This year, with so much uncertainty due to the pandemic, many marketers are wondering how to evolve their strategies for a holiday season that will be like no other. The marketing strategy that was right just a couple of months ago isn’t anymore.

Results from a new Adobe study of 1,000 consumers aims to help marketers understand how to prepare for what buying habits are ahead:

1. 75% of shoppers are keeping with their holiday traditions but there'll be less demand for new brands
2. 40% of consumers are looking for “distraction marketing" - messages that take them away from Covid realities; especially for Gen Z & Millennials
3. With few places to go, 70% of consumers are saving more than they did pre-pandemic and most are looking for marketing that helps them find a good deal
4. Buy online/pickup in store continues to grow at a staggering rate: 259% in 12 months

Read the full article at: blog.adobe.com

Signs of life in the economy and an increase of business activity has led to an increase in confidence of small and midsize business CEOs. The Vistage CEO Confidence Index rebounded to 82.8 in Q3 from 62.5 in Q2.

Source: myvistage.com

Factors that contributed to the rebound from last quarter include (#5 is a double edged sword):

1. 32.5% improvements in revenue expectations
2. 29.2% improvement in profitability expectations
3. 28.3% increase in investment plans, largely driven by a significant decline in contraction
4. 25.4% improvement in workforce plans
5. 10.1% improvement in expectations for the U.S. economy - from 93% of CEOs being pessimistic to 83% (still a worryingly high number)

The following list of strategies and tips, compiled by our online digital marketing training team, will help your company navigate CoVID-19 limitations.

Source: www.yourdmac.com

The ability to adjust your marketing strategy to meet unexpected demands or market conditions is the hallmark of good management. During these continued times of uncertainty, when every day brings new challenges, it can sometimes be difficult to see the “strategic” forest for the “tactical” trees that seem to need our attention every day. Sales Renewal works with our clients every day to ensure we keep an eye on the forest, ensuring that the underlying strategy is sound enough to weather this storm on multiple fronts, including digital strategies. Read more in this article by DMAC about how your online presence should adapt during the Covid era.

CEO confidence in their businesses is growing despite economic uncertainty, according to the July Vistage/Wall Street Journal survey.

Source: www.vistage.com

We're going to start posting this WSJ monthly of Small Businesses each month.
The WSJ spun the July report as significant improvement but there's a glass half empty/full aspect to it.
Yes 75.% is a great improvement in confidence over 44.7% but it's still down 30% from where it was in Feb.

M&A activity in Q2 2020 continued to decline as COVID-19 remained an unrelenting problem in North America, and especially the US. Nevertheless, certain sectors are seeing pockets of stable dealmaking.

Source: pitchbook.com

If you’re thinking of acquiring a firm to solve your revenue problems, we have potential bad news: M&A activity in the second quarter of 2020 continued to decline, with $336.8 billion over 2,025 transactions. This is a substantial decline from the record activity seen in recent years which the report calls “the canary in an M&A coal mine.” Quarter over quarter declines were 41.1% and 24.2% for deal value and count, respectively, compared to an already slow Q1 2020.

The trend shows that online shopping growth isn’t going away and that brands need to re-assess their digital offerings to create the best experience possible.

Source: www.forbes.com

Research is showing that even though stores and restaurants are slowly opening back up, shopping and ordering food online have continued to rise.  

If your business doesn't have an online presence or any way to offer your services online, now is the time to begin building out ways to reach your consumers better and conduct your business virtually. The road to getting back to normal is still a long one, so attempting to wait it out and avoid transitioning may hurt your business and cause you to lose clients. 

Business owners should be confident that their website is easy to navigate and offers clients what they need. Whether it's selling products or services, scheduling online appointments or delivering resources, your website should be a good alternative to conducting the same business as you would in person. If it isn't, consider making the decision to transition and contact Sales Renewal to see how we can help make you more reachable to consumers online.