
Marketing Strategy in Maintaining the Continuity of Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises (MSMEs) during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Pekanbaru City
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Tax Incentives and Guaranteed Working Capital Loans. The government has also invested
heavily in PEN schemes so that MSMEs can survive (Soleha, 2020). The Covid-19 pandemic
has become a global business continuity emergency. The pandemic has hampered global
economic growth broadly and rapidly (Blandina, Fitrian, & Septiyani, 2020).
According to a World Bank report (2020), the emergence of Covid-19 has brought
about a global recessionary trend, and all countries without exception have been unable to
withstand its devastating impact. According to the 2020 World Bank report, the global
economy contracted by 5.2%. This also means that SMEs have become victims of the
outbreak and have caused a long-term decline in business conditions (Safitri & Dewa, 2022).
The Covid-19 pandemic has also had a major impact on MSMEs in affected areas. Compared
to before the pandemic, China had 4,800 MSMEs in the worst post-pandemic situation (Lu,
Wu, Peng, & Lu, 2020). The commercial sector is experiencing problems in several ways,
such as supply shortages, decreased demand, and layoffs. (Bartik et al., 2020) analyzed more
than 5,800 MSMEs related to cyberspace and found that the Covid-19 pandemic had a
negative impact on individual businesses and their partners. The scarcity of resources leading
to corporate bankruptcy is the main impact of the epidemic (Rohmawati, 2022).
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, MSME owners, especially those in Riau
Regency, have felt a huge impact (Ramadhan, 2020). Restrictions on community movement
(PPKM) imposed by the government have had a negative impact on business continuity, such
as not allowing residents to gather, closing roads that hamper the distribution of raw materials
and consumer demand, as well as determining opening and closing times (Safitri & Dewa,
2022). The Covid-19 pandemic has become a complex challenge for all MSME owners, or
even went bankrupt because they couldn't afford it. Pay production costs. Months after
Indonesia's first case of Covid-19, the pandemic is far from over, with affected populations
forced to endure the challenge of survival. Small and medium business owners in Riau feel
the same way. To survive the pandemic, they must be creative in product innovation and
marketing strategies.
Marketing strategy
According to (Assauri, 2008), a marketing strategy is a comprehensive (holistic),
integrated and integrated plan in the field of marketing that provides guidelines for the
activities of a company to achieve its marketing goals. Still according to Assauri (2019: 169),
environmental factors that influence companies to formulate their marketing strategy are
market conditions or competition, technological advances, economic conditions, government
regulations and policies, socio-cultural and political situations.
Handika and Darma in their research explain the concept of marketing strategy,
measurement methods, and considerations used by company owners in making decisions
regarding marketing costs, marketing mix, and marketing allocations which will be adjusted
to market condition factors this place (Emiliani et al., 2021).
(Assauri, 2008) argues that one of the elements of marketing strategy is the marketing
mix, and the purpose of the process determines how a company can segment certain products.
The market showcases and offers their products. market. Marketing mix is a combination of
variables or core activities of the marketing system that is controlled by the company to
influence the response of buyers or consumers. These variables require companies to
integrate and coordinate as effectively as possible so that companies can carry out their
marketing plans effectively (Muttaqin, Kosim, & Devi, 2021). The marketing mix is a
marketing strategy, a method in which businesses exchange goods and services to meet
consumer demand. The marketing mix is designed to integrate to produce the desired
response in the target market, including product, price, distribution, promotion, participants,
process and physical evidence (Pondia, 2018).
1. Product