As a Digital Marketer, I have a lot of friends in the marketing industry. Some of them working for marketing firms, some hold marketing positions in different companies. I also work with a lot of marketing people from our clients. And through these past two months, I’ve observed a very dangerous trend in the Davao marketing pool. There’s an on-going migration of marketing talent.

The Marketer’s Crisis

What exactly do I mean? I mean, deeply rooted marketing heads and marketing staff are LEAVING THEIR JOBS and moving to new companies.

Why? What does this mean? Shouldn’t marketers be happy they weren’t fired considering the pandemic and the mass lay-off that’s been happening all around the world?

Are marketers just a**holes who don’t care about their previous employers?

I don’t think so. This is my opinion.

In the current market where businesses are trying to survive and marketing is an essential, marketers are put to the test. They need to roll out an effective marketing campaign and get sales FAST. They need to do all this effectively, all under pressure from their panicking bosses, while the world is in a crisis. And when proposals are made, they are asked to do it in HALF THE TIME and with MINIMAL BUDGET. So what happens?

They break down.

Because the stress is so much on their current work, they leave the company and look for opportunities that allow them a blank slate. So while there is pressure, they have the opportunity to build a marketing campaign from the ground up instead of dealing with this HUGE pressure of trying to catch up with impossible sales standards that they used to achieve.

And I can understand why business owners would panic. Businesses are closing down everyday. In my home town in Davao City, whenever I do get to go out, I always feel a tinge of sadness whenever we pass by areas that used to be busy with foot traffic, now almost empty. Newly finished buildings are still without renters. Compounds and malls are now left with abandoned stalls from businesses who just couldn’t take in the loss from the pandemic.

So does this mean we just take everything in and accept that this is how things will be?

Definitely not. What we need as business owners right now, is Crisis Management.

Crisis Management

Crisis management is defined by Wikipedia as the process by which an organization deals with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organization or its stakeholders. It’s is a cousin of Risk Management, a term that’s been making rounds these past few years. Risk management trains you to find potential crisis situations so you can be ready when it arrives. But I think no one prepared for a possible world-wide pandemic. And so, we are just left to deal with Crisis Management.

I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on the subject. But I have been doing some heavy reading and studying regarding the matter. I don’t just help businesses. I have a business that helps other businesses. So I’m also in a crisis. And the number one thing that everyone teaches is:

Don’t Panic

Panic should have started when this pandemic started, but it should have settled down now. If you run a business, you don’t have the luxury of a long panic period. You can’t freeze. If you want to survive this pandemic, you need to cry your fear out, take a deep breath, and start creating your strategy. Make up your mind to take in the losses and look for new wins. Downgrade, diversify, or re-strategize. There are many options out there for business, but panic isn’t one of them.

Panic is counter-productive.

It makes your people resign.

It kills businesses.

If you’re a business-owner or a manager, you are your people’s rock. You are the pilot of the plane. If you’re calm, they’ll know they’re safe. But if you panic, they’ll think you’ll all go down.

So let’s try this again.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Think.

Keep your wits and keep your people with you.

What’s Next in Davao Marketing for Businesses?

Now that you’re calm, it’s time we talk about your marketing strategy. Let’s list what your priorities should be as a business owner, a manager, or a marketer.

Keep your people

This is for the business owners and managers out there. If you have good people, keep them. If not, I’m telling you, there are a lot of marketers out there looking for jobs. But whether you’re retaining your people or hiring new ones, it’s still important to keep calm, and know what your realistic marketing goals should be. Which is our next item.

Identify your marketing goals

Marketing Goals are not SALES. Marketing goals are your strategies, that if successful, will bring about sales. Example, if you’re a new business, your marketing goal should be awareness. Make sure people know you exist. Did you shift from on-site to deliveries? Then your marketing goal should be specific to your delivery service. If you don’t know what your marketing goals are, nobody, not even professional digital marketers like us can ever help you.

Identify who your target customers are

Your customers are not EVERYONE. Thinking that will lead to your doom. Are you targeting people who are just in Davao city? Then market for Davao. Can you accommodate the entire Philippines, then it’s just the Philippines. And that’s just the locations. Example: If you’re selling plants, not everyone wants to buy plants. Are you selling kimchee? Not everyone likes Kimchee. Think about the people who would. List down who they are. If you need more help with that, check out my buyer persona blog.

Activate your digital marketing

Yes, I run a digital marketing company, but I’m presenting you options.

• If you have your own marketing team, then tell them to learn it.
• If you’re a solopreneur, then YOU learn it. There are a lot of digital marketing trainings out there. And I just linked to mine.
• Have enough money to hire experts? Hire us.

Choose your poison. But you HAVE to start using Digital Marketing. Out Of Home Marketing (OOHM) like tarps, flyers, etc won’t work anymore… for now. You need to create your online presence whether it’s through social media or a website.

For the marketers out there, if you haven’t started learning yet, take up a social media marketing course online. But aside from that, don’t give in to the stress. These are difficult times and everyone is struggling. I know. I work with and talk with marketers. Even our company, has felt the pressure of business needs, and the struggle of being able to provide them with what they need.

Let’s go back to basics. Relearn what we need to learn about marketing, and find new strategies we can use to promote businesses.

We’re in this together.