Marketing (from home) during COVID-19

As Covid-19 spreads rapidly, the foremost thought in everyone’s mind today is business continuity. There is mounting uncertainty over what lies ahead as several marketing and sales activities have been cancelled or postponed. Against this backdrop, I ask myself - how do I keep my team safe and inspired even as they continue to keep the business running? 

There's no denying that extended periods of ‘work from home’ and travel restrictions will slow down the decision-making process. But we will need to find new ways to get things done. What we are facing today is unprecedented, and there are only a handful of standards or best practices to draw ideas from. 

During this difficult time, marketers need to draw up a proactive plan that can be easily adapted to the current situation, continue to stick to their core values and think of long-term implications. Marketing plans executed during the time of this pandemic will set the tone for how brands are perceived by consumers for months or even years to come. 

There are three essential steps that I would recommend to all marketers:

Assess the situation: Take stock of the marketing plans that you had drawn up for the next couple of months and assess how they will be impacted. What messages did you want to deliver and who were the stakeholders? What must you change now?

Align to the changed reality: If you haven't already, get your crisis management team in place. Identify team members and empower them to take decisions, some of which may be tough like postponing or even cancelling an event or a campaign.

Adapt and experiment: This is the time to prepare for various scenarios and gauge how those will impact your organization. Draw up contingency plans to accommodate a volatile market. Be ready to pre-empt scenarios and be open to make quick changes. For instance, there was a recent conference scheduled for early-March where the organization had expected 2,000 attendees. Instead of cancelling it, the organising team decided to quickly turn it into a digital event, which saw over 2,900 sign-ups! 

As marketers, this is the time to stand by your customers and cater to their needs. My underlying rule is that we continue to operate with integrity. If the solutions you are promoting are suited to overcome a crisis like this, tread with care so you don’t appear to be exploiting the situation to your advantage.

Marketers need to keep the engine running. Think of how you can operate, and continue to be efficient and secure even as you work remotely. Marketers are not just working remotely with their team members but also collaborating with agencies, contractors, partners and vendors. It can be challenging to ensure that your work remains connected and secure at all times.

At Palo Alto Networks, we have been offering Prisma Access to organizations who have large numbers of employees working remotely. This provides a scalable way for remote workers to securely access their organization's applications and resources - both cloud-based and on-site. 

Here are some dos and don’ts that I believe marketers should follow in these times:

 -       Exemplify your brand equity by ensuring that you take care of your people and your customers. 

-       Secure your assets – With most employees working from home, strengthen your cybersecurity and protect confidential information. Work with your IT and security teams to ensure you are not compromising security.

-       Encourage team building in a virtual environment – Continue your team meetings and catch ups by leveraging video conferencing to keep the office dynamic going. 

-    Ensure everyone is part of ONE team (irrespective of functions)

-       Do not use your standard communication templates. You have limited number of touchpoints with your customers now, so break the norm and go beyond the usual. For instance, during a live webinar introduce a live queries session so participants get a chance to interact with the speakers.

-       Stay away from ‘ambulance chasing’ and capitalising on the crisis. This is the time for us to be sensitive to customer needs and challenges.

No one knows for how long we will need to wait this out. Till such time, stay nimble, proactively look for solutions to salvage any investments you have already made, and look after yourself and your brand. Stay safe and secure!