How to pivot your business in the current economic environment

There are no experts in getting through the impact of a virus that has spread at a phenomenal pace and the decisions that have been made on our behalf by Governments. Everyone is just trying their best, and if you are in the public spotlight, that clearly isn't enough because while your intentions may be good and you are working from advice given, everyone out there is an expert and they will pull you down at every possible corner - via the internet.

It's fairly depressing stuff.

But I am ever the optimist. When this happened, I thought at first it would go away. It didn't. So, I had to deal with it. First step was to see how clients were fairing. That was easy to work out with a number of them asking to pause their retainers. My next step...reduce costs. I've done a level one makeover of the business to reduce costs without putting any employees off. 

My next strategy is this:

• What do companies need most when their worlds are crumbling down? The 5 'S's'
  • Stability: They need to get their business into a stable environment where they can do the sums and make sure they can survive the future.
  • Strategy: Whatever business plan you had in place in 2019 needs to be thrown in the bin. It isn't relevant to the business environment in which we are operating in today.
  • Sensibility: Being calm and not erratic might be easier said than done, but it's necessary. Take a sensible approach to how you go forward.
  • Strength: You may be the owner or business leader and that makes you responsible, so draw strength from places you never knew existed. But your strength alone won't help your business survive. Your team needs to step up and be counted. Their strength, ideas and perserverence is needed more so than ever. Call on it.
  • Sustainability: Building out a sustainable business model based on the current economic platform in which you are operating.
• What your busines strategy should cover:
  • Think outside the square: If what you are selling right now doesn't fit the market, change it. Use the skills you have to re-create a business that people need in the current environment. 
  • Financial survival: Your business needs to survive, so cut costs everywhere. If you have to lay-off some staff, encourage them to come back to you with ideas on how you can keep them. You don't know all the answers but what you do know is the cost to run your business and what survival looks like.
  • Marketing: You might have to let go of your marketing team because their salaries are costing you a fortune, but you still need marketing. There are plenty of outsourced marketing agencies in the market who can fill the gap and keep your brand out there. Marketing Eye's starts at $3,000 per month and that is inclusive of everything from marketing to public relations, web and digital.
  • Overheads: ONegotiate down your rents and any fixed overheads. Cash is king and you need to keep some in your back pocket.
• How do you market going forward?
  • Differently: Use Robotic Marketer to identify the best way to market your business going forward based on data, not gut instinct. Right now isn't the time to throw money up against the wall with the hope that it sticks. Identify your target audience and drive marketing efforts in their direction.
  • Digital not traditional: All the traditional methods in the world won't help you because the whole world is sitting at home in front of their computers living life online. If you want to connect with your customers - that's where they will be.
  • Multi-touch: One platform isn't enough. People need to see your brand and your value proposition many times before they take action. 
  • Data-driven marketing: Use data to determine how your customers are responding to marketing efforts. It's very important to communicate with your customers and prospects the way they want to be communicated with.
  • Technology: Firstly, unsubscribe to any technologies you are not using. Then work out the best martech stack that suits your needs. It's important to not only choose the right stack, but to use it as well. Investing in marketing technologies right now is a no-brainer.
• Team-spirit is everything.
  • Encourage your team to take ownership of their roles in the company and your brand.
  • Keep them motivated by playing games or giving them incentives.
  • Be transparent. There is nothing worse about losing your job when you didn't see it coming.
  • Re-skill: Ensure that your reskill employees so that they wear many hats especially if you have had to let a few people go.
  • Accountability: They say micro-management is at an all-time high and I know why. The stakes are high and working from home is so hard. It's easy to get distracted or to think it is like a holiday. 
  • Daily meetings: Have daily meetings with your team and ask them to participate. Bring something to the table.

For us, pivoting right now is all about focus. We have a game-changing technology in Robotic Marketer. If companies have the right marketing strategy going forward, and spend their time, resources and money in the right direction, they will succeed. Fortunately, they know that too. Gut-instinct and the experience of one marketer is not enough to have a worthwhile marketing strategy in place.

People are downsizing their marketing teams but know they need marketing. Marketing Eye's outsourced marketing team model is ideal for companies that have smaller budgets like $3,000 per month and we have made it flexible so they can opt out at anytime during the next 6 months.