The Impact of Brexit on your Marketing
Brexit will have an enormous impact on UK businesses, which has sparked some panic over what will happen to the UK’s exports, imports, and growth.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), recently released an in-depth report, which expressed grave concerns over the impact of a no-deal Brexit on both the economy and businesses alike. And while there’s still a bit of uncertainty about what a potential deal or a no-deal Brexit could bring, there are factors which will change regardless.
For successful businesses, marketing is a pivotal component of their overall strategy. In this blog, we will analyse how Brexit will impact marketing for UK businesses, and what you can do to pre-empt any issues.
Adjusting Your Marketing Strategy
While lots of politicians have asserted that Brexit mean ‘business as usual’ across the UK, the reality seems to be quite different.
Econsultancy found that “just 10% of survey respondents stated that they have implemented a Brexit marketing strategy,” in Navigating Brexit, a guide intended marketers and HR professionals.
Failing to adjust your marketing strategy to any major event can have big consequences. And just because your competition isn’t doing so, doesn’t mean you should.
Having a contingency plan means your business will be properly prepared for what lies ahead, which can give you an edge over the competition. Understanding your supply chain is also critical. B2B businesses, for example, should investigate how Brexit will affect their major clients and distributors, as this could also indirectly affect them.
Be wary of polarisation
There are caveats attached to this. Adjusting your marketing strategy to Brexit doesn’t mean that your marketing should specifically mention Brexit. Let me explain.
As the issue is such a polarising one, explicit references to Brexit and ‘choosing sides’ should be avoided at all cost. Instead, the emphasis should be on preparation and understanding, not on picking sides and alienating potential clients and customers.
How will Brexit affect your customers and clients?
Spend some time thinking about how Brexit will feel for the people you do business with. Put yourself in their shoes.
Do you anticipate a Brexit of opportunity or fear? Do you need to reassure any clients or adjust your tone?
This is especially relevant for agencies, but also for B2C businesses, as Brexit will most likely cause some shifts in consumer behaviour, which need to be addressed in your overall marketing strategy.
The impact of the pound on your marketing budget
The pound has been up and down since the Referendum result was announced a few years ago. And it still seems to be balancing precariously while we await what kind of deal (if any) gets struck with the EU.
Why does this matter?
Well, depending on what you spend your money on, this could have a significant impact on your operational costs. For example, if you use services like MailChimp, which bill in US dollars, this could have an impact if the pound was to drop unexpectedly after Brexit.
It may be manageable if it is just one or a few channels, but if a lot of costs are tied with foreign currencies, this could pose some issues if the pound takes a hit in value.
Another supply chain issue that could affect your business is VAT, which can affect consumer behaviour, particularly by EU consumers shopping in the UK.
To prepare, make sure to analyse all your marketing costs and how they could change.
Potential for new legislation
One of the main things that will change is the legislative framework, which has been treated a bit as an afterthought. This could influence compliance matters directly relating to marketing, but it could also relate to consumer legislation, which could also impact overheads.
Keep in mind that changing legislation can raise compliance costs and muddle the waters a bit, which means marketing departments and businesses owners need to be aware of any changes.
Data
While GDPR will remain law, there are other factors that will undoubtedly influence the free flow of data and information. This may impact the amount of data you can acquire but may also change some of the ways in which you can market to this data.
The lack of an already established data deal means that some UK businesses could lose the right to use their current data, especially if it was bought from an EU based data centre.
Chris Combemale, Group CEO of the Data and Marketing Association (DMA), asserted that “75% of the UK’s cross-border data flows are with the EU,” which helps to illustrate the full scope of data transfers between the EU and the UK.
The way forward
If you’re looking for advice on a Brexit-proof marketing strategy, get in touch with us directly to find out how we can help.
Also, let us know what kind of marketing preparations your business has undertaken to deal with Brexit? There are plenty more things to consider, so please leave a comment to let us know!
