The What, Why and How of Cause Marketing

 

Whether you market beauty products, cars or the latest in cloud technology, customers and prospects care about more than just your products and services. They care about the integrity of your business -that you don’t just focus on profits, but also on benefitting society as a whole. Today’s consumers want to know that they can trust and stand behind your business or organization.

Consumers want to what you sell AND who you are. Any organization that is wanting to stand out, needs to stand up.  Utilizing cause marketing is a great way to stand up for a cause that aligns with your organization and stand out from your competitors. 

Cause Marketing Defined

Cause marketing can only be executed successfully if it is embraced authentically.  This type of marketing allows a business to promote a social cause to showcase social responsibility (and humanity) to customers. Companies provide customers with additional value by supporting philanthropic initiatives important to the consumer and the brand, fostering brand loyalty, and a sense of purpose beyond consumerism:

However, if there is no plan or cause strategy, consumers will know.  The marketer must explain the WHY.  Just like you should know the why of your organization – why you do what you do and why consumers should buy from you – so should you explain the why behind your cause affiliation.

THE RIGHT MESSAGE AT THE RIGHT TIME

Countless businesses have successfully leveraged cause marketing to boost sales by showing customers that they care about social good. Their success comes from focusing their message in ways that are both compelling and relevant to the social issues consumers care about and that the brands support. Authenticity is of vital importance.  No jumping on the band wagon just to jump.

In every regional, national or global event or movement, brands should evaluate ethical and brand perception when deciding how to show up. Does the movement align with the core values of the company? Does your team believe it has a moral role to play or an ethical obligation to participate? Consider your action and communication plans from a place of authenticity.

WHY CAUSE MARKETING MATTERS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

The experience of countless businesses shows cause marketing can help companies to achieve many of their principal marketing objectives, such as increasing brand awareness, customer engagement, and sales, while also following their ethical values. In fact, for many companies that effectively embrace cause marketing, it can be a game-changer for their business.

·         Consumers want to purchase from businesses that share their values

·         Consumers want to spend more with businesses that are engaged in social good

·         Consumers buy from or boycott businesses based on their position on key social issues

·         Consumers want companies to take a stand on social issues

HOW TO USE CAUSE MARKETING

Businesses, large and small, that launch highly successful cause marketing campaigns take the time to understand what causes their customers care about most. Their success can also be attributed to using best practices for their campaigns and in their dedication to being authentic to their company values.   

Yes, every business is different, with varying customers, goals, and marketing challenges. Cause marketing works best when a company abides by a playbook that employs the following strategies:

1. REINFORCE THE COMPANY’S “BRAND PURPOSE”

Your brand purpose is your business’s reason for existing, rather than solely for making a profit. For example, Amazon expresses its brand purpose in its mission statement, ““To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices.” 

For your cause marketing campaign to succeed, it’s important to clarify what your brand purpose is, and then espouse causes that reinforce that purpose. The causes you support may change some as public opinion shifts, but your brand purpose should remain steadfast. The key is to align causes you back to your brand purpose in compelling, resonant, authentic, and transparent ways.

2. BE AUTHENTIC

Today’s consumers are savvy—they can instantly spot messaging that is forced or fake. Messaging that comes across as fake or inauthentic will negatively impact your brand, rather than elevate it. That can be a costly mistake for marketers, especially when a business advocates social causes that their customer base cares about.

When it comes to cause marketing, the end most definitely does not justify the means. If you don’t care about the cause you claim to support, your customers will know.  They will repay you buy paying your competitors or complaining within their networks.

3. ENCOURAGE SOCIAL MEDIA PARTICIPATION

When customers care about child abuse, animal welfare, climate change, or social justice, they want to do more than stand on the sidelines. The businesses most successful with cause marketing are those that resonate with their customers and encourage active participation from them.

One of the best ways to do that is by leveraging the power of social media, the natural vehicle to promote meaningful exchanges and conversations. When you ask your customers on social media to help you help others, they feel good about themselves and, by extension, about your business.

A cause marketing campaign can take your business to the next level, if it is done the right way. When your company truly care about more than profit, customers and prospects will take notice.  You can capitalize on this by effectively differentiating yourself from your competitors and give the public a compelling reason to buy your products and services.

Remember, any marketing concept is only as good as the execution of it. To succeed with cause marketing and approach it thoughtfully, make sure t
he cause you support aligns with your brand, is authentic and leverages the power of customer participation through social media (and word of mouth).   If you’d like to learn more about how cause marketing can help your business or help determine which cause would best fit your mission, contact SK Consulting today!

Marketing Should Be The Last Thing to Go

When businesses and non-profits feel the stretch of the dollar and their bottom line is negatively impacted, the first instinct is, more often than not, to cut the marketing budget.  Many view marketing as the easiest line item to slash, but it can be the hardest to recoup.  During a recession or a post-pandemic, the worst thing a business can do is go dark.  Saving a penny at that moment could cost you thousands down the road. Cutting your marketing budget can hurt your business long-term, even when it might help it slightly in the immediate future.

Before you decide to reduce or eliminate your marketing budget, consider the following:

1. What if your competitors keep their marketing intact?

You may consider cutting your marketing budget, but if your competitors don’t, where does that leave you? When you reduce your marketing budget, you decrease how and how often your customers see you — allowing your competitor(s) to move in.  Your customers notice if you’re NOT there for them.

2. Your customers can support you if you market your message right

The return on investment for your marketing strategy is still valid during tough economic times. When the economy is booming, your strategy is probably to drive sales and build relationships.  However, when everyone seems to be tightening their belts, you can and should be more focused on the relationship-build side of things – keep your customers invested in your success. They love you as much as you love them, and they don’t want to see your business struggle. Your marketing team can help you show the right amount of vulnerability and transparency, while still sending the message that you are still in business, offering the services they’ve come to expect and admire.

3. Your marketing team protects you

People often think about marketing as advertising, but it is so much more.  Your marketing team helps to tell your brand’s story.  That story should reflect market research on what your customers are searching for and are still willing to pay for.  As with COVID, businesses needed (and still need) to shift their messaging strategies to be reassuring, sensitive and empathetic.  Having a marketing team you trust can help shift and shape your message so that your mission and services are promoted – keeping your brand top of mind.

4. Your customers don’t want to feel abandoned

Your marketing strategy strengthens your relationship with your audience. A reduction in your budget can leave your customers wondering where you went—or worse, if your business has or is in the process of shutting down.

Show them you’re there.  Your messaging may be different.  Your tactics of reaching them may be different.  But your brand should not be different.  Your marketing team and strategies can tell your audience what you’re doing to keep their best interests in mind.  

5. It may be time to launch that new product

What?  Spend time and resources to launch a new product?  Yes!  You have less competition during a recession or tough economy, as other companies are focusing on staying afloat. They aren’t putting their time and effort into launching new products or growing their business. If you are in the position to, and you have ideas ready to launch, work with your marketing team to put your new product out into the world.  You may even be able to better negotiate advertising rates as media outlets are also looking to stay afloat.

6. You will not bounce back as easily

If you reduce your marketing efforts, it leaves you in a difficult position when you and your customers are ready to return to the economic cycle.  You’ve spent a great deal of time and money growing your brand’s reach. Rather than scaling back, discuss a strategy with your marketing team to find ways to keep your reach consistent. Once the economy is on an upswing, you will appreciate not having lost months — or years — of progress.

7. You’ll have a harder time reaching your overall business goals

No matter what the financial landscape, you want to continue moving forward. Your marketing team can help you keep your goals in mind and find new strategies to meet them. Don’t underestimate a marketing team’s versatility and the potential to keep your business growing, even when the economy is less than ideal.

Talk strategy before you make cuts!

Cut the panic, not the budget! Take a look at your budget prior to the pandemic or recession.  Where is there padding?  Where can you streamline operations?  Before you decide to cut anything from your marketing budget, discuss all options with your marketing team.  A versatile, professional and experienced team can and will work with you to achieve your goals – or define new milestones and benchmarks.  The true bottom line is your marketing team is your life line to the ‘outside world’. In reality, if you don’t succeed, they don’t succeed.  Show them that you have faith in their expertise and they’ll show you a positive ROI.

Increasing ROI with Refreshed, Refurbished Content

 Any successful business owner knows that high-quality content is vital to any marketing plan.  And any seasoned marketing professional knows this original content is essential to a successful search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.  Sometimes it’s hard to create content and once you do, it is often published and forgotten about, growing stale and outdated. 

Just like with plastics, glass and metal, recycling is a good thing.  Refreshing an
d updating content allows you to work smarter rather than harder.  With a bit of planning, you can revamp, repurpose and refurbish your content to bring you more traffic and a higher return on investment (ROI).

1. Update Current Content Regularly

The older a blog post or article, the more page authority it can build on the search engine results page (SERP).  That’s great, but you don’t want to drive traffic to information that’s outdated or no longer accurate.

Make a plan to revisit your content every six months to a year and regularly update your current content. During this process, you can check that all links are still working, all data is still accurate, and all facts are still relevant and up to date. In some cases, you may just have to make a few tweaks to statistics.  In others, you may need to add a new intro, summary or just a paragraph to provide updates.  This is much better than having to start from scratch!

2. Create useful downloads and templates.

Everyone understands that blogs are a great source of content and a great way to increase your SEO.  But you shouldn’t limit yourself to only publishing written blogs and articles. 

Explore additional content types such as downloads, infographics and templates that are relevant to your audience and to the written content you provide. If you sell skin care products, for example, you could create a branded checklist of how to care for your skin or obtain video testimonials from customers that are willing to share their positive results.

3. Tease content through videos.

Think about what grabs your attention more.  If you see a post leading with a graphic or video, are you more likely to click on it than if you just see text?  You’re not alone!  Videos help grab our attention and can add context to topics, particularly for highly technical or how-to type pieces. 

Teaser videos can serve as a preview that entices your audience to click through and read the post that you’re promoting. Reuse the teaser video in your email marketing, on your website and via social media.  In today’s age, you don’t need a professional videographer.  Save money and do it yourself or hire an intern using budget-friendly platforms like Adobe Spark or WeVideo. 

4. Consider Offering “Locked” Content

Asking for an email before someone can download your whitepaper, webinar or how-to piece has been called into question by some.  However, when these readers enter their email address for access, they are giving you permission to add them to your email list (provided they check the opt-in box you will put on the sign in form).  This gives you a great opportunity for follow-up, targeted marketing. 

This process is known as gating.  Gating content means the piece is “locked” and requires someone’s contact info to unlock it, such as their phone number and name or their email address.  If you choose this route, it is recommended to create a unique landing page for the content you are locking.  Promoting the unique URL will improve the click thru rates and will boost downloads.

5. Promote new content through digital advertising

Creating online ads is another great way to boost your ROI using your content. Got exclusive data from a recent survey? Planning a webinar on a hot-button industry topic? Share that information directly to your target audience.  Yes, there is a cost.  But it’s called ROI for a reason.  If done right, you will see a positive return on your investment.

It’s important to research where your target audience gets their information before you agree to a spend.  For instance, a tattoo parlor will probably get a better return using Instagram or Facebook than LinkedIn.  But a medical device company who wants to grab the attention of physicians and buying agents will probably do better utilizing LinkedIn ads. But, again, make sure you understand where your target audience obtains their information and that the cost of the ad is worth your investment.

6. Create a newsletter that features your content.

If you don’t have a monthly or bi-monthly newsletter yet – start one today.  These email missives can be used to share your latest blog, news from your organization or an original thought piece.

Along with optimizing your content and promoting it via organic social media posts, an email newsletter is a great way to get your content marketing more exposure. It meets people where they already are and gives you an opportunity to drive more traffic to your website while keeping your brand top of mind on a regular basis.

Just make sure your newsletter is less than the equivalent of 2 pages long.  Nobody wants to read an entire book in an email.

Summary

When it comes to content, it’s about quality and quantity. But you don’t have to have a large team of writers to pull off a content marketing plan that brings in good results. 

As long as you make sure that what you publish is up to date and accurate, well-executed and promoted properly you can improve your search engine ranks.  If done correctly, your refreshed content can help save you time and money while delivering fantastic results. 

Need help creating a content recycling plan?  Contact us today!

Reassess During the Recession

 

It’s no secret that COVID has caused an economic recession impacting many small businesses and non-profits and their bottom line.  Many have declared that this crisis is worse than the Great Depression and will more than likely have lasting effects on our economy.  But, now is not the time to give up.  Now is the time to reevaluate, reassess and rebuild…stronger.  Below are some ways to achieve success during and after the current state of affairs. 

1. Do Not Immediately Cut the Marketing Budget

The first place many organizations look to cut when purse strings are tight is marketing.  This is the exact reason why NOT to cut the marketing budget…it is not a smart strategy. If all of your competitors are cutting their budgets, and your business is taking the time to fine-tune and continue with marketing efforts, then your business could see an increase in revenue and take over a larger market share.

You want to stay ahead of the fray – stay in the forefront of everyone’s mind.  With more people watching TV, listening to the radio, scrolling through social media feeds, NOW is the time to invest (effectively and efficiently) in digital marketing. When competitors slash their budget, consumers will be less likely to see their marketing efforts and instead will see your company’s presence more frequently. Prospective customers will be able to more easily see the services or products your business offers. Keeping your marketing budget the same, or even slightly increasing the budget, will quiet the buzz of the competition, letting your business shine.

2. Conduct New Market Research

It is common knowledge that having accurate market research is vital for successful marketing campaigns. Market research can give a business a better understanding of its customers and better knowledge about how to approach its target market. Time have changed.  Circumstances have changed.  Shopping patterns have changed.

The way you do business or request donations must change with the trends.  And, you won’t know the current trends if you don’t conduct new market research.  During financial hardships, a person’s available income and discretionary income changes. While it is a convenient idea to cut costs and use historical data from previous recessions, it is not a good idea. By doing expansive market research on your target audience, your business will be able to get insights that can be used as a competitive advantage. A business can align itself with its customers’ needs through market research, which allows for the business to thrive during and after a recession.

3. Focus on Retaining Existing Customers

Customer retention is always an important business strategy, but especially now. Local restaurants and bars that pivoted to curbside or delivery at the onset of the pandemic are faring much better than those who didn’t.  Why?  Because their loyal customers pivoted with them.  They started ordering out, sharing the establishment and their specials on social media, etc.  A majority of a business’s profits come from existing customers, and the costs of retaining customers are much lower than the costs of trying to attract new customers. New customers aren't as likely to give unfamiliar products or services a try during a recession, which is why the primary focus should be on existing customers and keeping them satisfied.

And, shifting the focus to existing customers will cut down on spending without slashing the marketing budget. Keeping customers satisfied will only benefit the business in the long run, because these customers are more likely to leave positive reviews and recommend your business to their friends, which gives your business free word-of-mouth marketing.

4. Analyze Past and Current Performance Metrics

If you are finding you have a little more time on your hands, then this is the time to measure metrics!     Performance metrics can help determine if you’re meeting your goals (which should be re-evaluated) or if you’re on the right track to reach your goals. These metrics can help improve strategy and can be early indicators if things are not going as they should be. During a recession, tracking metrics is even more important as one mistake could lead to the business’s downfall.

What you’ve done in the past may not be right for today. Tracking current performance will allow you to see how your marketing campaigns are doing in this unusual landscape and time. The combination of past and current data will allow businesses to invest their time in areas that have proven to work in the past and see if what was working is still working today.

5. Remain Consistent

Now is not the time to rebrand yourself or your business. Now is the time to revamp your services if needed, but not your brand. Remain consistent in your name, branding, marketing and customer interactions. Your business should not go from sending bi-weekly emails to bi-monthly emails, nor should it go from weekly blog posts to monthly blog posts. These efforts of staying consistent will also keep costs down, which, in a recession, is vital. 

COVID has created quite a stir in all aspects of our lives.  Yes, businesses have taken hits because of the pandemic, but the recession is not forever. The reevaluation of a marketing strategy can help businesses survive this uncertain time.

Listen to your customers.  Listen to your competitors.  Remain flexible.  Remain vigilant.  While it might not seem like it right now, the storm will pass.  The question is, are you ready, willing and able to weather it?

Include Empathy in Your Marketing

 Being an empath, it’s hard to understand how others operate.  And those who are not empaths probably don’t understand how I operate. 

Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position.   This is difficult for some individuals to wrap their minds around…and even more so for businesses and corporations to incorporate into their marketing strategy.  In today’s world, it is essential to not just appear empathetic but to showcase your company’s empathy toward everyone – your customers, in particular.

Your business should employ empathy marketing at all times – not just today.   During a global pandemic, the last thing any company or brand should be doing is thinking about themselves and their profit margins without concerning themselves with the wellbeing of the public.

Yes, it is important for businesses to continue to succeed, to be able to retain and pay their employees, to keep their workers safe, and to move forward during this crisis. But an unexpected result of this global pandemic is that it is challenging businesses to innovate and evolve.

Event companies are creating virtual events, doctors are chatting with patients online, restaurants are sharing their recipes so people can make their favorite dishes at home, Zoos are sharing a behind the scenes look at the animals, museums are creating online learning programs to keep kids engaged, and people are attending drive-in raves.

Empathy marketing shows consumers that businesses not only care about their customers but they also understand and can relate to them.

So how do you market your brand with empathy?

Stop the Presses: Scheduled Marketing Campaigns
The first step for many large brands who have scheduled their advertising campaigns for the next quarter, or more, is to pause those advertising campaigns - if you can. Each time a consumer sees an ad for something being sold as if it is pre-pandemic will rub consumers the wrong way.

Be Creative: Plan a New Marketing Campaign
Decide if you are going to repurpose your existing marketing campaigns or create entirely new ones. To truly create an empathy marketing campaign, starting from scratch is likely the best option. You don’t want consumers to recognize cuts from previous ad campaigns and infer that the brand just changed some words around.

Don’t Be a Dick: Don’t Take Advantage of People During This Crisis
It might sound like common sense – at least to an empath - but it has to be said because it can be a real problem. Having a COVID-19 sale, or showing off how your company is still succeeding during the crisis is disrespectful and will turn people off to your brand.  Pushing something like a vacation getaway or something that is not essential will turn those off who were laid off or are struggling to make ends meet.

Delete That Old B-Roll: Visuals and Positioning
Try to keep any visuals or messaging in line with what experts (experts like your doctor, the CDC, local hospitals, etc) are recommending. Showing old footage of people shopping in your store without a mask or gathering in groups without social distancing – demonstrates that your company is out of touch with the times. Reinforce what the experts are saying like staying at home, wearing a mask, and washing your hands.  And highlight how your business is adapting to these new norms.

Be Inspiring: Give People Hope and Show How Your Brand Can Help
Hope is a powerful thing, especially when people feel like all hope is lost. Instead of being an alarmist or focusing on the negative, focus on the positive, and tap-in to your brand’s human side. People will feel more connected to your company and your brand if they feel like you actually understand and want to help them.

Start by giving people the tools they need to survive this pandemic. Try to find ways to bring your product or service to consumers in the most convenient and safe manner possible. And how can you save families money?  How can you provide a fantastic experience for minimal cost? How you do this will leave a lasting impact on customers well after the pandemic is over.

Empathy Marketing Isn’t Just for Pandemic Times

The only thing constant is change, right?  Businesses need to take note – everyone needs to be willing and able to adapt to the times.  Perhaps the most important marketing lesson COVID-19 has reminded us of…is that customers should always come first.  With so much loss in the world right now – time with friends and extended families, jobs, life – how your business approaches its messaging, outreach and all-around marketing strategies should address reality while offering hope in the form of a solution. If your company is not ready to embrace empathy marketing in times like these, don’t expect customers to embrace your company when the pandemic becomes a part of history to which we hope will never be repeated. 

Finding the New Normal in Marketing

We are all feeling it– the devastating impact of our current state of affairs.  First, the COVID-19 pandemic – which is still in full swing, then the riots following George Floyd’s murder – causing many cities to shut down marketplaces and businesses to be looted and burned to the ground.  We are seeing an economic and social down-spiral that leaves many of us to wonder – what do we do next?

\As far as the economical impact, it is safe to say the business landscape has drastically changed.  But, businesses can still sustain themselves and recover from today’s economic crises by changing up their marketing strategies to reflect new consumer habits.

Along with impacting human life, today’s crises are negatively influencing the global business and economy. It’s a challenge to market during a crisis and at the same time plan for the future. Industries are not able to operate effectively in this challenging situation. This has made marketing more critical and complex than ever for many businesses.

We have already seen a behavioral shift - people spending more time at home and on the internet. Since people are still semi-quarantined, there are more eyeballs browsing online than before and people are consuming more digital content on all fronts.

In general, keep up the following and your business can continue to thrive.

Be smart

Work smart and be ready to tackle the challenges ahead and retain existing customers. This is a unique time, when a small allure can result in huge gains for business. This is not the time to panic. Many big companies are using smart marketing and advertising campaigns to promote positivity and communicate important messages.  Small businesses should too.

Be social

It is essential to keep in touch with customers. It's cheaper to retain an existing customer than acquire a new one.  Everyone is glued to social media right now! With increased reach, engagement and time spent on social platforms, businesses should NOT pause their social media efforts. Social media helps put you in front of where your target audience is already browsing.  While doing this, connect with your customers with compassion and empathy. Start an awareness campaign that may inspire, ignite people to cope with the current situation.  And please refrain from the “We’re in this together” statement.  It is overused and actually false. (Are you in the same boat as Fortune 500 CEOs?)

Be visible

It’s the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality.  If you stop marketing, you’ll be forgotten.  While consumers are scouring digital platforms, this is a great opportunity for your business to improve its online visibility, which means driving visitors to the website to capture future sales. If you haven’t updated your website to meet today’s marketplace, that should be your first investment.  Consumers will bounce right off your homepage if they do not like what they see or read.  One of the best times to get found by potential clients is ensuring that they can find what they want at every point of the purchasing lifecycle.

In a recession period, some choose to make the unfortunate decision to cut or eliminate their SEO budgets. Their rankings will hold for a few weeks and then start to slip as Google's algorithms begin to recognize that there's nothing new or interesting happening on their site. Every time a site drops in rankings, another one moves up. DON’T cut your SEO and SEM budget because it will eventually help to reach customers in a more cost-efficient and quicker way.

Be strategic

There is no one-size-fits-all method in the digital marketing domain. Consumer sentiments and behavior has changed and will continue to change. Be strategic when planning both for the short and long terms. Your plan should be implementation-ready no matter how much notice you have to put it into place.

Be measurable

Measuring means tracking marketing spend. Brands need to be measured against success criteria: sales, numbers of hits, queries, numbers of leads, or referrals etc.  Utilize Google Analytics, social media ROI and any other analytical tools you already have in place to get a comprehensive picture of your status. 'If you don't measure, then you can't manage'. And if you're not managing, then you could be pouring money down the drain.

Be creative

'Necessity is the mother of invention'. Measure success and learn from the experiment. If marketing budgets are tight, then knowing what works makes it easier to make the decision of where to invest. Whatever experiment we do; it should be quick, cheap, and easy to deliver.

Be truthful

The real opportunity is for businesses to really focus on developing transparent messaging across the board.  If you want to stay in the minds of your customers, you need to be proactive and aware no matter the crisis we/you are facing.  For now, that means keeping messages fresh and reminding clients that your business is still in the game. Make sure you are delivering the right message to the right person at the right time in an honest manner.

Be smart

When the economy seems to be crashing, some businesses seem to go into hibernation mode. But, you should take this time to re-think, re-adjust, re-define and upgrade marketing efforts. Now is the time  to enhance digital communication and deliver great experiences at each point of the customer journey.

As the “new normal” continues to define itself, so should your marketing tactics.  We are all becoming more and more accustomed to adapting, your marketing should be adaptable too.  Not sure how to readjust your marketing priorities during this exceptionally unique time? SK Consulting can help!

How You Act During the Pandemic Impacts How Customers React After the Pandemic

As we have all heard in every commercial, campaign, business impact statement - COVID-19 has and will continue to dramatically change consumer and business behaviors. Many of these behaviors will remain long after the diminishment and defeat of the virus.  In other words…there is no ‘going back to normal’…there is just creating the new normal.

New behaviors become more permanent the longer they are in place. Because of this, organizations must consider how the current crisis will change long-term social interactions, events, personal contacts and what products and services will better serve customers in the post COVID-19 world.

If you’re not ready for post-COVID-19 consumer behavior, you’re not ready to ‘re-open’.

Many people will certainly have higher sensitivity to germs and the risks of spreading infections. This behavior alone will change many industries.

Customers and workers will be more skeptical of close contact with others. Consumer travel, dining, entertainment and product preferences will be different. How consumers shop will also be altered and businesses need to be prepared.

The number of behavior changes will grow depending on how many people are directly affected, how severely and for how long. Many new behaviors will be normalized as customers practice them repeatedly over months.

How will behaviors shift in your industry? Customer behavior changes will require new or modified products and services. New market leaders will emerge while some past leaders falter. Many companies will struggle post COVID-19 because they haven’t adequately adapted.

Take a proactive approach to survive and thrive past COVID-19

Knowing your marketplace/customers/consumer needs is always the best way to meet market demands and win—but what you knew before may not benefit you in an altered tomorrow.

Smart companies will adopt a proactive approach to understand what changes will occur and be ready to adjust their products, services and strategies quickly to meet current and future customer needs.

What you can do now:

1) Debrief

Convene key members of your team and debrief them on what they have been hearing from customers. Have a work session to identify what might be changing and how you could and should adapt.

2) Gather insight

Develop a plan to “take the temperature” of the marketplace. How can we validate new behaviors we are seeing and hearing, and gather the information we don’t know? Don’t assume anything. Your customers can tell you what they will need, but you must ask them.

Conduct customer interviews, surveys, market research or customer feedback by other means. Gather the comments, attitudes and data, then analyze. Be open to things you may have never thought would occur, and to how it can impact YOU!

When interacting with customers during this time, train your staff to open conversations with, “How can we help you get through this?” not, “Here’s what we’ve got.” In other words, lead with empathy not competence. Try to be part of the solution to their crisis.

3) Re-plan

You have your 2020 plans, but clearly COVID-19 requires forward thinking, new strategies and re-planning on many fronts.

Understanding what your customers will value in the post-COVID-19 business world and acting on it will ensure your survival and success and put you ahead of competitors. This cannot be over-emphasized. Knowing your current and future customers will sort the post-COVID-19 business winners from losers.

Remember that customers buy VALUE, and value comes from meeting their needs, which comes from understanding their needs, in their words and actions. Focus on providing Value, and Revenue and Profit will take care of itself.

Historical post-COVID-19 business impact

History provides validation that major changes will continue to occur. Look back at 9/11 or even the financial crisis of 2009.

The post 9/11 world brought us tighter airport security, the creation of the TSA and Homeland Security, and increased security at everything from sporting events and concerts to large office buildings in major cities. (At least for a while) Behaviors changed, industries were changed and created, and they will be again.

It is no question that COVID-19 will affect millions of people and businesses directly.  It will probably have a further reaching impact on businesses of all types than another other crisis in the past five decades.  Are you ready for it? 

Bottom line

Change creates opportunity. Business leaders who act now, communicate with customers and take a proactive approach to their changing markets will do much better than those who don’t.  Those who sit back and don’t adapt, will be sitting back while their competitors forge ahead.