How Digital Marketing Can Help Future-proof Your Firm

Some think it is simply the use of the web to replicate forms of marketing that have long appeared in platforms such as newspapers. But it is so much more than that.

 

It is a game-changing technology because it enables firms to reach potential clients in a wider range of ways using a variety of platforms, offer easy links to enable them to find out further information at a single click and is accessible at any time. It is also designed in such a way as to make analysis much easier to carry out, so marketing campaigns can be modified and enhanced in an effective way.

 

While all this is in and of itself good reason to make use of digital marketing as the primary means of reaching out to your target market, there is another reason; Digital marketing can be particularly effective in helping your firm future-proof itself against disruptive events.

 

Brexit is one good example of this. The shock of the 2016 referendum result and the subsequent uncertainty over what Britain’s future trading situation would be have themselves been disruptive, but even now in 2020 the situation is fraught with uncertainty. While the UK remains in the single market for a transitional year, uncertainty remains over what comes next.

 

While there may be a trade deal of sorts with the EU, what that may be is unknown. Alternatively, a no-deal outcome is a real possibility. 

 

However, you can plan ahead for this; your digital marketing can emphasise how certain goods will still be available at no extra cost after a no-deal. You might be able to use Ireland as a base for English speakers in the EU. Or, if you market a lot on the continent, you could switch the focus of your marketing to the domestic market.

 

Digital marketing also offers the flexibility to plan for more sudden events swiftly. While Brexit has been years in the making, the Coronavirus pandemic arrived suddenly and has had a huge effect on how people live their lives, but also on businesses.

 

However, digital marketing can help in this sort of situation too. The very fact that people have gone online more for work and leisure has meant that markets are more reachable. For firms able to offer products online or deliver on an e-commerce basis, there is a clear possibility. Indeed, firms such as Amazon have positively thrived. Using online marketing to emphasise that you are still open for business can be extremely beneficial.

 

For firms unable to trade properly at present, digital marketing still offers possibilities. A practical example would be the sale of vouchers for future purchases. But you can also be flexible and change tactics. For instance, the use of more content marketing can help build up awareness, increasing the potential pool of customers once lockdown eases and they are in a position to enjoy the goods or services you offer. Other measures could include using social media more effectively to create a virtual community.  

 

Crucially, the use of digital marketing means you will not fall silent. There may be fewer people walking down the street to see a billboard advert, but lots online more who can see your marketing material. They need to know you haven’t gone away, having gone bust, and will be back soon.

 

Of course, pandemics like coronavirus may be once a century events, but lessons learned now are not for someone to file away in case something nasty starts spreading in 2120. 

 

The key point is, whether it is a major world crisis, a political change or some other disruptive event, the flexibility of digital marketing offers so many different ways of reaching and interacting with your target market that there will always be a way to deal with the situation. 

 

That could be crucial in helping your firm steer its way through all sorts of situations, ensuring you can be ready for whatever the future holds in an uncertain world.

 

At BeUniqueness, we can help equip your firm with an agile digital marketing strategy. Contact us to see how we can help you be ready both for now and the future.