If you work in a B2B sales or marketing role you will be familiar with the part that events play in your marketing mix. But with the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID19) and government precautions we have seen an increase in event cancellations and/or postponements.
All of the marketing/sales event plans we prepared for the new financial year are now at risk of being put back to the drawing board (or flushed down the toilet). We know that our clients rely on major events (OTC, OTC Asia, NACE etc.) to launch new products, generate new business opportunities and network with suppliers. So what are the options if you experience failure to launch?
Soft launch
Depending on your goal you may consider a soft launch. A soft launch is all about gradual growth, meaning you can release your product ahead of a scheduled hard launch date with your marketing activity scaled back.
A soft launch helps you test your messaging; product fit and gathers customer feedback without the costs involved of a full-blown marketing launch. Instead, you can invest smaller sums over time as you start to build momentum.
Put things on the back burner
If it feels like your customers are shutting down it might be worth putting your plans on the back burner. Sometimes the best option for a brand or product launch is an exhibition so why settle for plan B?
Postponing your plans is not necessarily a bad thing. You can save the investment you had planned for a future initiative and put your focus on learning and development until things return to equilibrium.
Go digital
As the world goes into self quarantine we have seen an increase in the amount invested in digital marketing. Both the Adobe Summit and Google Cloud Next’s organisers have opted to move their relative summits online to reduce the risks of travel. Increased connectivity and technological advancements have made this possible allowing for greater levels of continuity and minimise the risk of disappointing customers.
As your target audience goes into self-isolation and begin to work from home digital marketing quickly becomes one of the most effective methods to engage with your customers. The budget that you had allocated to event material can now be used for micro-targeting and your print material can be transformed into digital ads.
So what to do?
“Why do we fall? So that we can learn to pick ourselves back up.”- That's a quote from Alfred Pennyworth. Humans learn through experience. Someone had to learn the hard way that chilli peppers are hot, ice is slippery and stubbing your toe on the door hurts…
What matters the most is what we learn from these experiences, how we adapt and what we do to prepare for the future. Some people spend their whole lives listening to the same song and can never understand why they whistle the same tune. Learning to take a different approach may lead to a better result.
So if you want to discuss alternative options to support your marketing during uncertainty get in touch.
