In our previous article, we’ve been looking at the Five most common mistakes companies make during a recession. However, your role as a strategic marketer is to find strategic opportunities for your business. To think outside the box and come up with ideas that can help your business survive a recession and grow. In this article, we are looking at the most promising industries and business areas that we believe can help your business thrive.
E-Commerce
If you’re a business selling physical goods, we strongly hope you don’t rely solely on brick-and-mortar stores. Already before the crisis, e-commerce has been long booming and becoming a customer favorite in almost every industry. With the current lock-down, e-commerce is no longer a preferred sales channel; it’s the only one!
Even if you don’t have an e-commerce store now, there are plenty of opportunities to create one within days. You can use systems like Shopify or tap into an industry-specific e-commerce platform (like Czech platform NakupBezpecne for corner stores).
Finally, if there’s no e-commerce platform for your industry, think of ways to create one. It may not be worth it competing with other companies in your industry. Instead, use your industry knowledge, partner up with a tech company, and develop an e-commerce platform. Then provide it to your competitors and make a profit on them.
Telecommunications & Remote Work
In the current lock-down, people heavily rely on telecommunications to talk to their families, friends, colleagues, and business partners. Even in the subsequent recession, business travel will be limited due to its cost (and health risks). Therefore telco & remote work are poised for a period of growth. A great example of that is the current surge of mobile networks as well as tools such as Teams, Zoom, Slack, and others.
Dependant on your type of business, you can:
- think of ways to provide your business services to clients via the internet (i.e., remote consultations, guided use of pre-sent materials, online conferences and round-tables)
- create an offer of your product specifically for telco companies and switch your lead generation efforts here (i.e., webinar on the use of your software by Telco companies)
- tap into their business surge and offer a business partnership, using your product benefits and their reach. Telco/Remote Work companies will be looking at maximizing their revenue and profit by smoothly increasing their product portfolio.
FYI: Our solution, Oppido, is an ideal example of a product suited for Remote Work in the current crisis. Its unique structure enables marketers to cut down on phone calls and chats, without losing the ever-important information flow.
Transportation
Similarly to the above case of telco, the transportation business will be thriving currently. In this case, however, we are talking about the transportation of goods and materials, not of people (an industry which will be declining now). Whether you’re talking about cross-border, long-distance delivery of goods, or last-mile delivery of products in town (purchased in different e-shops or restaurants), transportation will be booming.
A great example of using this trend for your benefit is the Czech transportation start-up Liftago. Their original business, taxi-like personal transportation, has crushed overnight. But they were able to quickly transform into 90-minute delivery of goods from the Czech largest electronics e-shop Alza. A great example of utilizing your skills, experience, and resources for a new market!
Healthcare
Healthcare (especially prescription healthcare and non-postponable medicine) are generally very recession-proof. In the current crisis, however, people will rely on medicine even more than before. Put that, together with the overall understaffing of hospitals. The result is a strong demand for services and products! We see a massive possibility in telemedicine, new research, machine learning/AI/big data in medicine but also materials, better organization and communication tools, and automation.
A great example of a service, which will now be more critical than ever, is Mindpax.me a digital service for psychiatric patients. They use digital technology and ML to increase patient comfort, decrease doctor workload, and save money for insurance companies.
Remote Education
Are you a parent with a kid homeschooling currently? Then I probably needn’t explain further. But remote schooling isn’t just for kids. It’s universities, professional development, the elderly. We live in a knowledge/skills-based economy, and everyone is forced to learn new skills continually. You can easily use this to your advantage (sharing the skills you have, you can attract new customers, or make a profit directly).
Public Cector / Government
Several factors play into why we decided to include the public sector in this list:
- A steadily growing economy, which was suddenly slowed to a halt, forces governments to change their approach and become more flexible.
- Due to the oncoming recession, governments want and need to support businesses. They will rather do it by purchasing services that help them, then by giving out aid.
- Long-term technological trends (like Industry 4.0) and society change (brought by Coronavirus) will bring about a need for new solutions -> new information systems, communication tools, analysis, outsourced services that increase public sector efficiency…
What do you think about these? Do you see opportunities in them for your business? Or are you thinking about other areas? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below. In our next article, we will introduce a marketing design thinking process that can help marketers to bring about change quickly and successfully. Don’t forget to sign-up for our newsletter, so you don’t miss it!
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