The world, as we speak, is going through a major crisis which isn’t unknown to us. The challenge of facing the Coronavirus a.k.a COVID-19 has hit every occupation worldwide. Businesses have been drastically impacted due to the virus as the economy takes yet another hit. From restaurants being seen in ghost towns to empty aisles and shelves in grocery stores, the world is going through something which one may have never imagined in a lifetime.
The world continues to be at a high alert with Corona virus spreading like a wildfire.
For every economy in the world, public and human safety is the top priority. It is due to this concern businesses all over the world are observing lockdowns, asking employees to work from home. According to the New York Times, it is essential for public to stay in their homes in order to limit the spread of virus across the world.
The behavioral shift in this case we see is how people are avoiding physically going to work, stores, restaurants and all sorts of public spaces. In such a case, for any business to bloom and not be drastically affected by this virus would be to increase their digital marketing game. At the same time, for digital marketers, this is your time to shine and showcase your creativity!
What Should Marketers Do?
With companies suffering massively with respect to costs, things could pivot for digital marketing. With people less traveling, less use of billboards advertisement and other forms of off-screen display of marketing, brands now need to consider digitally improving their name. The average time any smartphone or laptop user invests on their items has now increased more than ever. If you are thinking about investing in online ads, your digital transformation is on point.
Given the magnitude of the situation, we do not know when this virus could potentially be put to bed for good. For digital marketers, there are some tips they could follow for their individual as well as the growth of their organization during the COVID-19. Remember, using this time to learn a new skill set has its perks. As a digital marketer, you can use this time to improve the digital recognition of your organization and learn some new tricks up that sleeve. Let’s roll out some key points for you.
1. Stay Intouch with Your Customers
During this situation, people are now glued to their social media accounts more than ever. It is not only because of boredom; people are keeping themselves updated with the toll regarding COVID-19 patients and cases all over the world. During this lockdown, social media is probably the only source of communication people can rely on without being exposed to any potential threat.
Over the last month, the usage of the internet has increased as well. While people are using streaming services such as Netflix during the lockdown, others use it for communication. While you may wonder that your business has taken a hit, it does not mean that people do not remember your business. In fact, if you keep engaging with your target audience, you might make them miss you, which is a good thing. I mean, who doesn’t like being missed by someone they love, right?
At the same time, be sure to be not too pushy. This is the time when people require others to be empathic towards each other and not to capitalize on the situation. Do not be sales-pushy when you are trying to remind people of who you are. Remember some basic business ethics at a time such as this. Show yourself as a brand which stands out there for others during the crucial times.
2. Create an Online Presence
E-Commerce has become one of the fastest growing industries in the past. Why? Because of online space. With respect to the wonders of how important internet can be for any business, this is also the right time for you to build your online space and audience. People are online now. They are not taking any risks of driving or walking outside.
Over the past weeks and more to follow, the search traffic on online spaces has increased. This could be the time for you to focus towards online shopping as well.
Anything that is present online will be consumed a lot more than it did in the past. For any business, not having an online space would be a huge mistake. You need to learn about search engine optimization, commonly known as SEO and implement those strategies in order to reach the search engine results (SERPs) on Google. This is the right time for your business to be found online. For any business that goes in its shell, you are making a huge mistake. At this point if you do not have any online presence, start by buying a domain for your organization.
For digital marketers, you need to expand your portfolio and learn a thing or two about SEO. Pitch this idea to your superiors, get in touch with your organization’s programmer and start working on this potentially hit idea!
Related: 10 Amazing Online Home Business Ideas
3. Help People During the Crisis – Market it Well on Social Media
Everyone loves the good guy, and everyone expects from the good guy to shine during tough times. Be the superhero people are looking to rely on. One of the best forms of marketing during a time such as this would be to create your own goodwill. People never forget the good (as well as the bad) your business does. If you can use this time and the resources you have to help others, do it. Put it out on social media and get the job done.
Distilleries and breweries in New Zealand have changed a few of their production types to make hand sanitizer which went short when the virus first outbroke in the country.
According to the co-founder Brian Watson of Good George Brewery, gin and whiskey has been halted temporarily while they have started the production of hand sanitizers.
Now while marketing may not be the top priority of brands such as these, they still need to make sure that their actions are being illustrated in the right forums so that their consumers see. People remember these actions very well and would very much feel appreciated being associated to such a brand in the future.
However, as mentioned in the first point, make sure you are not too pushy about it. Do not overdo it. Subtly float what we are doing for your people through a decent PR and move on.
4. Improve the SEO of your Website
In a point earlier, I mentioned that if you do not have an online space, create one by understanding SEO. In this point, let’s talk about if you already have an online presence, how it can be improved through SEO.
With a fact that people are not online more than ever, it means for you to have an improve virtual space and presence. Any business that has an online presence needs to be know the basic SEO principles and implement; otherwise, you will be amazed the lengths your competitors can go to ensure you are left behind.
Search companies such as Google frequently change their algorithms. This requires you to be updated on not just the happenings, but also on how you can implement the changes without your website’s suffering. For e-Commerce, maintaining the shifts and changes in algorithms is as crucial as breathing.
Good content marketers and copywriters are aware of how they need to write the content with respect to SEO guidelines. Similarly, the developers on board need to make sure that the website operates in a user-friendly as well as search-engine friendly manner.
The purpose of implementing SEO seriously is to ensure that when the potential target audience searches for the keywords that are associated with your industry, your website appears on the top results, essentially on the first page and within the top 5 results that appear. Now, keep in mind that you are not the sole provider of the specific keyword. Hundreds and thousands of businesses are competing to appear on the top results. This is essentially why you need to have an improved SEO understanding as compared to others.
Assuming that your competitors might be a little too busy rethinking their strategies during the COVID-19, you need to work on ensuring quality of your business as well as the website.
5. Understand and Start PPC Advertising
While it varies industry to industry, this is probably the right time for you to start or increase PPC advertising – also known as pay-per-click advertisement. Again, with the influx of people on the internet, it is a great chance for you to have your ads appearing in front of people and hence, they click on it. This can potentially lead to giving you the competitive advantage you are looking for.
This is the great chance for you to save spending money on the digital marketing budge as well. On an average, the costs around PPC has gone down to 6% all over the vertical in the last one week. In the forthcoming weeks, this may decrease even more, depending on how much advertisers are using this medium as a source of advertisement. This is again, an opportunity for your business to save some losses while potentially gaining more than they could have imagined during a time such as this.
Related: Using SEO Data to Make Better Marketing Decisions
6. Keep an Eye on the Marketing Metrics
With everything going online, you need to make sure that you are keeping a close eye on the marketing data of your business. Take notice of what strategies are getting you the results you are looking for and what strategies are not working in your favor. If the previously implemented marketing tactics are no longer doing the trick, leave them. Or maybe reduce them. Stop the irrelevant types by analyzing the results you are seeing in front of you. This is the sort of screening that needs to be a part of your new everyday marketing philosophy. See the data, examine the trends, make the required changes.
It is now simple for one to see the ROI of the activities they are performing for their digital marketing. You need to make sure you have a marketing goal identified in front of the campaign you are implementing and use the right metrics to measure the results you are getting.
Taking the right steps now is crucial for businesses all over the world. As the economy suffers, businesses are taking drastic decisions to save themselves. One of the best ways to save an organization now is through digital marketing.
While the situation in front of us is unknown, this is the right time for businesses all over the world to capitalize their digital presence. Digital marketers need to follow these tips and implement in their respective organizations. There are high chances that some of you maybe be in a lot of pressure from your organizations in building the right image online. This might be the sort of pressure you have never experienced in the past either. The right way for you is to make sure that you understand these tips and implement them. Educate yourself as much as you can.
In times like this where everyone is glued to their smart devices, take advantage of the situation. Make sure that your consumers do not forget you and make sure you build the presence online. Remember, your consumers are now sitting online, going through your space as well as your competitors’ online spaces. You need to be the one that they stick to. Encourage your masses to stay safe, but at the same time, remind them of your business.
