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Three top tips for business success in the new normal

Homeยป News & Blog ยป Three top tips for business success in the new normal
Posted: 15/05/2020 Written by: Ali Straker

Lockdownย (and the difficult business of coming out of lockdown)ย is anything but normal. Weโ€™re all dealing with a huge upheaval to the way we live and workย and if we want our businesses to survive theย ongoingย challenges aheadย weย have toย adapt, and fast.

 

To get it right we are all going to have to look inwards at our business values and processes as well as working out how we getย theย bestย out ofย our offer to potential and existing customers.ย 

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1. Revisit your valuesย 

At times of uncertainty,ย reflect on theย mission, visionย and values of your business. These should actย as guiding principlesย for yourย decision-makingย and the way your teams work together. If youย areย notย operating in accordance withย your values, the connection with your customersย will notย be authentic and potentially not as valuable.ย 

 

Asย Marketing Week reminds us,ย companies will be called out in the mediaย when they fail to live their values and consumers will remember those who acted with integrity and those who did not.ย 

 

At Genesis, weย have been taking stock of what our valuesย โ€“ย Impact, Influence and Inspireย โ€“ย mean for the way we work now.ย We care about our community and support a pro bono (free) client every year.ย 

 

Last month weย offered to work with a local hospice whose income had nose-dived as supporters were unable toย take part inย their usual fundraising activitiesย while in lockdown.ย They told usย they needed to run an appealย andย we knewย we wanted to help them for free. Our digital fundraising campaign has helped to bring in almost ยฃ100,000 in the past month.ย ย 

 

four-people-making-hearts-with-hands

 

Working together on this project has been inspiring for our team, itย has had a real impact for our client, St Elizabeth Hospice in Ipswich, and it has really motivated us toย lead our clientsย through their own journeys to adapt to the challenges posed by lockdown and beyond.ย 

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2. Pivot ย 

If your current business model canโ€™t generate income during lockdown, consider aย pivot to aย newย approachย which will.ย 

 

We have all seen local pubs become take-aways, teachers become online-trainers and numerous companies reconfigure their production processes to make hand sanitiserย andย personal protection equipment.ย 

 

It can be scary to make a big decision which changes your business, but donโ€™t panicย becauseย evolving doesnโ€™t mean launchingย aย perfect solutionย on day one.ย You donโ€™t have to spend a lot of money to get something up and runningย to meet a customerย need.ย ย 

 

Customersย appear to beย pretty forgiving of the situationย โ€“ย Zendeskโ€™sย customer global satisfactionย scores have been stable across almost all industries since March. If you can go with a minimum viable product andย work on improvements over time, thatโ€™s fine.ย 

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3. Continueย marketingย 

It might seem counterintuitive, but thereย is evidence to suggest it is not a good idea to cut your marketing spend in an economic slump (seeย Peter Field, 2020ย alsoย McGraw-Hill, 1986ย andย Nairman K Dallah,ย 1992). Being visible when your competitors are not canย deliver a long-termย improvement onย your market share when the economy builds back up.ย ย 

 

Peter Fieldย recently revisited hisย research forย theย Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA)ย after the 2008 financial crashย in anย excellent article on LinkedIn. Heย found that brandsย which invested in Excess Share ofย Voice during a downturn โ€“ the difference between a brandโ€™s share of voice and share of market โ€“ย sawย increased market share and profitability in recovery and for many years after.ย ย 

 

Given market conditions, for some brands this just meant keeping their spending level, not increasing it but not decreasing it.ย The penalties for under investment in brand marketing were worse duringย theย recession than in normal market conditions.ย 

 

Consumers might not be venturing out much, but they still want products and services.ย Itโ€™s a good time to refocus your online activities and keep on topย ofย your analytics to understand what user behaviour is telling you.ย 

 

Many businesses find searchย adsย (Payย Perย Click)ย are hard to beat for their instant ability toย put you in front of customers at their point of need and, done well,ย their abilityย toย generate quality traffic to your websiteย quickly.ย 

 

Search adsย are:ย 

  • easy to budget forย 
  • quick to set upย 
  • offerย highly specificย location-targeting and,ย 
  • provideย great return on investment (ROI)ย 
  • easy to changeย 

 

The best way to get the right Search traffic in volume to your website is the combined effort of paid Search ads and Search Engine Optimisation for organic traffic.ย Organic searchย generatesย 53%ย of trackable web trafficย with the first page counting for 71% organic clicks.ย 

 

Working on your SEO now will prime your business forย economic recovery. It takes time to build up an effective SEO campaign and doing it nowย will put you on the front foot.ย 

 

At Genesis, weโ€™ve found web traffic has been robust for many of our clients as uncertain consumers are lookingย for answers,ย researching products and spending time on social media.ย The latestย multi-marketย data fromย GlobalWebIndexย also points to 40% of consumers declaring they will continue to buy online more once the Covid-19 outbreak diminishes.ย Now is the time to move digital optimisation to the top of your to-do list.ย 

 

Talk to usย 

Weโ€™re working with national and regional businesses and organisations to keep them at the forefront of their industries during the pandemic.ย If you feel inspired to get your ideas up and running,ย contactย us for a free consultationย onย hello@genesispr.co.ukย or call us onย 01473 326400.ย 

 

 

References:ย 

Valentine, Matthewย โ€˜Are brands living up to their purpose during the coronavirus crisis?โ€™ย Marketing Week, 2020.ย ย 

McGraw-Hill Research. Laboratory of Advertising Performance Report 5262 New York: McGraw-Hill, 1986.ย 

Dhalla, Nairman K.ย โ€˜Advertising as an antirecession toolโ€™ย Harvard Business Review, Jan.-Feb. 1980ย 

Field, Peter. Advertising in a Downturn, 2008. IPAย 

Field, Peter. Advertising in a Recessionย –ย Long, Short or Dark, 2020. LinkedInย 

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