Why Marketing is Important in the New Normal COVID-19 Era

It came seemingly out of nowhere. COVID-19 emerged and turned our world upside down in a matter of weeks. Some businesses transitioned their companies into remote work; some temporarily shut down their doors, and some continue operating as usual. Regardless of which group your business belongs to, there is one question on every business owner’s and marketer’s mind: how do you market your business in this new, normal COVID-19 era? And, is it even ethical to market your business while so many people are impacted by the current situation? If you’ve been wondering the same thing, you’re in the right place. In this post, we’ll share the reasons why marketing still matters in the new normal COVID-19 era. 

Seven Reasons Why Marketing is Important in the COVID-19 Era

Marketing is the lifeblood of every business. It gives you an opportunity to communicate with your customers and advertise to them as well as tap into new markets and expand the reach of both your services and products. 

While it might feel “wrong” to promote your business, services, and products while millions of people are impacted by a health crisis, marketing is still important, even in the COVID-19 era. Here are seven reasons why. 

1. Marketing Keeps You Top Of Mind

The most important reason why marketing still matters is the fact that it keeps you top of mind with your existing clients and customers. This applies to any business industry. 

Now, it’s true that some of the industries like, travel and restaurants, have been hit the hardest by this crisis. However, just because you aren’t getting any business now that doesn’t mean you should stop your marketing activities. 

While there is no clear cut answer when things will go back to normal, you can still show up consistently on places like social media and your newsletter and interact with your existing customers. This keeps you top of mind with them and once we have the all-clear on travel or going out to dinner, they will be more likely to return and do business with you than with someone else. 

2. You Can Meet People Where They Are At Right Now

One of the golden rules of marketing is that you have to meet your customers where they are at. Right now, with many people working from home and following the rules of physical distancing, your existing and potential customers and clients are online.

Research shows that social media is one of the top sources where people go for information. This gives you the perfect opportunity to connect with them and engage in conversation. You can use this opportunity to provide your customers with useful resources and take them behind the scenes of your business. 

For example, you could share useful tools for remote work, tips on staying productive while working at home, or ask your customers to help you improve your offerings by taking a short survey. 

3. It Costs Less To Retain A Customer Than To Gain A New One

As a direct result of staying top of mind and being where your customers are, you’ll be able to retain your existing customers. 

Data doesn’t lie: it costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. The same infographic shows that more than 40% of all companies focus on acquiring new customers than on customer retention. 

Imagine the advantage you’ll have over your competition if you focus on customer retention and nurture your existing customers during these trying times.

4. It Gives You An Opportunity To Innovate

It’s no secret that some of the big brands made it big in times of recession. A great example of innovating during a recession is Groupon. They saw a need in the market full of people looking for ways to cut their expenses and save money. 

Their solution? They would email you a deal a day, offering significant savings on non-essential items like museum tickets, 50% off in select restaurants, and more.

Thanks to this unique business model and despite the recession, their business thrived and they even expanded to 35 other countries. 

Marketing in a new normal, the COVID-19 era, is the perfect opportunity to innovate and come up with new products and services so you can come out on top. 

5. You Can Fill The Gap

There’s a lot of uncertainty around us right now. As a result, many businesses are scaling down their marketing efforts. 

This provides you with an ample opportunity to take advantage of the gap in the market and position yourself as the perfect solution. 

If you want an example, look no further than Netflix. They saw a huge boom during the 2008 recession. In an era where customers all over the USA were cutting their cable bills, Netflix emerged as a cheaper alternative. By the end of 2009, their stock went up by 57%. 

Look at the entertainment landscape today and you’ll notice that many TV networks are coming out with their own streaming services, influenced by and modeled after Netflix itself. 

6. Marketing Allows You To Build Relationships

Relationships are at the core of every great marketing strategy, regardless of your business niche. Every customer and client wants to feel valued and respected and not be perceived as a dollar sign. The best way to make them feel valued is to establish and nurture a relationship with them. 

In times like these, your customers are most likely scared, anxious, frustrated, and vulnerable. This is the perfect opportunity for your company to step up and help. 

Take cues from companies like Loom. Loom lets you record quick videos right from your browser and share them with others. This is perfect for quick instructional or explainer videos. The company decided to offer its Loom Pro plan for free to students and teachers to facilitate remote learning. 

In addition to that, they removed recording limits on their free plan and cut their Pro plan prices by 50% for businesses. 

A popular yoga and fitness app, Down Dog made all their apps free for students and teachers until July 1. 

Google took similar strides and made Hangouts Meet available to all GSuite customers for free all the way through June. 

All of these examples show us how to position yourself as a company that cares and focuses on building relationships with their customers.

7. Marketing Now Builds Foundation For Future

The current situation might be bleak and uncertain. But once this is over, business will go back to normal. It might take a while to get back where we once were before the coronavirus pandemic started but this too shall pass. 

Once it does, consumers will remember businesses that continually showed up and stepped up. Not the ones that scaled back and disappeared into silence. 

By marketing now, you’re setting the foundation for your future growth, even if it will take a while to see the results.

Look To The Future

Even in these uncertain times, marketing still matters. It sets the foundation for future growth, gives you an opportunity to nurture relationships, and innovate. Focus on retention-building strategies so you can reap the benefits when things go back to normal.

Like our blog? Subscribe to our newsletter.

Over 4000 marketers love it. Receive information on best marketing practices, exclusive offers, and ways to boost efficiency, quality, and productivity.