Erik Huberman is the Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, a full-service outsourced CMO and marketing consultancy based in Los Angeles, CA.
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At the beginning of March 2020, my team had to pivot the marketing strategies of the more than 400 brands we work with in a matter of a week. We followed our instincts and stayed focused on our clients’ online successes. We predicted that while people were stuck at home and doing the shopping that they could to feel somewhat more in control of their lives, online retail was going to grow exponentially.
It turns out that our instincts and market research were correct. While we had to shift the ways we do business both with clients and internally, being among the first to adapt to the e-commerce wave and thinking outside the box worked out really well — it led us to our best sales months yet. At the same time, we sold our headquarters and transitioned to a fully remote company, and we hired employees in 24 states and counting.
Drawing on our experience over the last year, here are some lessons that you can take with you from 2020 into 2021.
1. E-commerce is the way of the future.
Brick-and-mortar businesses are hurting, so we’ve been focusing on digital strategy and delivery. As mentioned above, we’re experiencing a massive surge in e-commerce sales across many categories. Because people are stuck at home, they’re shopping online for everything from home office supplies to alcohol.
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I recommend that all brands see how they can take advantage of the e-commerce market and focus on driving sales through online retailers and communities, because it will improve your chances of business survival moving forward.
2. Use the data you have to drive your decision making and inform new customer acquisition.
Business owners who work in seasonal industries know what it’s like to deal with slowdowns within their businesses. You have to find new customers quickly. Lean into the data you have, find new customers based on it, stay lean by creating marketing opportunities and don’t back down.
When you have an event like a pandemic, you are naturally going to lose clients because of it. Therefore, you need to fight in any way you can to minimize churn outside of the effects of the pandemic so you can get your business to stasis or as close to it as possible. Be considerate, informative and thoughtful, because people are looking for guidance and trust more than ever. Being an expert in your space, making a great product, and being confident and trustworthy will encourage new customers to gravitate toward you.
3. Don’t hesitate to adjust your marketing strategy, but be empathetic to your customers along the way.
Drastic times don’t always call for drastic measures — just different ones. Adjust your strategy to account for your customers’ changing aspirations and needs, but don’t even think about pulling back.
Now is the time to return to your origin and what makes you tick to find new messaging that works now to gain customers. If you can adjust your mindset and the customers’ to accept the reality of what’s going on, you should come out just fine.
While for marketers there’s a massive opportunity right now, avoid taking too much advantage of the current situation. Show your customers that you’re taking the gravity of the pandemic very seriously and don’t dramatically increase your prices to an unfair and unreasonable amount. Taking advantage of the opportunity and not considering what your customers are going through during this challenging time will only harm your business and prospects.
The bottom line here is that being empathetic and forming genuine human connections in your business will go a long way — in the current climate and always. Being insensitive and preying on a difficult situation will get you nowhere — and, in fact, in trouble.
4. Set your employees up for success.
Managers around the globe find themselves facing new challenges in engaging employees who may be on-site, remote, in quarantine, dealing with children who can’t go to school, or worried about friends, family and themselves, but somehow they’re expected to stay engaged and be productive. While the circumstances we’re facing right now are very extreme, there will always be unforeseen challenges with your business, and pandemic or not, it’s imperative for survival that you stay flexible and lead by your words and example.
To keep our people more engaged than ever in 2021, we’re going to continue having many video calls, daily manager one-on-ones, Friday happy hours, a weekly quiz and game break, and some company-wide virtual scavenger hunts. To further keep our employees’ mental and physical health in check, we’re also going to make sure we have a few company days off so our hardworking staff can enjoy a well-deserved break.
5. Find the silver lining.
Believe it or not, in business, there is a silver lining from 2020 to take into 2021. The pandemic forced companies to stress test and look at not only different ways to do business but also new ways to manage their people. Businesses that are able to adjust and adapt during this time period will likely be so much stronger coming out of it.
If you think of business right now like a battle and you retreat, you know what the outcome will probably be. It’s not a time to be scared or pull back. If you attack and come in swinging, you will give yourself a fighting chance.
Especially now as the end of the pandemic is in sight, and many businesses are slowly starting to form a plan for a return to normal, if you aren’t proactively finding customers, you may lose to your competitors who are finding them. This year is a crucial time to build trust and gain leads. You’ll see the benefits when spending rebounds.
The bottom line is, as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said, “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” We are not stopping. As an entrepreneur, now is the time to catch your competitors sleeping.
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Author: Erik Huberman, Forbes Councils Member
