Appropriate marketing during a crisis

How to create relevant and effective marketing for the current climate.

It’s important to make sure that your marketing during the COVID-19 crisis is both appropriate and effective. Marketing professionals Dylan Kohlstadt, Dylan McLaren, Simon Grainger and Pepe Marais weigh in on what steps your brand should take while South Africa (and the world) is in crisis.

4 Marketing tips to embrace in your SME

1. Find and share your purpose. An excellent way to market your business is by providing quality service to customers and they will tell others about their experiences with you. Find the core purpose of your business and ensure you use it when messaging clients, instead of multiple messages that don’t underpin your values. Pepe Marais, entrepreneur and the speaker

2. Make your client the hero of your story. Social media and digital technology are the most cost-effective way of marketing your business. The way you communicate with your clients needs to change, however. Stop the hard sell and only thinking about yourself and your business. Put yourself in your client’s shoes and try to understand what they need. That’s the message you should be sharing. Dylan Kohlstadt, CEO and founder of Shift One

3. Be local and focused. Start with what you know and have and use this base to inform your clients about current business changes. Where possible, localise your marketing and target relevant audiences instead of the whole country. Dylan McLaren, founder of Content Merchants

4. Build relationships. Be cognisant of how you communicate to your clients, and what message you want to get across. Avoid the hard sell, try to educate clients about your services and make sure you help them meet their Ultimately, this process is about building relationships. Simon Grainger of Brandright

Business Banking Invested in Every Moment

We understand that small businesses have different banking needs. B\\YOND supports your business with a consolidated platform that enables you to manage your money and keep your business working through these difficult times. Find out more: https://sasfin.com/business-banking/business-banking/transactional-banking/