From home offices to budget cuts and lost jobs, we have seen a huge shift in the way business is conducted and how a global pandemic has managed to impact every industry in 2020. It has been an enormous struggle for businesses to stay afloat during this time and for those that have been successful, it is a credit to their ability to adapt.

As we look to the year ahead, 2021 will surely present us with many more challenges, but with so much happening, will marketing your business be harder in the new year?

According to a survey done by Dun & Bradstreet, 70% of business respondents revealed that their marketing budgets have been reduced as a direct result of COVID-19. It was also uncovered that 76% of marketers were experiencing an “increasing amount of pressure to deliver leads since the COVID -19 outbreak”. With such financial loss that businesses have endured, it is no surprise that marketing budgets have taken a hit. This has caused a focus shift from new sales to retention. Return on investment has become the priority for many business owners as they need to ensure that they are gaining the most out of their spending. This increases the pressure placed on advertisements, promotions and sales to perform.

Not only will budget cuts present new challenges for marketing, but the inability for businesses to interact with their customers like they used to will also prove to be a hurdle. With so many regulations and restrictions that this virus has brought forward, companies are no longer able to host large marketing events like they used to. Many organisations can also only host a certain number of people in their place of business, making it difficult to engage new clients and operate smoothly.

For small businesses, it will be very difficult to engage new audiences without the marketing budget that they are used to. However, there are many ways to work around a low budget if you put your mind to it. Alternative marketing solutions could include developing new mutually beneficial strategic relationships with other like-minded businesses to recommend each other. You could also lean in to your current clients and look into getting meaningful referrals for your business. Another option is to consider if you need the assistance of an outsourced marketing agency to help you with fresh ideas and new marketing tools and techniques to assist your growth.

Nobody knows what lies ahead, but taking time to create flexible plans will help you stay on top of any new challenge in the year to come.