Adapting your marketing during the Coronavirus crisis

History has taught us that rapid adaption and innovation can be critical factors for businesses during severe economic shocks, writes Natalie Cramp

The coronavirus crisis presents an unprecedented challenge for businesses. Retailers and the hospitality industry are likely to be among the hardest hit. What we know is that lockdowns and working from home policies are being imposed on a global scale and may last for the foreseeable future.

This means that marketing and sales plans which were based on consumer behaviour and purchasing cycles prior to the crisis are now no longer applicable. The key for businesses is to mitigate losses. One avenue that could help to do this is by making rapid changes to their marketing strategy.

We would recommend that businesses first audit all the campaigns that they have in the pipeline for the rest of the year. There are two particular factors to focus on, which campaigns are no longer relevant – for example deals that focus on in-store purchases, and those which contain copy that could be a reputation risk – such as unfortunate email subject lines or copy that in the context of the pandemic could be misinterpreted.

Next, there is the actual mechanics of when and how frequently marketing messages are sent. Data-driven campaigns are based on a number of factors including normal work/life balances.

In practice, this means campaigns would be set to be launched at times such as when people are on their commute home or after close of business. [advert position=”left”]

This data is now largely not applicable. As a result, setting up A/B tests of campaigns with variable times, subject lines, copy, and frequency is essential to quickly ascertaining data on how this new behaviour impacts engagement.

For businesses that have a bigger data science or marketing function, it may also be possible to resegement their customer base. This will involve using the information on marketing engagement and sales since the virus hit to give an indication as to how different groups with similar characteristics have changed their behaviour. These insights could then be applied at scale.

Finally, there is the actual content of the marketing campaigns. As the pandemic is unprecedented, there is no road map on what will be effective. The best approach may be to make basic assumptions and then test their impact.

For example, we could assume with people working from home or under lock down they may be more inclined to undertake DIY projects, buy entertainment goods or do more cooking. Therefore, linking discount or marketing campaigns to these products might be more effective.

The key is to test a number of different approaches and use all the available data to determine which will work when and with which groups. The more frequently these campaigns can be repeated will provide invaluable insight and enable some basic predictive modelling to take place.

We know that what we have outlined is not a silver bullet and many companies simply won’t have the capacity to make radical changes. However, history has taught us that rapid adaption and innovation can be critical factors for businesses during severe economic shocks.

Using the data you have available and putting in place policies to collect more will help every part of your business to make more informed decisions. Even if the insights only promote minor changes, they could ultimately prove to be the difference.

We know from the last downturn that companies that focused on digital marketing spend and, in some cases, increased it were able to bounce back faster than those who stopped marketing. When people are more isolated it’s not about stopping, its about serving them the right messages at the right time for the new circumstances we find ourselves in.

Natalie Cramp is CEO of data and marketing consultancy Profusion