The pandemic has affected small businesses in so many different ways. Family-owned restaurants have been closing doors around the world, while other industries, such as e-commerce, saw a massive boost in sales as people were locked in their homes and doing more online shopping. The one industry that has probably taken the most damage is entertainment and ticket sales.
The Entertainment Industry is Hurting
Many businesses in this industry, for example night clubs, have had no choice but to completely shut down until the current situation is resolved – even if that means shutting down forever. Smaller businesses in the entertainment industry, like arcades, have been able to re-open but with strict rules surrounding occupancy capacity, mask-wearing, social distancing and the like. However, even in scenarios where businesses are able to reopen with these new rules, small businesses in this industry are seeing revenue drop off to less than half of what they were pre-covid.
Businesses are either shutting down temporarily or remaining open at a slight loss or minimal profit. This means decreased revenue for these businesses. What is the first expense cut when times get tough? Marketing.
Brighter Days Are Ahead
If a Coronavirus vaccine is going to be publicly available as soon as January 2021, which is the expectation, small businesses must be ready to ramp their marketing back up. Quickly. There are a few circumstances at play in this scenario. The first (and most obvious) is that a vaccine would allow state governments to relax the mandates that have kept small businesses closed or half-full. Furthermore, a vaccine should (in theory) make people more comfortable with going back into the world and engaging in social activities that Coronavirus fear stopped them from doing.
The kicker here is that on top of relaxed government regulations and increased comfortability with social activities, we are headed into a new year. With a new year comes new hope, especially after experiencing the unfortunate one that was 2020. People have been eagerly awaiting the end of 2020 since June, before the year was even halfway over. People are emotionally exhausted from being locked up at home the last 8 months, especially the younger generations. For a moment, consider Isac Newton’s third law that states “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”. The reaction to this rediscovered freedom is going to be shocking.
Consider the compounding effect of each of these factors, and you can see that we are in for a big spike in business for the entertainment industry, and brick-and-mortar business as a whole.
Get Started Soon
It is usually best to get ahead of situations rather than catching up to them. If you are on the latter end, the situation ends up controlling you instead of the other way around. Business owners in the entertainment space should be expecting a rapid snap back in terms of demand and potential revenue. The question isn’t a matter of if, but when demand for these activities will be back to their previous levels.
If you are in the entertainment industry and considering revamping & reviving your marketing regimen, we would love to learn more about your goals and some strategies you could deploy to reach them. Please fill out a contact form or email us at [email protected].