Consumers and business customers are distracted to say the least. Many businesses are closed, people are working remotely for the first time, or even losing their jobs. And many are busy shopping to stock up for the inevitable lock down.

Given this environment, is it even appropriate to do marketing?  The answer is an unequivocal yes, but likely in different ways. Intuitively, clear and timely communication is required. Customers and prospects need to know that you are still doing business, or how you are doing business, e.g., revised hours, online sales, shipping schedules, etc.

So what are some specific marketing ideas and tactics that can be effective during this difficult time? How about a Top 10 list of Marketing Ideas for marketing during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Top 10 Marketing Ideas for COVID-19

1. Place a “supportive message” on the main banner of your website homepage
2. Change your company telephone message and oh-hold messages with a simple, supportive message
3. Communicate directly via phone or email to your existing customers and other stakeholders (employees, vendors), reassuring them that you are here to help, with specific actions if possible
   • TIP:  Consider expanding your email list to new prospects, new markets, even new geographies
4. Think of new ways your product or service can be used to assist or support the crisis, e.g. a software solution allows employees to work remotely with real-time reporting; publish content and communicate to existing and prospective customers
5. Consider a relevant “Cause” that ties in with the crisis that your company can donate time and/or money to; communicate this cause in all customer communications, e.g., XYZ brand/company supports the Medical Emergency Relief International
6. With uncertainty, customers may hold or cancel purchases; overcome this scenario with promotions like no payments for 60 days, Free Financing, price discounts, and more
   • TIP:  Promote offers via pay-per-click (PPC)
7. Replace live events or meetings with virtual meetings via video meeting services like GoToMeeting, Zoom, and others
   • TIP: offer $20 GrubHub gift card to attendees of a virtual lunch and learn
8. Communicate ideas 4/5/6/7 with current and prospective customers, measure interest, refine promotions and “re-communicate”; consider email to existing customer and new, prospective customer lists
9. Use social media to reinforce and amplify your messages, including use of #Hashtags to leverage trending keywords; for consumer targets use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube; for business targets use LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter
10. Never exploit the crisis with overly aggressive pitches or profiteering

Never Stop Marketing

While customers might not be spending as before, they are still planning for the future. They might even have some time on their hands, so even in the midst of a crisis is a good time to continue or even increase marketing and communications. Why? Because when the crisis subsides, pent-up demand will unleash to the most effective and thoughtful marketers.

Additional Crisis Marketing Resources:

The Do’s And Don’ts Of Marketing During A Global Crisis

Uncertainty the greatest business challenge as Coronavirus crisis deepens

8-Step Guide to Email Marketing During a Crisis

The post Top 10 Marketing Ideas for COVID-19 appeared first on Modern Marketing Partners.

So what roles do millennials play on their buying teams?

• 13% Decision-Maker
• 27% Influencer
• 17% Project Manager
• 38% Researcher

This information shows that most millennials are not yet making the final decisions, but the fact that so many are researchers and influencers shows that they have an effect on the final decision. Without impressing them, you’ll likely never be seen by the decision-makers, so it’s best to remember that millennials are likely your “in” when it comes to buying decisions.

So what do millennials value most when deciding to buy? Resources for research, vendor-buyer relationships, and company values. We break them down – and what you can do about them – below.

The Value of Research

Generally, millennial buyers aren’t going to be willing to immediately interact with your sales team. It’s too much of a commitment so early on. Rather, they’d prefer to do some research first. 59% of millennials prefer to engage with sales after they’ve done some research. Millennials are also more likely to contact salespersons late in their research (27%) rather than early (9%). This shows that they’d prefer to rely heavily on company information first before hearing any kind of pitch from your salespeople. As just stated, the majority will reach out in the middle of the process, so most of the time, you’ll have the opportunity to influence their decision before they get closer to the final consideration process. The fact that over a quarter, however, reach out late, shows that many want to be certain about you before communicating, and that they have confidence in finding the best solution from non-relationship based research alone.

So how can you use this idea to your advantage?

Laying out all the information you can to potential buyers is the best way to approach these statistics. Include informative and relevant content within your company blog to attract researchers to your site. Also, include case studies, testimonials, and any other form of proof to prove the effectiveness of your B2B services. Buyers want a product that works; simply stating that it does isn’t enough, especially with buying employees pushing off contact with vendor salespersons until they have sufficient information.

Further, include landing pages on your website – perhaps providing a free e-book or webinar in return. This way you can capture the contact information of buyers and encourage them to take the next step in their research process. Further, email from the landing page captures can serve to remind buyers of your company’s benefits and other useful information.

Enhancing Your Vendor-Buyer Relationship

Despite the fact that millennials may wait to contact the vendor sales team, they value their relationship with vendor employees as the most effective resource for evaluating solutions. Third-party references and case studies trail second and third, respectively, in terms of effective resources.

What should you do about it?

Two things: (1) try to build the relationship as early as possible during their research process and (2) work hard towards having your best possible vendor-buyer relationship.

To address number 1, make it as easy as possible to contact your company. You can offer live chat on the site. Or you could provide calls-to-action on your content, encouraging viewers to contact your company via a contact form. Also, going back to the previous discussion of landing pages, you can use this contact info to encourage a conversation between buyer and salesperson.

There are plenty of ways to enhance your relationship once it’s initiated. Work actively to provide personalized solutions to their problems. Offer to send them additional resources. Convince them to meet in-person – face-to-face is more personal and can often be more effective.

Millennial Buyers Want a Company that Cares

Interestingly, many millennial buyers placed company community involvement and company values ahead of every other factor when determining which companies to work with. They’re looking for companies that go beyond good work by doing good things.

How can my company accomplish this?

Live your company values and actively get involved in the community – and then communicate it.

Company values aren’t just important for internal culture anymore, they influence customers as well. Communicate your company values through your work and content, as it’s sure to attract customers with similar value sets.

Further, find a worthy cause that your employees and upper management can get behind. Encourage employees company-wide to get involved, through volunteer work, fundraising, or both. Then share in the form of content – press releases, blogs, news, etc. – on your website and on social media.

Our whitepaper on Cause Marketing is actually a really great resource on how to best get involved and then market your involvement. We cover:

1. Picking your nonprofit wisely. Pick a nonprofit that your employees can feel passionately about and that makes sense with your business. A good nonprofit for a makeup brand that chooses to not use animal-testing for its products may be an animal shelter, for example.
2. Integrating the cause into company culture. Taking it one step further by integrating said cause with who your company is further communicates your commitment.
3. Giving more than money. Time is just as, if not, more valuable than money. The whitepaper covers ways to give non-monetarily.
4. Be transparent and demonstrate the impact of your cause. Be willing to discuss where donations go and what they’re used for. Then demonstrate the effectiveness of your efforts.
5. Leverage PR and social media. If you’re putting all this effort into your community involvement, it’s important to communicate it. Use social media, PR, and other means to share your involvement.

Research, Relationships, and Values

To make a long story short, the B2B millennial buyer values 3 things when making a buying decision: research resources, vendor-buyer relationships, and company values. Working hard to provide millennials with the most informative resources and actively working to improve relationships may ultimately finalize their decision. Further, they want companies with strong values and community involvement; so demonstrating these traits can ultimately convince buyers that your business is their best fit – both logically and emotionally.

The post How to Market to Millennial B2B Buyers appeared first on Modern Marketing Partners.

Cause Marketing

Jeep partnered with Movember on this promotion. Movember is a nonprofit organization that promotes men’s health, specifically prostate cancer. This nonprofit encourages men to spread awareness by adopting a “No-Shave November” rule. Men grow out their facial hair during the month to symbolize their support for the cause. And since social media use is always seemingly on the rise, that allows participants to take their support to a new level: broadcasting on public online platforms.

Jeep partnered with this group to promote its 2016 Jeep Renegade, while also promoting this male issue. Those who tweeted both hashtags entered for a chance to win the new car.

The contest acted as great publicity for both and helps Jeep to create great brand perception. Brands that partner with nonprofits tend to see favorable consumer reactions. Using social media as the tool of this cause marketing amplified the company’s nonprofit efforts.

Read more about cause marketing here, and another successful social media cause campaign here.

Social Media Entries

To enter the contest, fans had to post pictures of their November mustache. They could have also placed fake mustaches on their Jeeps, pets, etc. Photos were submitted on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtags: #jeepstachecontest and #movember. Winners are yet to be determined, but according to Jeep, winners will be selected based on “creativity, quality, and originality.”

Social media contests are always a great promotional tool. Users have an incentive to use your branded hashtag, and as a result, more people are likely to participate. This helps your branded hashtag to reach thousands of Instagram users. Further, if you launch a really effective campaign, the hashtag has the potential to trend on the social platforms, making it even more visible. Social trends have the potential to reach millions of users, so its benefits are hard to ignore.

Jeep kept this firmly in mind and encouraged entrants to use both of the hashtags listed above. Both Jeep and nonprofit organization Movember have a branded hashtag, so each one uniquely brings attention to the brands.

Perfect Partnership: Social Media and Cause Marketing

Social media and cause marketing seem to work really well together. Cause marketing’s benefits are amplified by the scale of social media platforms, whereas cause campaigns on social media give branded accounts a positive engagement boost.

Smaller business? This can be achieved on a smaller scale. By partnering with a local charity, you can launch a social contest of your own related to the local charity’s cause. You’re contributing to your community and mutually gaining awareness. A win-win.

The post Jeep’s Movember: Simultaneously Tackling Social Media and Cause Marketing appeared first on Modern Marketing Partners.

Their work has not only helped the lives of many, but it acts as a great source of marketing for Bell Canada. It is a free form of PR and improves the brand image.

In our white paper on Cause Marketing, we address 6 Tips for Effective Cause Marketing. Bell Let’s Talk matches this list perfectly.

1. Pick your nonprofit wisely.

Most companies will usually partner with an external nonprofit to create an impact. When companies have the resources, they are sometimes able to create a program internally. With the proper resources, Bell was able to create a successful program that employees cared about.

2. Integrate the cause into your company culture.

Because the nonprofit is internal, the program matches the company’s values. In Bell’s Corporate Responsibility Report, the company positions itself as an active corporate citizen. It balances economic, environmental, and social objectives to provide gains that go beyond the financial.

3. Give more than just money.

Bell doesn’t just provide money. One of the main objectives is ending the stigma of mental illness. This requires more than money, but rather access to information about mental health. The website offers a multitude of resources for those with mental health and those who want to get involved, including advice, facts, and videos.

4. Be transparent, demonstrate impact.

Bell is very clear on what the program has done and will do. The site includes how much the organization has earned, the initiatives, and stories about the grants it has given.

5. Leverage free PR.

The company includes a media page on its main website with all of its press releases. The company was sure to include releases about Let’s Talk, including money raised and program events.

6. Harness the power of social media.

Let’s Talk uses social media very effectively. On Bell’s Let’s Talk Day 2016, users were encouraged to tweet about mental health. Under the ‘End the Stigma’ page, the organization features tweets users have posted. The videos on the same page include social media icons, allowing visitors to easily share them.

Bell is making a widespread effort to expand a cause that is important to them. Their publicity choices are wise, with the use of press releases and active social media engagement to spread awareness. This not only helps the cause, but the goodwill of the company.

Get started on your Cause Marketing strategy here.

Learn more about Bell Canada:

About Bell

Bell Let’s Talk

The post Bell Let’s Talk: Cause Marketing Done Right appeared first on Modern Marketing Partners.

The following infographic shares the types of cause marketing, projections of cause marketing spend, who is using, how it influences purchasing behavior, the leading issues consumers think companies should address, and 6 tips for effective cause marketing. For more information on cause marketing, be sure to read our whitepaper, How Brands Can Use Cause Marketing For Results. You can share/embed the infographic on your website using the embed code below.

Cause Marketing Infographic

(click to view full size)

Share this infographic by copying and pasting the embed link below!

The post Cause Marketing 101 – Infographic appeared first on Modern Marketing Partners.

Cause marketing allows companies the opportunity to succeed financially while simultaneously doing something good for the community. In our recently published whitepaper, How Brands Can Use Cause Marketing For Results, we shared the types of cause marketing, cause marketing tips, case studies, and an infographic. Below we will share 6 tips for effective cause marketing!

6 Tips For Effective Cause Marketing

1. Pick your nonprofit partner wisely

It’s crucial to partner with a nonprofit that understands the strategic nature behind your partnership. There needs to be the understanding that a successful cause marketing campaign should ensure the mutual benefit of both sides. Your company is more than simply a source of funding and the nonprofit is more than just a way to boost your image. If you both happen to share the same target audience, that will go a long way towards forming a meaningful collaboration.

2. Integrate the cause into your company culture

The cause you’re supporting should tie in seamlessly with your company’s overall mission and values. Consumers are not naïve enough to simply buy into your cause marketing campaign without asking how the cause relates to your product or service. Authenticity and a high level of commitment from the top down are key so talk to your team and find a cause that everyone can feel truly happy about supporting. If stakeholders see that you have fully integrated the values of that cause into your company culture, you have a much higher chance of increasing returns related to your company’s goals.

3. Give more than just money

As mentioned previously, your company can and should give more than just dollars. Think about what your company can offer in addition to financial support. Donating relevant products or services will strengthen the association between your brand and the cause. Another option is to offer a corporate volunteering program. These programs allow employees to volunteer while on the company’s time and have been shown to dramatically improve both employee
engagement and satisfaction.

4. Be transparent, demonstrate impact

So the consumer has purchased your product and a portion of the proceeds have gone to your nonprofit partner. Is your interaction with that consumer done? Definitely not. Savvy consumers want to know what you’ve done with their generous donation and whom you’ve impacted. Avoid jargon that sounds like feel-good nonsense and be as transparent as possible with your results (it’s great PR). Keeping a counter on your website to track funds raised is a good option but you can also get more creative by sharing stories about the campaign’s impact on the community.

5. Leverage free PR

Make sure you’re strategic communications focus more on the cause you’re supporting than your company. If you’ve created a strong connection between the two, this should be enough to generate some fantastic PR. Because you’re associated with a nonprofit, much of the PR you generate will be organic (free) and this buzz will add authenticity and credibility to your campaign. We suggest first making good use of this free publicity but there are also wire distribution sites that will send out your press releases for a fee. PRWeb is a popular general distribution site while others such as CSRwire and 3BLMedia focus exclusively on cause marketing news. Fees range depending on the services you select.

6. Harness the power of social media

Whether you’re just starting your cause marketing campaign or celebrating its success, let the public know about it! Social media is ideal for promoting cause marketing because it gives you the opportunity to connect with those passionate about what you’re doing. Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are just a few fantastic platforms to reach your audience rather than wait for them to come to you. Create videos that highlight your team’s quality work. Find prominent bloggers who are already talking about this cause and would be excited to hear (and possibly write) about your campaign. Also, don’t forget to connect with the nonprofit as well as their staff and volunteers.

Want to learn more about cause marketing? Download the full cause marketing whitepaper for more details about the types of cause marketing, case studies, and a cause marketing infographic. Link here for more information on Cause Branding vs. Cause Marketing.

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