3 (+1) things marketers can do during Work From Home
No, I won’t start by stating the obvious that the Corona scare is getting darker and more real by the day.
You already know that, so I will straight jump into what marketers can do as teams go remote and begin working from home.
If you’re a marketer or a freelancer, here are 3 (and one more) things you can do while you get into Work From Home (WFH). If you are into a function other than marketing, I believe (hope, actually) you’ll still see some takeaways.
First, an infographic on how to best use your WFH:
Here’s a little detailed analysis:
1. Re-examine your channels
Depending upon the kind of product or service you offer, you already have a typical flow of marketing and sales.
Beginning from getting people interested to turning them into paying customers (and even collecting payments, if you sell products on credit), all businesses have such a pipeline.
This is perhaps the best time to have a fresh look at your sales funnel and your distribution channel.
You have probably neglected some weak links in the channel somewhere — because you were too busy. Or you haven’t fine-tuned the process optimally.
Whatever.
Examine how the most recent 25% of your customers have approached you. List out all the questions they asked before they bought.
Importantly, also look at the most recent 25% leads you couldn’t convert. List out all the questions they asked before they turned away. See how you could have answered the questions better.
I know I’m only scratching the surface but you get the idea, right?
2. Better understand your customers
There are at least three ways of understanding your customers:
(a) Ask them questions through surveys and feedback forms
(b) Study the way they engage with your product/service, and
(c) Observe how your competitors are winning them.
Turn all this into building a stronger understanding about your customers.
Keep asking why they’re buying what you offer. Probe into their deeper needs and desires so that you can address them better.
Dig out all the research reports your marketing research teams have been sending you (the ones you only skimmed through).
Use all this information to fine-tune customer segmentation.
Understand them better them to serve them better.
3. Take an online course
You know this one and probably are already doing this, so I don’t need to write more.
I will instead focus on the two relatively unknown benefits of taking courses during these times:
(a) It will keep you positively occupied.
You’ll feel happy you’ve spent time in doing something worthwhile and learnt something. This positive feeling is especially significant when everything around is so grim.
(b) You’ll perhaps discover a new side in you.
If you are a botanist, you’ll probably see you have a good deal of insight into designing. If you are a shop-floor engineer, you’ll see you understand marketing more than you consciously believed.
Good for you.
4. Bonus: (and most important) Provide support
Yes, continue providing customer support.
But most importantly, let customers and team members know you are here as a human, not just as a business associate.
Form a digital group (say, a WhatsApp group). Instead of sharing sales figures or business analytics, share pics of your loved ones, your last vacation, some good reads (say, Project Gutenberg books), movie reviews, mobile games…
Give out positive vibes (but don’t, don’t overdo it :)
Anything that will keep the dopamine going is fine.
The idea is let everyone know that no one is alone in this fight.
I think this is more important than anything else right now.
Stay safe. Practice empathy. Let others know you’re there.
Be warm and nice to everyone.
Because what goes around comes around.
(About me: I write about AI and technology on my blog Almostism.)
