REG- Small Business – Marketing “Covid-19 Strategy” Product Announcement – Straddle

ROCKY HILL, CT / ACCESSWIRE / April 29, 2020 / First and foremost, the staff at The Ripple Effect Group would like to offer our deepest sympathies to those that have suffered loss or financial hardships due to this pandemic. We would also like to acknowledge the brave medical workers and first responders that are on the front lines fighting this outbreak.

In the days of COVID-19 small and medium-sized businesses, just like ours, are facing tremendous challenges. Challenges that we were never taught how to handle in our days at business school. Extreme pressure from all angles are causing many owners and managers to hit the panic button. From our vantage point, we can see that marketing budgets are one of the first items to get slashed or completely eliminated.

Is this the right move? Is it the only move?

Unfortunately, there are no easy answers to this question. There are many variables that must be considered in order to determine the best strategy; cash flow, reserves, lost revenue, the ability to generate revenue online, business model, customers' financial status, long term outlook, etc..

If the business is in a good cash position and the long-term outlook for the business is a healthy one the business may want to consider the following analogy.

When NASCAR drivers approach a crash ahead and they slow down to avoid it, they either wreck themselves or irrevocably lose their position. Drivers are taught to accelerate toward the crash point because by the time they get there it will have most likely moved away.

This is a bold action, and in this market, bold actions could reap better than average results.

How is this the case?

We are seeing that ad traffic has dropped considerably on digital platforms. As an example, social media and Google Ad spend budgets have been drastically reduced. The end result of this reduction is the ability to get your business' message across in a less digitally crowded space. In our experience, we are seeing clients get a better bang for their dollar than they did pre-Covid19.

So, what's the strategy we are using with our clients and ourselves (got to put your money where your mouth is, right?)?

Cut the budget? Yes, but don't eliminate it completely. Look towards a time when the effect of Covid-19 on the consumer will subside. Is it six months from now? Is it a year from now? No one knows. But what we do know is that eventually the tides will have turned and business will return to a sense of normalcy. Use this marketing environment as an opportunity to come out the other side with additional market share.

To address the current business environment, we are launching a marketing strategy for small businesses called "Straddle".

What are the messages for the Straddle approach?

First off, the business needs to communicate with current and potential customers; update them on steps that you've taken, and continue to take, in order to respond to the crisis. Are your employees working from home? Share their stories. Are you helping out in your local community, donating supplies or services? Are you offering curbside pick-up? These types of messages convey empathy (which is real) while also building your brand. You should gain in the long run by growing your brand's reputation and recognition.

Where should your message be?

One thing we can tell you for sure, your customer base has plenty of time on their hands and are spending a bunch of their waking hours online.

From this standpoint, the Straddle product is designed to lean heavily towards outbound marketing on social media platforms. Therefore, Straddle, moves a larger portion of your budget to a soapbox, outbound, marketing plan.

Allocating less to inbound mediums (i.e. search), Straddle requires adjustments to your Google ads. Your Google ads should reflect the current atmosphere (as stated above); modified ad messages and a lower PPC budget. Straddle requires your lead generation pages and your digital ads that lead customers there to be modified as well. Straddle's message changes your overall message to reflect a proactive, environmentally sensitive, approach.

In this disrupted market, bold actions could reap better than average results. The question is are you going to slow down and lose your position, or accelerate, and maneuver to get past this in a stronger position going forward?

Straddle is designed to work for clients with budgets as low as $575 per month and up to $5,000 per month. The Ripple Effect Group , REG, provides all the content and design for the Straddle product. For the client, it can be as hands-on, or off, as they desire.

To learn more about Straddle please reach out to Brad Deveran, at the email address brad@theRippleEffectGroup.com .

SOURCE: The Ripple Effect Group

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