Marketing your business in the midst of COVID-19: Marketing tips to stay afloat

Amid this global pandemic, it can be difficult to understand what to do next with marketing strategies. While some industries such as e-commerce are seeing substantial growth in industry revenue and surpassing years of trends in place, other industries are finding themselves struggling with very few options left. This pandemic is affecting each and every business differently from small businesses in your local communities to national corporations with international hubs, but no matter what, marketing can be resilient even through the second financial crisis in the United States. 

As companies find themselves with Q4 goals and coronavirus ramping back up in the United States, it can be difficult to think about coronavirus digital marketing strategies and how to effectively and costly work on marketing during coronavirus when it is essential. 

With Internet usage at an all time high and shoppers searching for a bit of relief or endorphins, a digital presence and coronavirus marketing strategy is essential to stay afloat during and after COVID-19. 

While marketing during coronavirus has posed a number of new challenges for marketers and its clients, this is where companies and its marketing strategies have swiftly been able to adapt their campaigns from months ago to continue with sales and KPIs in place, but at the same time, make sure that all messaging is relevant with its consumers. 

Where does a company that might be a bit behind the curve or just reopening even begin with everything that has happened or continues to happen? Follow our COVID-19 marketing guidelines: 

Audiences’ behaviors have changed and drastically 

Similar to any other marketing campaign that launches whether it be a brand awareness campaign to a Fall seasonal campaign, it is imperative to understand its importance to your customers and understand their motivations or needs behind this purchase. This is no different during this unprecedented time. 

A consumer’s behavior before COVID-19 is drastically different than during this pandemic for a number of reasons! SocialBakers conducted an audience research study to see just how much a consumer’s behavior has changed the last seven months with 52 percent of consumers' pandemic shopping behaviors to follow them post-pandemic as well. 

With 39 percent of consumers increasing their social media usage and 42 percent of them online shopping more, companies cannot afford to continue to disregard the implementation and success that digital marketing provides with the right strategies in place! Now is the time to stay connected, garner new keywords, learn from other’s mistakes, A/B test SEO and social media campaigns and review reporting from the last six months. 

It is a global pandemic, there is no marketing rule book in place, but strategic (keyword strategic) trial and error and implementation of some new strategies could be the changing strategy your company needed all along. 

Reassure your clients 

The importance of normality is critical for companies, their partners, board of directors, consumers and employees alike because right now nothing is certain. While you should never make promises that cannot be kept, it is okay to ensure clients and customers alike that everything is as normal as can be. 

As we stated before, a number of companies are finding themselves in extremely fortunate times such as the real estate industry. 

It is imperative that all clients feel as if they are being attended to, their investments in your products and/or services are still worth it and communication is clear, concise and even possibly a bit excessive. It is always better to overcompensate with a client than to under communicate and a misunderstanding be the breaking point in a contract in a time when no one can afford to lose a client. 

Get creative 

From small to large companies, online sales are skyrocketing during COVID-19 with  19.3 percent of sales being online which is a 43 percent increase since March. This tells marketers that coronavirus digital marketing is going to continue to stay online post-pandemic. 

Even if your company is not able to handle the influx or orders, sales or services with an e-commerce website, it is important to get your website out there and offer some type of your services and/or products via the website.

Even with a shrinking marketing budget, the digital marketing spend is expected to increase by 8.4 percent the rest of the year and in 2021. While this might be a small percentage, a company needs to realize that at the beginning of COVID-19, marketing budgets were significantly decreased in the panic of the pandemic. 

At the same time, consumers are still willing to pay full price for services and/ or products from companies that they are loyal to whether that is local coffee shops or corporations, continuing digital marketing and appearing in front of consumers will only continue to create a strong loyalty with current customers and create that initial trust and curiosity with new ones.

While a website is critical for a number of marketing strategies, what other strategies can you utilize right away? 

SEO has never been more important

Local and national SEO has never been more important for a company’s pre, during and post pandemic marketing strategies and success. While the statistics above show more and more consumers are online than before- local SEO can garner those local sales and loyal customers who are searching to support locals! 

While foot-traffic is not what is necessarily coming to the store-front, those searching for online options and contactless pick-up could be the new store-front foot traffic that continues to keep businesses sales level or increasing during COVID-19. 

Even for a hyper-focused local SEO strategy, companies want to implement a national strategy as well. The Internet allows consumers from all over the globe to purchase products and services unlike ever before. 

And because of this, a company that is deemed authoritative and trustworthy in search engines and consumer’s eyes is going to overall do better over time versus a company that simply sticks with old strategies! 

A great way to start with local SEO is to get a Google My Business account started! This is what shows in the local SERP spots or Map Pack! From there, make sure that your company finds the best agency to help with on-page and off-page local and national SEO strategies! 

This agency should target different keywords based on their volume opportunities, local intent versus national intent and audience’s search behavior and patterns. From there, it is time to utilize one of the most common digital strategies out there! 

Utilize social media’s various options

While social media advertising is often the most common notion a company thinks about when someone says social media marketing, the thing is, you need more than social media advertising alone to get the right results! 

While social media advertising traditionally costs less than traditional media, and with many not driving as much or remote working, spending that money elsewhere is critical. But, what about creating a community. A company might find its ads falling a bit short right now on specific platforms, but with the implementation of organic social media marketing strategies, a company can start to create a loyal following and a like-minded audience is imperative! 

Post and create content that your audience wants to engage with, consume and even buy! A great example of this is yoga studios offering Zoom classes, virtual events on Facebook or Facebook Groups!  Find out what is important to them and where they are right now. 

This doesn’t include Instagram Stories, IGTV, Facebook Live, webinars, virtual events, email marketing, PPC ads and more. There are so many other strategies that a company should and can be utilizing to help their lead generation and sales during coronavirus. 

For help with coronavirus digital marketing strategies, contact us for a free consultation today!