Which Marketing Strategy to Adapt in Times of Crisis

In times of crisis, companies must rethink their strategy in order to be able to keep their heads out of the water and continue their growth against the backdrop of budget cuts and hiring freezes. They have activated some marketing levers. Which marketing strategy to adopt in times of crisis? Our advice.

With the crisis and its consequences in terms of lower operating budgets, lower investment levels, and even freezing job creation, companies have had to find new ways to approach their marketing. More efficient marketing strategies in terms of profitability have been successfully activated, and they focus on three key levers: inbound marketing, customer loyalty and refocusing on their core business.

FOCUS ON INBOUND MARKETING

The inbound marketing is in this totally adapted to such a situation that the discipline generates a high ROI for a controlled investment. So for example, the cost of acquiring a lead for a company that practices it is 60% lower than through traditional marketing techniques.

The other strong point of the inbound lies in the vector it borrows the web (blogs, sites, social networks …). It is a much cheaper vector for companies than mass media, offering an adapted response to the challenge of cost control research.

Also, by offering useful, informative and engaging content, inbound marketing is a particularly relevant strategy in times of crisis. Because by developing such content, consumers and leads can get to the point in their purchase thinking by holding information tailored to their profile, which fits perfectly with their expectations and especially their needs. Content with high added value for the consumer and which does not require significant investment and expense for brands.

IMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND LOYALTY

The companies that are most successful in a crisis situation are those that are able to implement successful loyalty campaigns, customer retention campaigns. According to this approach, being able to offer the best possible consumer experience is a winning technique. Because it is still very costly to retain a customer rather than to acquire a new one, and it requires at the same time fewer resources (human, commercial and financial) than that necessary to obtain new contracts.

Digital is a well-known playground for accomplishing this by accompanying the customer on all points of contact, offering a rich multichannel experience, developing customized services and offers, or by providing customer support The keystone of the consumer relationship.

MAXIMIZE THE “PERCEIVED VALUE” AND REFOCUS ON ITS CORE BUSINESS

Brands from a wide range of industries have a vested interest in refocusing on their core business, capitalizing on their strengths, competitive advantages and points of difference with their competitors.

This doubles the challenge of a crisis: to contain budgets to a reasonable extent compared to the introduction of new products and to position themselves as experts in relation to consumers.

The content marketing is in this respect a particularly suitable technique for the brand may contact its customers and its base of contacts by just focusing on the strengths of its offer on its business specialization. And the creation of content such as articles, videos, newsletters, book-white remains a particularly accessible discipline in terms of budget.

Marketing strategies in times of crisis therefore exist and also prove to be effective and reasonable in terms of investment. In this context, inbound marketing, content marketing, and digital publishing appear to be the most relevant.