You Don't Have to Own a Taxi to Drive in Traffic 🚖
You Don't Have to Own a Taxi to Drive in Traffic 🚖
Unfold Weekly Presents Marketing for marketers and non-marketers alike...
Future of Marketing
How can you increase your pipeline and close deals without an in-person handshake 🧐? This week we dive deeper into an area that is often synonymous with sales, Marketing 🎉. Just like the aspiring musicians on Venice Beach transitioned to Soundcloud from handing out physical CDs 💿, marketing organizations had to quickly adapt in our COVID environment (please do not leave flyers on my car outside of the grocery store). While we may have a clever and creative approach to newsletter writing, there are better marketing guides during these uncharted times:
With so many changes to the marketing process, it may be easier to discuss what hasn’t changed - the customer. Marketers main focus should still be on the customers’ needs, experience, and changing behaviors.
SaaS Weekly
Was the 2020 Super Bowl the last big opportunity to reach a large consumer market? For those unable to dish out $5 million for a 30 second ad, there are countless software tools to meet your marketing needs. Need a newsletter? We can probably help… as everyone with access to a computer has started one since COVID 🤭. However, there are more sophisticated ways to improve how you reach new customers.
For end-to-end marketing tools:
HubSpot - inbound marketing, sales and CRM suite - again, we promote HubSpot for many area, but it truly is a one stop shop for your small business needs
SharpSpring - fully integrated cloud-based marketing including automation, CRM, customer service, and more
For marketing email campaigns:
Mailchimp - all-in-one integrated platform for small businesses...and listeners of the Serial podcast
Delivra - simple cloud-based platform to manage automated email marketing campaigns
Drip - email marketing solution for personalized experience
For spiffy web design and newsletters:
Canva - easy web design for the non-graphic designer
Flodesk - beautiful campaign email designs for your aesthetically pleasing food blogs
Substack - simple, popular newsletter tool to build your community…and a great newsletter on technology and business *cough*unfoldweekly*cough
And because no thread on marketing could forgo discussing Instagram influencers, BuzzSum helps you collaborate with influencers who matter...and no, The Rock will not peddle your new tummy tea 🥺.
Still confused? Many of these SaaS products offer free trials. Let us know what works for you.
Things to Know
During a recession, most companies will cut spending, especially in areas such as marketing. Nirmalya Kmar and Koen Pauwels of the Harvard Business Review argue that marketing should not be on the list of budget cuts. In fact, companies that have fared best post-recession are often ones that did not cut marketing spend, and in some cases, actually increased spend. For more details, read “Don’t Cut Your Marketing Budget in a Recession.”
Rather than cut, work smarter to reach potential customers and develop channels and content that resonate during these times. It’s imperative to understand the “COVID context” and recognize the shift in how your actions and campaigns can be interpreted.
Learn More…
Can you imagine the number of case studies that will be analyzed in MBA programs in the coming years? From LVMH focusing on responsive production over luxury goods, to beer companies focusing on at-home consumption. How specific companies reacted to the pandemic will be dissected in classrooms (or Zoom meetings) for years to come. Brands will be judged for their ability to respond during these pressing times, having to walk a tight-line between driving engagement and being respectful of the landscape (reading the room anyone?).
Below we have highlighted a few articles that share how companies have handled the pandemic, for better or worse.
Story of the Week
For Bean2Bean ☕, a coffee startup based in Philadelphia, adjusting to the “new-normal” (is this phrase, or “unprecedented” overly used more?) has been a learning process and an adventure in reaching new customers. The company provides B2B (B2B providing B2B) and direct to consumer coffee and coffee products. As most of its business customers have struggled to remain open during the pandemic, the team has resorted to “out of the box” methods to increase demand in its B2C business.
Jonathan Pastore, Director of Sales, has promised next-day delivery for online orders in the Philadelphia area. If you see a masked man hand-delivering bags of coffee in Fishtown, fear not...this is B2B making every effort to meet and increase consumer demand. Beyond old fashioned door-to-door sales, social media (particularly Instagram and YouTube), is imperative to reach new audiences, evidenced by Bean2Bean’s first order from Japan. If you need some coffee to help prevent the midday WFH nap, check out B2B...or if you’re interested in seeing some Safdie brothers-esque marketing techniques 🎥, check out their YouTube page: Bean2Bean YouTube.
Readers - have you adapted your marketing approach during the pandemic? Let us know, and we may feature your story in the next newsletter!