Yesterday was April 15: tax day! On any normal year, there would be a lot of hoopla around this day. April 15 typically gives us two things that cause people to be in the mood to spend money: spring weather and tax refunds! Normally there would be all kinds of marketing happening right now, trying to entice people to spend their refund check on something new. However, this is not a normal middle of April.

I have not heard many people talk about filing taxes this year. Neither did I hear them talk about St. Patrick’s Day, the first day of spring, or many other events that normally happen this time of year that put them in the mood to purchase something new. Unless you are talking about toilet paper, Lysol and facemasks, the rest of our goods and services are being ignored right now. What should you do if you are in charge of marketing for your company and you are seeing the normal cycles of commerce shuttered? Let’s be smart and recognize it is time for a new marketing plan. Whatever you had planned needs to be revised. We encourage our customers to take a look at their marketing plan at least quarterly to measure your success or failures and then make adjustments.

But how do you make adjustments when you have no idea when the world will go back to work? Although it is hard to predict when everyone will go back to their jobs, I would encourage you to look at your marketing in three phases. First, what needs to change right now about what you are saying about your company and your brand? Unless you have the vaccine for COVID-19 or are heavily involved in promoting critical supply products, now is not the time for a hard sell. It is the time to send a supportive message to the people who are on the front line of a crisis. That may be extremely difficult as many businesses have cut back on their staffing and cash flow is slowing. However, if you are in charge of marketing, you have a duty to put your brand in the best light possible. Timing is so key in marketing. Measure the mood of your customers. The right message at the wrong time will damage your brand’s image.

Second, plan for when the shelter-in-place rules come to an end. There will be a time when the doors of commerce will open once again. Will the economy come roaring back? Many people say it will. Others are more skeptical. They believe all the stay-at-home orders are going to make people hesitant about being in public places, which is key to large ticket sales, which will, in turn, stall the economy. What should you do? Plan for both outcomes. What should you do if all this pent up energy makes people want to get out of the house and do something? Make marketing plans to get them in a place where you can market to them. On the other hand, if people are reluctant to gather together, figure out how you are going to market to them from a distance. How do you market your products and services electronically in such a way that it causes people to want to order them? Here’s a clue: the key to online sales is the speed and ease of delivery. In either case, be prepared to make a move once there is a determination in the direction the mood of the herd leads. You should see that shortly after the stay-at-home orders are lifted.

One last item you should take a look at is what is going to happen six to nine months from now. From October through January, what do you need to be doing to meet your marketing goals? Certain go-to events in the fall have already canceled for the year. You have to adjust your marketing to come up with something new – and that is not a bad thing in marketing. New sells well if you promote it correctly. If you were planning to do a trade show in the fall, what will replace it? If your customers won’t come to a convention, could you take your show on the road and go to them? At some point the don’t gather mentality will fade away. What will you do to touch your customers this fall?

We are living in an odd time in the middle of April. How will you use this time to revamp your marketing plans?