Marketing Opportunities in the Midst of COVID-19 #CollaborationOverCompetition #WeAreInThisTogether
My focus of this post will be on retail D2C (Direct-To-Consumer) opportunities, both in the B2B (Business-to-Business) and B2C (Business-to-Consumer) marketplaces. Maybe some of the ideas could apply to other sectors. Please take what you want and leave the rest! Unfortunately, there isn't much time to take advantage of the ideas presented below.
My gut tells me that Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and perhaps Graduation for DTC could be SIGNIFICANT opportunities for many of you. While these events are often viewed as cliché "Hallmark Holidays," we are all yearning for “normalcy” and some reason, no matter how small to celebrate. Traditions help us cope with uncertain times. While the true heroes are our medical first responders, parents, especially Mothers, are our "Home Heroes." They are working, consoling, and risking themselves as they shop for necessities to protect their families. They remind us 500 times a day to wash our hands! Our soon to be graduates are looking at the possibility of diminished celebrations as they pass this significant milestone. Unlike Easter, which is usually a very outward and social occasion that will be less celebratory given the circumstances, these events can be celebrated at home with the assistance of e-commerce.
Many traditional “gifting” DTC retailers planned their inventory for these events long ago. It's possible that the supply from these existing providers may not meet the potential demand, hence the opportunity. Assuming you can take orders from the web or phone and that you will have the ability to fulfill orders and still have a budget, consider these possibilities.
1. If you are a B2C retailer and don’t consider yourself in the “gifting” category or have not marketed yourself during Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or Graduation in the DTC space, consider leveraging this opportunity. If you are already in this space, it might be time to "heavy-up.”
2. If you are a B2B retailer, see #1. You might have products that can be "re-purposed" and marketable in the B2C space.
3. If you are a B2B retailer, you have an opportunity to market B2B in this crisis as you could promote companies recognizing their employees working from home. More specifically, as it relates to Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, those employees that are working from home AND are also parents dealing with juggling their kids and their jobs in real-time.
Now, if my gut is right and you all take advantage of these opportunities, there could be some potential blowback in terms of cost of PPC as it relates to “timely” keywords usually deployed around these occasions. I'd also be as considerate as possible when implementing email campaigns or potentially considering outbound telemarketing. Bear in mind, that many of your customers and prospects that are still employed are likely working from home and navigating the already overwhelming task of doing work, while possibly raising children. For those who usually don’t work from home, this can be quite a challenge. Given the circumstances, I would recommend that you keep your marketing “powder” dry and leverage the opportunity to speak to your customers regarding the events two weeks before your last day to ship to arrive for these events.
Rehash: How Can We Promote #Collaboration over Competition and Help Each Other?
Many of us have skills and resources that others do not. If you are not an expert in D2C marketing, looking for a second opinion, or would like to explore potential opportunities in detail, of course, I'd love to hear from you. But the "pie," the "opportunity" is much larger than that. If your business is still in operation and has some budget but lacks staffing for a particular need, there is a whole community of "gig" creatives, agencies, and other marketing professionals that can quickly pivot their experience to assist. In addition, many other supporting businesses have the capacity and would love to take on any additional work.
As #Collaboration over Competition relates to DTC marketing, I have a few more ideas to throw your way as it pertains to today's post, and I will attempt to provide those to you in just a bit. Let's continue to support each other, stay positive, share ideas, and be #Ameri-CAN.
Please be safe and well. Reach out to me if you need some help. No strings attached!
Chas
415-827-3046
http://linkedin.com/in/chas-akers
#CollaborationOverCompetition #MothersDayD2CMarketing #FathersDayD2CMarketing #GradsD2CMarketing #WeAreInThisTogether