By Upendra Mishra
BOSTON- In a year marked by constant change and upheaval, it’s not hard to see how the marketplace has changed, making the landscape easier and harder for marketers in ways we couldn’t have predicted.
It Is Harder to do Marketing These Days
“It is harder to do marketing these days. Where to start? My competitors are killing me. They are everywhere—Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, emails, blogs, YouTube, being constantly featured in media and trade publications, and are speaking at most industry events.
They have created a very dominant digital presence and have emerged as ‘the’ go-to player in the marketplace. As the market is tightening and revenue inflow is projected to decline due to the pandemic, I don’t have enough resources to earmark for gaining back my foothold.”
…But It Is Also Easier Than Ever
“It is easier to do marketing these days. New technologies and tools are virtually free and allow us to work from anywhere and anytime. The cost of software, email tools and social media channels are all either free or available at little cost. I have tons of information, research, databases and access to executives and companies at my fingertips.
So much information, data and research are now available to me and my team, but the overwhelming flow of data, however, is distracting me and is not allowing me to focus. I feel I don’t have time to digest all this information.”
How Do We Go Forward?
If you’re facing these twin challenges, you’re not alone. We’re living in a new, rapidly evolving business environment. 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges and uncertainty in the marketplace—no matter what industry you are in.
It is a good time to be thinking about marketing and business development plans for the post-COVID-19 era. I am sure you have noticed that your customers have also changed in some fundamental ways. They are less able and less willing to spend money than before, according to a report in Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge. Companies need to re-engage with their customers more than ever now. Times have changed, and so have our business and our Business-to-Business (B2B) customers.
These times also call for a new thinking in marketing and business development, where we need to focus on four fundamental strategies:
1. Ruling our technology
2. Managing our decisions
3. Managing our focus
4. Managing our energy and resources wisely
“Extraordinary productivity is not just about time management, it is about managing your decisions, attention, and energy,” says Leigh Stevens, author of “The 5 Choices: Achieving Extraordinary Productivity Without Getting Buried Alive.”
At the Mishra Group, we help our clients with how to re-engage their customers, expand their digital footprint and connect with customers one-by-one effectively, using an integrated marketing platform that integrates PR, marketing, social media, digital engagement/advertising and meaningful events both online and offline.
Technology and automation make our marketing and business development for clients fun, cost-effective and efficient.
If you need any help with your marketing, business development and growth strategies during the current unusual business climate, please call me or email. We will put you on a path of solid growth. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can also visit our website at www.MishraGroup.com
(Mr. Mishra is managing partner of the Waltham, MA-based integrated inbound marketing and PR firm The Mishra Group. He writes about his three passions: marketing, mythologies and gardening.)
