The coronavirus pandemic has largely changed the way people live, work and shop. Despite the shifting tides of business operations, your online marketing has to be in line with the current trends to stay afloat. While the majority of brick-and-mortar businesses have shut-down, online businesses are experiencing a surge in demand. One of the best practical ways of keeping your customers engaged during this unsettling period is through adapting your marketing plan to meet their needs.
Defining your Marketing Plan
Your marketing plan should involve the overall strategy for how you plan to communicate with your audience and entice them into purchasing your product or service. Marketing plans range from basic to comprehensive. However, whichever online campaign you work with should address pertinent details about your brand. For instance, you should factor in where you are at at the moment, and where you wish to be within a given timeframe. The lane you take while pivoting your marketing efforts will make or break your business. In the current economic upheaval, consumers do not want an overload of information or an insensitive seller. What then can you do to keep them and attract new ones?
Communicate the Relevance of your Brand
Now is perhaps one of the best periods to emphasise the value of your product and how it will potentially benefit consumers during these trying times. It will mean being a little more creative and shift your focus to emphasise the unique ways in which your brand will meet their needs. Rather than just promoting your offer, focus on meeting their needs and be empathetic. Is there a service or product you can offer for free for a limited period, for instance, or perhaps some training? You could begin by learning how to create an online course that will resonate with your audience. With most consumers shopping online, take advantage of promotions and tools that could help in building your brand awareness.
Take Advantage of SEO
Search engine optimisation is an investment that will help you rank better on Google. If you fall on the first page of the search results, it will mean getting a third of clicks. In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, Google has released features that will help businesses keep their consumers informed. Take advantage of this and remember to update meta descriptions and title tags. If you are looking to boost your organic rankings, an SEO audit should be enough. Working on missing meta-descriptions, for instance, will give your site a better chance of being found easily.
Think about PPC
While SEO may take time to show results, PPC is quicker and more effective when it comes to refining your business presence. While many businesses stopped their PPC campaigns following the pandemic, overall traffic on the web took an upward curve. The average cost per click is now down by 50%, meaning that if you take advantage of it, you will enjoy more leads at a lower cost. One of the good things about Pay Per Click is that it is more measurable. Use PPC to build your brand awareness. This will, in turn, reward you post the pandemic by rebuilding your sales funnel.
Pay Attention to Social Media Marketing
Many consumers are spending more time on social media, searching for supplies and communicating with friends and family. Channel your marketing effort towards the more engaging platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for online lead generation. Be sure to create posts that add relevance to your brand, entertain consumers and educate them rather than being overly focused on completing a sale. You could also engage them by commenting on their posts.
Leverage Video Technology
Videos are today, among the most consumed and shared content. With more features being added to the video technology, they can be used to advertise your business, educate and communicate. While it may come with a variety of applications, what works for one brand does not have to automatically work for the other. For instance, instead of sending your customers a long newsletter, you could improvise and send a bespoke video.
Customized videos tend to be extremely eye-catching and appealing. If your business depends on close contact with your clients, video conferencing is an avenue you need to focus on. Facetime builds a strong client-business relationship, more than any email can do. Remember to prioritize consumer engagement over the sales you hope to make, and show them that you are willing to help.
In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the global marketplace continues to shift rapidly. It means that for any business to thrive today, innovative ways must be embraced to keep your audience engaged. A proactive plan will be needed to adjust and adapt to how your business will speak to customers, while also making efforts to manage your brand. While customers may not know how you are responding to the unprecedented event, it will be reflected in your ad campaign. You are fully responsible for setting the tone to how customers perceive your brand. With these tips, you should be in a position to rethink your marketing strategies and stay on the right track through unprecedented times.
By Katherine Perkins