"Consumer habits have changed dramatically,” says E.J. Powers, a partner at Montagne Powers, a strategic communications firm in Manchester. He cites a McKinsey & Company survey that claims 92% of customers who tried online shopping during the pandemic became converts. “I never bought groceries online before, and now I wonder why?” he says.
With so many eyes online and so many businesses vying for attention, companies have had to upgrade their online advertising. “It’s become a digital arms race. It can get very expensive and short lived for clients who hadn’t budgeted for that,” Powers says.
Jeff Eisenberg, president and CEO of EVR Advertising in Manchester, agrees the shift to online advertising accelerated during the pandemic. “That digital front door has never been more important.... Well over 80% of consumption starts online.”
This presents both opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, more consumers are shopping online. On the other hand, getting online shoppers to purchase your products means having the right messages on the right social media channels.
Many businesses need to reexamine their marketing strategies. “We have to understand the changes in the market as they are happening and how to reach people who are at home and not at work and be more creative in targeting these individuals,” says Linda Fanaras, president of Millennium Marketing in Manchester.
Investing in Web Sites
The pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital marketing by many small- and medium-sized businesses that had been draging their feet, says Stephanie McLaughlin, principal of Savoir Faire Marketing/Communications in Manchester.
“It’s a big investment and a big change in how you do business and a big learning curve,” she says, adding that avoiding online advertising is not an option.
McLaughlin’s top recommendation for businesses is to create a Google My Business profile, which is Google’s free directory tool. It is that box with information about a particular business that pops up on the right-hand side of the screen after a web search. She says once a business has claimed its Google My Business listing, it should complete the profile as robustly as possible as that always gets prioritized in search results.
For businesses that scrambled to set up a digital footprint in the past two years, it is probably time to optimize those digital tools and strategies, McLaughlin says. Fanaras recommends refreshing a website every few years. She adds, “Google is always changing its algorithms. It’s important to stay on top of that and adjust the website to it.”
For businesses that depend on e-commerce, it is essential that product shots are professional and interactive so shoppers can zoom in or even rotate the item and be able to see details, McLaughlin says. “Consumers cannot touch it and feel the quality and heft of it. Your presentation of those items online has to really step up several levels to make sure the consumer feels comfortable making a purchase from you,” she says.
Most consumers have high expectations about what their online experiences should be. For example, Altos, a digital marketing agency in Bedford, has a new client whose website was not mobile friendly. “People are looking online for doctors,” says Kathy Sevigny, CEO of Altos, adding that means information must be accessible with as few clicks as possible.
Sevigny says companies keep adding information to their sites, which can mean key information gets buried. “You need to have your house in order,” she says. “If savvy visitors are not impressed by what they see, they are going to leave.”
Know Your Audience
Companies must also be authentic and that means two things: knowing your audience and being transparent about what the company stands for.
“Great marketing is built on a deep understanding of your consumer—understanding how they are feeling, behaving and believing,” says Pam Hamlin, president of GYK Antler, a creative agency with offices in Manchester. “When you look at the advertising there was [in 2020], the message was we are all in this together and we will prevail. In year two, people were getting weary of those messages. People wanted to put the pandemic into context. There were encouraging signs with vaccines. Now it’s educating the population about how to live in this environment and how to move forward instead of being hunkered down.”
Social media is a valuable way to take your customers’ pulse, says Eisenberg of EVR. “Businesses need to listen and read.”
Messaging needs to be more about what the company can do for the customer—the pain points it can solve, Sevigny says. “The messaging needs to be much more refined about the benefit or value than it is about what you do.”
She defines authenticity as offering consumers a “non-sales” approach. “It’s about creating meaningful content and not just content stuffed with key words,” she says.
Sevigny is quick to add to that, “Content is king, but distribution is really the queen,” explaining businesses need to be sure their content appears in the right places.
Of course, having the right message in the right place doesn’t mean much if algorithms are not sharing that message widely. “One of the things you can do to improve that percentage is to engage with your followers on social channels. If someone comments, comment back,” McLaughlin says. When social media algorithms see engagement, that signals that your audience wants to see your posts, she says.
And don’t discount email, McLaughlin says, which is far more likely to get to your intended audience. But businesses need to be strategic as to how emails are crafted and when they are sent. “Look at analytics and see when readers open their email, what kind of links they click,” McLaughlin says.
Own Your Data
Marketing in 2022 should integrate analytics, manage customer relationships and advertise so it’s seamless for a businesses’ target audience, Fanaras says. And businesses must recognize that those people handling their social media are integral to a company’s success, Eisenberg says.
Adaptability
Eisenberg says it is also important for businesses to adapt messaging on the fly. “Things change quickly. You have to be agile with messaging and channels,” he says.
For example, QR codes “got a new life and new direction” during the pandemic at restaurants and retailers, McLaughlin says.
Immediate Responses
Powers says people expect instant gratification, and the pandemic enhanced that expectation through streaming entertainment to next-day shipping to chat rooms on websites. “The public has a lack of patience,” he says.
Businesses must also be careful how they respond to customers, especially in an era of online reviews. “The whole advent of online reviews has challenged business owners and communication professionals as to how to reply, whether to reply, and what is the best thing to say or do,” Powers says. “I’ve seen Yelp reviews that can completely shatter a business.”
In fact, more restaurant owners are speaking out against unfair online reviews. “Restaurant owners are not standing for the lack of incivility that has manifested itself throughout this pandemic,” Powers says.
“It is important to set the record straight,” Powers says. “As a business owner, you have to protect the integrity of your business. You need to know what people are saying about you across all channels.” That means setting up Google alerts as a no cost and easy way to keep track of comments. “You don’t want to let a crisis fester,” he says.
Get Creative
The brands that are doing well are those that creatively engage customers, Powers says. “You may not have an unlimited [marketing] budget but you can be unlimited in how creative you can be.”
Powers points to two Manchester restaurants that not only offered curbside service during the early days of the pandemic, but also added pop-up butcher shops where customers could buy prime cuts of meat.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Manchester restaurant The Crown shifted to offering curbside service for their customers. (Courtesy of EJ Powers)
Another example Powers points to is Fortitude, a fitness center in downtown Manchester. “They had a spin studio they couldn’t use, so they rented out bikes so folks could work out at home via Zoom. It was a way to keep people healthy and sane and also keep money coming through the door,” he says.
An online fitness class offered by Fortitude. (Courtesy of EJ Powers)
Sevigny says companies can also engage their audience with video and podcasts. “Do not be afraid of video,” she says, adding it is an expectation people have as part of their online experience. “We’re seeing real estate agents walking around a home with a phone talking about the home. That’s engaging,” Sevigny says. “That individual may not have been on video before but it’s her realness and passion for the home that she is showing that is great content.”
Sevigny notes if a company is going to launch a podcast, it needs to take the time to properly develop it and ensure it delivers intriguing content as there are millions of podcasts and listeners have high expectations. “Use the podcast for what it is intended—for problem solving or highlighting things that are exceptional,” she says. But she adds a warning. Don’t sell. Let the podcast “grow relationships organically that then lead to sales.”
Mike Emerton, managing partner of BVM (BridgeView Marketing) in Portsmouth, says podcasts are a popular marketing tool. “Within podcasts you should not find sales pitches. People are looking for tangible takeaways that are informative and help them in some manner,” he says.
Current Issue - April 2024