Marketing During a Crisis

Stuff is going to happen right? Crisis comes to everyone. From things we saw coming to things we didn’t. It’s probably never going to be easy to get through it. But, it’s good to be prepared as much as you can so the impact is as minor as possible. 

It’s also important to understand what you should continue to do with your home service businesses and what you can put on the back burner until the crisis has passed.

The one thing I like to talk about most is marketing and how that should continue and stay on the forefront of your business actions. One of the top things you should continue to do for your business during any sort of crisis is marketing. Getting noticed and gaining brand awareness should never go quiet for your business during a town period. Yours or the worlds. From illness like COVID-19 (coronavirus 2020), to economic recessions, to issues in your own family. Staying in front of people's eyes is always a good idea.

Why? Why can’t you pull back on your marketing? You feel like it’s something you should only be investing in when things are fantastic, doesn’t it? But, the time to produce content and deliver marketing to the world is important at both times. It’s always a good idea to get more eyeballs on your business, what you offer, and how you can make people’s lives better! If you go into hiding, you will probably see less business come your way, fall behind, and trying to gain momentum later will only be harder. That’s not good during good times or bad. So remember to continue your marketing efforts.

Marketing Crisis Questions

If you are on the pro marketing bandwagon, you probably want to know what kinds of marketing you should be doing. Is a crisis a time for different marketing. If you have a strategy in place, should I continue that plan or change it up a bit. Should I market more often? What should I be doing for my marketing?

These are all awesome crisis related questions. They are good questions to ask about your marketing strategy in general. But, let's tackle the first one:

What Should I Be Doing for My Business Marketing
During A Crisis

1. First of all, REFLECT on what you are currently doing for your business marketing wise, understand that if you aren’t already being consistent with your marketing and continuing on a regular basis, you are probably falling behind. So, first should be to analyze what you are already doing time wise and make sure to stick to it. Keep the groove you have going, the fans you have acquired and the momentum you have already.  ​

​2. Second of all, REVIEW what you are already doing. Are you blogging, posting on social media and creating video content. Then continue to do so. Are you advertising? Maybe you want to pull back a little on this for now. When the environment starts to turn back around you can be ready to advertise. People might not be ready to pull the trigger on a large project or activity right now, but when things get back to normal, having stayed in front of them organically can go a long way when you start to advertise again.

3. Thirdly, ANALYZE past work. Now is a great time to review past content and marketing you have used already. If it’s evergreen and still valid then you can reuse and repurpose this again in order to create more content to share. Were some of your past marketing pieces a little sloppy? Now is a great time to clean them up, maybe change them to meet with the times, and republish or post again in a different way.

4. Fourthly, CONSIDER adding new types of content you haven’t explored before. Bring in new eyes - maybe from a different platform? Or just start creating content to spice up a stale strategy that you've been working for quite awhile. Maybe learn a new process or skill to carry out this type of content. While everyone else is in a nervous panic, you are ready to come out on top with your new ideas, new content and probably new business, ready to go!

Ideas to Consider for Your Marketing
1. Video Instruction or Webinars
2. Starting or expanding your Newsletter or Email Marketing
3. Plan a contest Or Hold a content - it would make a great distraction
4. Create helpful Infographics, Ebooks, or other Free Resources
5. If you have time, start on a new social media platform.
6. Still not blogging? This is a fantastic time to start.
7. Planning! Making a plan for the next month is a great way to move forward.
8. Drone Videos

5. Fifthly, start asking past clients for TESTIMONIALS and reviews. This is a fantastic place to address in your business marketing during a bit of a down turn or crisis where people are home and have more time on their hands. Reach out to past customers - they will probably have a little time now to complete the reviews you asked for in the past.

Make the review process easy for them:
“Thank you so much for your business this past year, we hope you are happy with the work and we would love to hear about it and share it with others! Would you please take a moment to share your experience with us?” 

You can email them, call them, send a request in your next newsletter. If possible, offer a small gift, credit or discount for taking part.

To make it simple for them to respond ask them questions to respond to:

• Why did you choose us to take care of your plumbing work?
• Were you happy with the painting work?
• Would you call us again to take care of your fencing needs?
• Would you recommend us to your friends and family when they need landscaping work?
• Anything else you’d like to add:
  
  

If you have a Google My Business (Below) ask them to leave the review there. Or you can include a link to other sites you are using as well: Yelp, Facebook, Angie’s List. (These reviews make great content for your marketing as well!)

Get Back To Marketing

This is a great list to keep you on track with your home service business marketing. You might have picked up during this period or you might have slowed down. Either way, now is not the time to stop marketing or building your brand awareness. Now is the time to focus, continue to be consistent and come out on top!

I hope you are all well and are facing this crisis with a calm and continuously healthy manner. Most of us will all get past this. Sticking with your marketing is one way to fight and carry on so it’s easier when the worst passes.

If you ever have any questions about this, please, reach out and we can chat!

​Have any other idea? Leave them in the comments! 

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Be Well! 💜