 | The author: Ray de Bono has over 25 years of business management experience; he has directed branding, IT and corporate projects in Malta, Germany, Ghana and the United Kingdom. Ray's business clients have included Microsoft, the European Union (EU), the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO.int), Speutz AG, Aon Malta and the Maltese Government, amongst others. |
Synopsis: This is no time for panic but for a revision of the way we do business. In this article, Dmax.tv CEO Ray de Bono gives practical tips on how to strengthen your marketing and build up your sales.
While it may seem like the world has stopped turning as the Coronavirus pandemic takes hold, the reality is that your business still needs to function, and you need to make ends meet.
We are lucky that we live in a digital era where the closure of bricks-and-mortar premises doesn't mean you have to shut down your operations completely. Of course, you have the right to be concerned that the current situation could impact your work, but there are steps you can take to avoid negative repercussions.
Remote working |
 | If, like many other companies, you have asked your employees to work remotely or are operating with a skeleton staff, you might be struggling to stay connected. Keeping your team up to date with what is happening within the company can be a time-consuming task, but without the ability to have face-to-face meetings (unless you use Skype or Zoom), the task becomes even more complex. |
“Statistically, there are indicators that show the growing potential of email marketing. Based on surveys conducted by the Channel Preferences Survey, 91% of people access their email at least once a day. Moreover, it is also said that they prefer to receive business information via email.”
B2B sales |
 | Perhaps you work in sales, and your revenue has taken a nosedive. Staying in touch with clients, reaching out with information on new products and sales, and generally keeping them on your side becomes even more difficult in a remote setting. Remember, many of your contacts are probably also working from home, meaning that picking up the phone to chat with them might not be as simple as before. Tip: Use Email Marketing to inform contacts and clients of your latest offers, company news and services. It works! |
Manning the emails |
 | With all or some of your team out of the office and working hours limited, being able to reply to emails, send out periodic information or updates is a task that is often too much to handy. Here is where email comes handly., Intelligent email systems are more akin to a CRM; in fact, this kind of email software offers a host of features enabling you to issue automated, personalised replies and follow-up on your contacts' response, clicked links and interests. How about that? A recent study by Litmus (2019) showed that targeted emails might generate half of a company's email marketing revenue, as opposed to non-targeted ones. Besides, HubSpot suggests that targeted emails may account for 58% of earnings and increase profits up to 18% more. |
#Webtraffic |
 | Just because everything else has shut down, or is in the process of doing so, this doesn't mean that you don't need to worry about driving traffic to your website. Since people have a lot of time on their hands, sending people to your site to learn about products, services, and other features of your business is a smart idea. Hint: email marketing is proven to increase web traffic by at least 25%. |
New products and services |
 | Despite the current climate, you might have new products or services that are ready to be launched, or perhaps you are planning on promoting them. Doing so when the office is closed can be rather complicated, but communicating this news to your client base as well as to potential new clients is essential to ensuring your business stays afloat. |
"There are around 3.7 billion email users in the world today, with the figure likely to grow to 4.3 billion by 2022. This makes email marketing a viable strategy to put your efforts into, especially as the ROI for it is around 3,800%. It also remains an important source of information for B2B companies".
- Smart Insights 2019
Is it business as usual? |
 | Many clients or possible customers may assume you are closed when in fact you are not. Letting them know it is business as usual and that there is someone there to handle their enquiries or requests is key- remember you need to get in there first before they look elsewhere. The early bird catches the worm! |
So how can you keep up engagement for the above scenarios?
Your digital marketing channels (the website, social media, blog pages) should be incorporated to work on shared goals. For your future campaigns, use email marketing to link to your blogs and social media accounts that may contain relevant images, videos and content. It's time to start prioritising email as a channel to maximise your business goals.
An innovative email marketing service such as Dmaxepaper.com enables you to stay in contact with whomever you may need when you need, and how you need. It drives forward sales, opens lines of communication, starts conversations and informs at a time when keeping it 'business as usual' is vital to survival.
It's not like social distancing started last week. Smartphones have turned people into remote workers or clients, anyway. This data speaks for itself:
- 55% of emails are opened on mobile devices as opposed to laptops.
- People use mobiles three-quarters of their time to email.
- 75% of the almost-billion Gmail users access their email on mobile.
Source: Smartinsights.com (2020)
By utilising the power of email marketing through Dmaxepaper.com, you can send bulletins, updates, news, information on new products, and conversation starters to your employees and clients. This allows you to stay on top of important communication in a cost-efficient and measurable way.
According to a study done by McKinsey & Company (2019) email marketing is up to 40 times more effective than social media. The same study also shows that the buying process happens three times faster than in social media.
Statistically, there are indicators that show the growing potential of email marketing. Based on surveys conducted by the Channel Preferences Survey, these show that 91% of people access their email at least once a day. Moreover, it is also said that they prefer to receive business information via email.
According to the Fourth Source website, 92% of internet users have at least one email account. That is, practically everyone has email unlike with social media, where not everyone has an account, which can minimise the reach and coverage of the desired segment.
To contradict the rumour that dictates the death of email marketing, according by The Radicati Group, the number of email users will grow to 3 billion in 2020.
These statistical indicators leave no room for doubt about the potential of this tool, which should be included in the digital strategy of a company, since three out of four affirm that they obtain good results through it (Econsultancy).
Included in the system's price, is remote training at all levels and ongoing support to get you up and running in no time. During this difficult period, it is important that we all weather the storm. By utilising a range of digital tools to optimise business solutions and services, you can keep the conversation going with Dmax's host of services (like Social Media Management) and above all, with Dmaxepaper.com. Use this period to regroup your team and refocus your marketing campaigns where it pays.
Here's what our clients have to say
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| Surya Maneesh Marketing Manager, SiGMA, Philippines | Colin Aquilina CEO, ROCS, Malta | Sascha Theisen Stammplatz Communication, Germany | ||
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| “Ray de Bono’s team at Dmax in Malta have guided and supported SiGMA right from the start... Read more > | “The Dmax team have been helping the ROCS Group for many years with email marketing services... Read more > | “Dmaxepaper.com gives us the opportunity to open up new revenue opportunities for our agency...Read more > |
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