COMMUNICATION
Planning Your Marketing Strategy For Recovery
By Katya Nyangi
During challenging times organizations look for ways to manage costs and it is more often than not that marketing gets the snip . One of the reasons for this , as well explained in the Harvard Business Review : Don ’ t Cut Your Marketing Budget in a Recession , is simply because it is an easier cut to make , say , compared to payroll . This is despite data demonstrating that organizations which retained or in fact increased their marketing during crises recovered faster and came out of it stronger .
The Covid-19 pandemic is however somewhat far from over as we all wait for an approved vaccine and its distribution across the globe . This means that recovery will take some time . As marketers , we cannot sit and wait for magic to happen , whenever . We have to plan for recovery and adapt to the changing dynamics of the world order . Some fundamental areas to cover while planning for recovery are shared below .
Understand and segment consumer behaviour
The Covid-19 pandemic has seen change in consumer behaviour necessitated by the changing circumstances of people ’ s lives . These include working from home , cooking vs eating out , being more conscious about health and hygiene and relying more on online services to avoid needing to visit places in person .
Whilst data has been collected on these consumer behaviours , it is not certainly clear which of the new habits consumers will retain post-pandemic . Nonetheless , many of these new habits are shaping people ’ s values in ways that will stay . For example , people using the digital space more critically to make choices about purchases and being more concerned about their personal health and wellbeing .
With that in mind , marketers cannot plan for things getting back to normal but rather have to define that next normal by collecting new data on the behaviours of their consumers and understanding how to segment them for the product / service offered . By extension , this feeds into how to best meet the needs of the next-normal consumer ( a term coined by McKinsey ).
Using the industry I work in , education , as an example , Fitch Solutions posted a forecast of a drop from 12.14 % 2020 pre- Covid to 9.75 % Covid revision in YoY spending . This then gives insight into the kind of decisions we would need to make on marketing for recovery .
In other industries , such as retail , companies have cushioned themselves through strategic partnerships as a way of meeting the needs of the next-consumer . In the Kenyan market , this has been witnessed in successful examples such as Tuskys partnering with Sendy , Carrefour partnering with Jumia and Naivas partnering with Glovo ( refer to Nendo report : Impact of Covid-19 on Consumers & Corporates in Kenya ).
Consider accumulated delayed demand
Your marketing strategy should consider scenarios of demand . At what points during the year is your product ideally required . Do you foresee a sudden spike in demand or a steady spread out increase in demand ? What about your product should be adapted to meet the needs of the next normal consumer at that starting point of demand ?
In planning these scenarios , look at the long-term to understand the best projected pattern of recovery with realistic assumptions and targets . Consider that during the recovery period there may be dips and rises before stability is achieved . You will be working with a new set of data that will need time to demonstrate a more reliable pattern .
In the meantime , the recovery plan should highlight generating and tracking healthy leads , even if the conversion may come in the longer term .
Update your website
Your website is the heart of your digital presence and should either be updated or adapted for several crucial reasons : It should reflect the information required by your consumers for the new and next normal . Unlike pre-pandemic times where we leaned more on helping consumers identify a problem or need they have , consumers are now more aware of their problems or needs and are actively searching for solutions vs landing on one by chance .
Improving on the SEO ( Search Engine Optimization ) of your website should be a priority so as to ensure your website does not get lost in the increased online traffic due to the pandemic . SEO is not
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