HEALTH AND FITNESS continued
HEALTH AND FITNESS con't. next column
Health
and
Fitness
Tips from our Personal Trainer
MARKETING con't from PAGE 8
want brands to allow working from home to
help fight the spread. Tell your customers
what you are doing to help, they will think
positively about your business for taking
action and keeping them informed of the
steps you’ve taken during the crisis.
5.) Consumers (37%) say they want
advertising to make them feel safe and give
them a sense of normality, while others (31%)
want ads to make them feel positive. It would
be simple for businesses to see the increase
in online activity during this time and seek to
market to audiences as much as possible. This
is a mistake. In difficult times, consumers do
not want brands to keep advertising to them,
they want someone to give them support
and guidance. Building your credibility as a
compassionate and understanding business
during times of crisis will be remembered by
customers.
6.) 70% of businesses have moved their
face-to-face interactions partially or fully to
a virtual platform, and many do not see that
as a short-term fix. Platforms like Zoom and
Microsoft Teams have given the business
community the ability to take different
approaches to meetings. From one-toone
calls to large-scale conferences, these
platforms have done a lot to demonstrate
their worth to small and mid-size businesses
during the pandemic. While collaboration
tools and platforms were already seeing
a big rise before the crisis, users are now
seeing how they can provide the kind of
flexibility they need during uncertain times
in the future. When all is said and done and
normality resumes, communication platforms
will continue to be used by marketers.
7.) Total media ad spending worldwide
will decline by 4.5% this year. Unsurprisingly,
marketers have reduced their ad spending in
2020, with forecasters predicting a decline
to 4.5% from pre-pandemic estimates of 7%.
Business owners are instead focusing their
energy on organic social media campaigns
with existing audiences, hence the drastic
increase in content creation such as videos.
8.) Search engine ads forecast to grow
5.9% this year. While total media ad spending
is on the decline, search ads are on the up—
one area of marketing that has seen increased
spending this year. It makes perfect sense for
businesses to invest more heavily driving
traffic from search engines to their websites.
9.) 23% of consumers plan to continue
watching more live-streaming videos postoutbreak.
One of the more unassuming
winners of the pandemic from a marketing
point of view has been live-streaming, with
a quarter of consumers saying they plan to
continue watching more live-streaming events
after the pandemic is over. With in-person
gathering being significantly reduced,
many businesses have instead taken the
opportunity to live-stream events, product
launches, conferences, etc,— online.
10.) Consumers feel businesses are still
behind when it comes to mobile digital
communication. Though marketers have
been concentrating their efforts on digital
channels, there are still several areas where
consumers feel they could be doing better.
Simple strategies like utilizing all digital
channels beyond social media can help
improve customer satisfaction and, of course,
help them down the sales funnel more
effectively.
As you continue to chart your path for
the remainder of 2021, take a good look at
your marketing strategies to ensure you are
meeting your target market’s expectations.☐
Down But Not Out
by Mark C. Ford CPT
One of my all–time favorite movies is
ROCKY. I actually may have enjoyed ROCKY
II even more than the first one. What a great
story they both are! A journeyman club fighter
gets a shot at the heavyweight title. Nobody
believes he can actually win, including
ROCKY, but he is going to try no matter what.
The fight scene, although a bit gruesome is a
great example of what can happen with some
determination and the right training. Rocky
gets pummeled in the early rounds, only to get
mad and comes back with the help of months
of training, even including sessions in a meat
plant, and almost wins.
I think this past year has almost been like
the early rounds of ROCKY’S fight. At the time
of this writing, I believe we are somewhere
around the 10th or 11th round of our 15 round
bout with Apollo “Covid.” We’ve been beaten
up rather soundly. Maybe it’s time to get mad
and let our training kick in for the later rounds.
Oh, you haven’t been training? Well, no time
like the present to get started.
Am I recommending
that you get up at 4:30 in the
morning, drink a glass of raw
eggs and run up 100 steps like
ROCKY? No, not hardly. But
I would like to see you begin
the day fairly early with a nice
breakfast followed by some
light stretching and then an
exercise program designed to
meet whatever goals you have
set for yourself. Even with the
lock down we’ve been through,
it is still possible to stay active
and safe as well.
Unfortunately, exercising
with a mask on can be annoying,
and I know people who no longer go to the
gym because it’s required. But I’ve found that
after a while, you don’t even realize you have
it on, so that’s not really a legitimate excuse.
Wearing a mask is a small price to pay to ensure
your safety as well as other’s. However, if you
are still uncomfortable in a gym environment,
there are plenty of good exercises that can be
performed at home. With Spring finally here,
getting active outside is an option we should
all take advantage of. You would be surprised
how many calories working around the yard
can burn as opposed to just writing a check for
the lawn service once a week.
Now is also a good time to be extra careful
about your diet. Since you may not be as active
as in the past, it could be even easier for those
unwanted pounds to creep up ever so slightly.
I suggest stepping on the scale each morning
to monitor any subtle weight gain and make
changes accordingly. Also eating rather early
in the evening gives your body plenty of time
to digest before bed time. Those late night
snacks are tasty but tend to add weight exactly
where you don’t want it.
Motivation really is the foundation to a
healthy lifestyle. Getting to the gym or doing
something active around the neighborhood
can seem like a real chore on most days as
it’s much easier to stretch out in front of the
TV or play computer games. However, if you
really put in the effort you can find
time for both, you just need a little bit
of motivation like ROCKY found.
My favorite part in all the ROCKY
movies is in ROCKY ll when Adrian,
who had been opposed to ROCKY
fighting any more, wakes up from a
coma and tells ROCKY to just WIN! I
love his trainer Mickey’s reaction when
he jumps up excitingly and shouts,
“What are we waiting for?”
Well folks, What Are We Waiting
For!!! ☐
Mark Ford is an ACE (American
Council on Exercise) Certified
Personal Trainer who specializes in
training individuals age 50 and older.
(910) 975-2572 • mford42@nc.rr.com.
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link
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