Exactly how are you supposed to market during a pandemic? Luckily, Google launched a full playbook to provide a framework for a marketing strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The strategy is based on how Google ahs observed how businesses are adapting within the constantly-evolving environment.
Paths To Economic Recovery
Your business has likely seen a hit as a result of the pandemic. Don’t panic. Google has identified three paths you can take to recover from the economic disaster:
- Respond: Businesses that choose to RESPOND adapt to the fast-changing behavior based on demand. Solve the problems at hand so that you can rebuild.
- Rebuild: Businesses that choose to REBUILD have to use deeper insights and tools to figure out how to re-position themselves in the marketplace.
- Recover: Businesses that choose to RECOVER must reframe their business models in order to restart their operations.
The path you take is going to depend on the kind of hit you’ve experienced and how quickly you (and your industry) can bounce back.
Stages of a Marketing Strategy
When you’re ready to build a marketing strategy to navigate the pandemic, there are three stages to explore.
Stage 1: Use Consumer Insights
Consumer behavior has changed. How has it affected your industry?
Every industry has been affected by the pandemic, so it’s up to you to search for patterns and use data points to gain insight.
Stage 2: Assess the Pandemic’s Impact on Your Operations
How has the pandemic affected your operations specifically? Google has identified three search patterns – and you’re going to fall into one of them.
- Shock
- Step change
- Speed up
As you adjust your strategy, you may move from one search pattern to another. It may be slow for people to adapt but if you adapt quickly enough, you can fall into what people are searching for yet again.
Stage 3: Take Action
Launch your strategy! The longer you sit on your strategy, trying to figure out what you’re going to do now that the world is flipped upside down, the more time you’re allowing your competition to get in there and do it better for you.
Don’t worry, though. There are tools to help you along the way!
Tools for Exploring Consumer Insights
There are quite a few tools that you can use to gain customer insights, and these are the same tools that Google recommends. It can be just what you need to build a winning marketing strategy in the pandemic.
Check out the tools for yourself to see how they can be used within your operations. Even outside of the pandemic, these tools can be used to ensure you’re connecting effectively with your target audience.
How Google Has Handled the Pandemic
Google isn’t going to leave you high and dry to figure it out on your own. They’ve provided their own example of how to adapt to the pandemic using five principles that they build their personal marketing strategies on:
- Context and localization
- Be flexible and ready to reassess
- Consider artwork and other creatives, when appropriate
- Change priorities to deal with the new reality
- Contribute in a positive way to help people with the pandemic
Establishing Your Own Strategy
It’s important that you create your own marketing strategy to ensure you know how to make it through the pandemic and beyond. You can download Google’s Covid-19 Marketing Strategy Playbook here (PDF). Additionally, you can reach out to us and prediktiv to get more one-on-one assistance from our marketing strategists.
