesses will be rushing forth to make sales and bombarding consumers with incessant, irrelevant content. To gain a competitive edge, be sure that your marketing strategy and content reflect concern for the consumers and acknowledge the struggles that they have just been through.

The best way to do so is by thinking like the consumer—what sort of content would appeal to you at such a time?

Just be authentic, showing your consumer heartfelt empathy and compassion. Instead of bombarding them with salesy content, try to acknowledge your potential consumers’ pain points, and offer them the right solutions.

2 – Realign your Campaign

Brand awareness is the crux of any marketing campaign and needs to be the focal point.

Ensign your marketing campaigns after the pandemic to address the pressing demands and concerns of the consumers.

The future of the marketplace rests with Omnichannel marketing, so businesses must start utilizing it. Omnichannel marketing is useful because it enables you to have a more personalized and direct interaction with your consumers.

Multichannel marketing has been quite common for the past few years as it enables businesses to interact with consumers through various channels. However, Omnichannel marketing is a safer and better bet as it creates dimensions of the user experience regardless of the medium used by the consumer.

Another effective way to realign your marketing campaign is by utilizing the benefits of podcasting, which has seen a drastic surge in popularity recently. Podcasts are quite convenient, both for the creator and the listener, which is precisely why their usage is growing exponentially.

It is convenient for the listeners to tune into a podcast while going about their daily routine and multitask with other work or errands. They get to be entertained or educated on topics of their interests without investing anything other than their hearing.

The convenience persists on the other end, too; being a creator, all you need is a microphone, maybe an editing software, and a voice. Through podcasts, you can effectively create brand awareness and reach a diverse pool of consumers.

To equip your businesses with an effective marketing strategy after the pandemic, make sure that you also get to be a part of this ever-growing community and platform.

3 – Invest in CRM

Ensure that you equip your business with a robust and credible Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, which can help you engage with customers while propagating a sense of optimism.

An effective CRM provides you with valuable data and analytics regarding your customers and uncovers useful insights. For instance, CRM enables you to know about your customers’ habits, preferences, location, and life cycles, allowing you to adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.

CRM has a massive outreach and enables you to effectively and efficiently categorize your consumers—which is why it is a great tool to invest in, in the post-pandemic environment. You could also utilize its built-in features and avail of maximum benefits by customizing your consumers’ messages and content.

4 –  Determine the Right Marketing Channels

An important thing you need to do while creating an effective marketing strategy is uncovering, which paid marketing channels are right for your business and target audience. Your brand can reach a broader customer base through social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter or search engines such as Google. These platforms allow you to promote your brand and products through paid advertisements.

Along with these conventional platforms, it is also essential to keep track of which channels are gaining popularity. For instance, numerous other channels surfaced during the lockdown and gained popularity, the main one being TikTok. With millions of users downloading the app, TikTok became an instant hit.

Even though TikTok imposes quite a lot of restrictions on marketing and businesses, it is still beneficial to create an account and have it ready in case you need it soon.

Influencer marketing is another useful and beneficial strategy that uses popular influencers to spread awareness of the brand among a vast audience. Influencer marketing gained popularity during the lockdown because since mobile usage and online shopping drastically increased, people looked to their favorite influencers for entertainment and opinions regarding products they were interested in.

Since influencers have created loyal, cult-like followings, it is highly likely that influencer marketing will remain a robust trending even in the post-pandemic era.

5 – Promote Longevity, not Fear

Many businesses tried to capitalize on the feeling of Fear the consumers felt during the pandemic. Marketed your products by creating panic and urgency to lure your already shaken consumers into making a purchase is never a good idea for a brand in the long-term. If your business goal is Longevity, promoting Fear is not the right approach. Instead, you should be able to differentiate between creating a sense of urgency about your product and straight-up creating panic—the former is a good marketing strategy while the latter can backfire.

If you are aware of the workings of the marketplace, you must know how volatile it can be. Numerous brands that gain take the industry by storm initially have to close down within a few months. The main reason why this happens is that brands often get so caught up in their temporary popularity that while basking in the short-term benefits, they neglect longevity.

Ensure you focus on long-term visibility for your business and create a loyal and satisfied consumer base that will uplift your brand and keep it relevant for years to come.

Concluding Thoughts

Businesses will need to make amendments to their digital marketing strategies to remain relevant and flourish in the post-pandemic environment. A few alterations and enhancements in their pre-existing strategy, along with the incorporation of a few new tactics, can help your business attain unparalleled heights in the post-pandemic world.

If you have any questions or require help to adjust your strategies, feel free to contact us!

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