MORE Pandemic Business Survival Tips
With the pandemic of 2020 continuing and the second round of PPP stimulus money virtually gone, business owners who want their businesses to survive will need to deploy every bit of resourceful thinking, good strategy & cost-effective marketing to keep going.
We at DeWinter Marketing & PR have been observing & logging some of the best & brightest strategies that businesses are using to stay afloat. We’ll share them below, and these savvy marketing strategies will help you generate revenue & live to do business another day.
Pandemic Business Survival Tips 1: Offer & market a REALLY great item, or series of items
Williams & Sonoma knocked it out of the park when they did a special marketing promo on Star Wars-themed kitchen items for Star Wars fans. Their Star Wars series of kitchen tools included Star Wars cookie cutter sets, Star Wars pancake flippers & more. What’s more, Williams Sonoma didn’t just offer a cool set of products for Star Wars fans and hope: “If we offer it, they will come.” Williams Sonoma implemented a series of super-affordable blast emails and did social media ads for these products to get the word out.
Pandemic Business Survival Tips 2: Organize an online event that benefits a worthy non-profit
Two thumbs up is awarded to the Regal Theater Chain group for scheduling a live streaming of La La Land – a wonderful “feel-good” movie designed to life people’s spirits. Regal cinemas scheduled & announced a free live-stream of La La Land, and then asked folks to donate whatever they could to help a worthy non-profit. Regal already has the technology to offer a live-stream, and this event was pulled off probably without a lot of cost to it. Regal got two positive hits for their business with this strategy: 1) They reminded people of Regal, and the experience of going to the movies, and 2) They provided a free product to help lift people’s spirits and got another dose of goodwill by organizing donations to benefit a non-profit. Regal announced this online event to benefit a non-profit using super-affordable email marketing. (Are you seeing a theme here about which affordable marketing strategy should be deployed by every business working to survive? Hint: Email Marketing.)
Pandemic Business Survival Tips 3: Entertain people with something to keep them occupied while on lockdown
Bloomberg Philanthropies does not need money. But they still wanted to help the country navigate this pandemic. So, they organized a series of virtual road trips that allows people to take tours, see art in art museums they may never be able to visit, listen to an opera, take a virtual dance class from another city, and more. Their first offering of this type includes a 12-city, two-part journey to learn more about other cities and parts of the country. Not only does this provide people with a welcome diversion from the monotony of shelter-in-place orders, but it broadens people’s horizons in terms of arts and culture, and allows them to learn something new. This “online road trip” organized by Bloomberg Philanthropies literally helps build bridges to other cultures, builds greater understanding of the world at large, and provides a sense of binding the country together, in all its diversity. What was the strategy that Bloomberg Philanthropies used to promote this virtual road trip of America? If you said Email Marketing, you guessed right.
Pandemic Business Survival Tips 4: Stress Your “Made in the USA” Message
A US-based company that specializes in marching band uniforms is in danger of going out of business from the pandemic. At this point in time, no one needs or wants band uniforms. Luckily, the plucky company re-tooled their U.S. factory to make masks. They are now manufacturing masks, and marketing them under the name: Masks Made Here. They are offering a product that is needed NOW. They also are offering a product that saves jobs here in the United States. They have named this promotion to indicate and stress that their masks are made in the United States. Masks Made Here is using simple, to-the-point Facebook ads, and they’ve got compelling message: “Help Us Save Our Factory.” Way to go, MasksMadeHere.com
Pandemic Business Survival Tips 5: Use Email Marketing
As you can see from the business strategies I’ve highlighted above, email marketing is one of the best ways to engage with customers & prospects. An email marketing service like Constant Contact is affordable ($20 per month), visually appealing, and easy to learn and deploy. EVERY business on this planet should be using email marketing to market select products or services and/or provide useful information to customers & prospects.
We at DeWinter Marketing have sampled pretty much every email marketing platform. We chose Constant Contact for many reasons:
- It’s easy to learn and use
- It has the most comprehensive library of email marketing design templates
- It has multiple levels of functions ranging from basic email marketing to surveys & event signup
- Even better, Constant Contact has the best US-based tech support in the business.
If you need help starting or jump-starting email marketing, DeWinter Marketing will help you get signed up for Constant Contact, arrange for you to pay for your own account, and then we’ll create a simple email template with your logo to help you get started marketing to customers & prospects. (FREE OF CHARGE, through June 30, 2020)
Need help with marketing or PR strategy, or setting up an affordable Email Marketing Program? Contact DeWinter Marketing & PR – Denver to boost your brand & generate leads.
