Make Multiple Marketing Plans for Reopenning
After months of coronavirus lockdown, most of America is reopening, at least partially. Many businesses are reopening or plan to very soon. For those who are starting back up, there is a certain euphoria built into it. Regardless of what restrictions they may have, they are all eager to get back to business. And a little nervous about it, too.
Will the people come back?
That’s the big question that has business owners nervous. Many are looking to their marketing and communications teams to help assure everyone that it’s okay to resume business again. The question for marketers is what plan should you use to start the revenue flow again?
The answer may not be one, but multiple marketing plans. Nobody knows what is going to happen. Will we ease back in slowly gaining ground? Will a second wave hit us and shut us back down quickly? Will everything work out well, relatively speaking? Or will we be fine, only to get hit again when flu season starts in the fall? You need to put together a marketing plan for each scenario.
Jump starting your business
First things first, you need a short term plan to jump start business. If you’re a store or service provider, how do you make people comfortable coming in to buy your goods or service? What assurances can you give that you’ve taken every precaution to make them safe? What incentives can you give to motivate them beyond fear and into your establishment. How can you help those who are struggling to pay right now? And don’t forget your internal communications. You need to make your employees feel safe and good about returning to work.
If you’re a manufacturer, it’s more about assuring your customers that you’ll be able to keep the product they depend on flowing. That you have a plan to keep the plant running safely and deliveries on time. For organizations, you need to factor in ways to meet the needs of your members. Each industry will have it’s own set of issues to address and overcome. All these things need to be taken into account when developing your short term strategy and plan.
Preparing for the good, bad and the ugly
For long term planning, you really have to outline all the possible scenarios and develop a plan for each. Pull your team together and outline what happens if things continue to get better. How do you build off your short term strategy and keep momentum driving if things continue to be relatively good? Develop one plan around this possibility.
Then start over and outline what happens if things remain good through the summer and early fall, but turn bad again when the next flu season hits in the fall. Look at different levels of this – from adding in more restrictions to being shut down again leading into the Christmas season. What should you prepare to deal with this scenario?
Then, look at what happens if things get ugly again quickly. What if reopening backfires and we’re faced with more lockdowns in the next month or so? How does that change your marketing plan? How can you best mitigate the fallout later by what you do now?
I know I’ve asked more questions than I’ve provided answers. But, it is the reality we need to face. By preparing multiple plans now, we will be better able to weather the next storm, whether it’s intermitten showers of a full raging hurricane.
Mike McClure, planning ahead
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