Around March this year, the world was shocked to acknowledge that a global pandemic was wiping out the global population resulting in countries entering strict lockdowns in order to prevent further spread of the virus. Five months on, we’re beginning to see a sense of normality again, but not as we know it.
These are very challenging times for businesses at the moment during this pandemic. If they are going to survive, businesses need to adapt to these new surroundings as they are probably going to remain for many months to come.
Businesses have felt the full force of its impact with them having to close and/or adapt their systems, procedures and strategies in order to stay afloat and ride the wave in order to come out on the other side.
As a business owner, you may still be looking for ways to help your business grow for both the long term and the short term. You may have considered your marketing strategy pointless with many people choosing to stay at home or wait until it’s safe for them to do.
However, now is a time more than ever to utilise these marketing channels and make the most of them. Here are 4 in particular, that you should definitely consider along with reasons why.
Connect with Your Audience Through Social Media
Inevitably, in times like this people will naturally revert to social media for information, entertainment and communication with their loved ones. As it’s so easily accessible and right at users’ fingertips, they’ll be engaging with their phones now more than ever and using it as a way to contact businesses versus phone lines that may be far busier or even closed.
This is your opportunity to connect with your customers to not only answer their queries but also to support them through this tough time and let them know that you’re here for them.
Now is not the time to be pushy with sales, but to enable you to stand out against your competitors. Promote what you’re doing to help support others during this time through social media marketing.
Make Sure You Can Be Found Online
With customers preferring items delivered or using click and collect services for their supplies, they’ll be engaging more with their online platforms to search for goods and services.
Understandably, search traffic has increased massively since the outbreak which means being present on search engines is more important than ever before.
Ensure you’re using search engine optimisation strategies (SEO) that rank you high on search engine results pages when people search for generic keywords related to your business.
Now is not the time to hide and hold back on your marketing – continue to push your channels so you can get ahead of your competitors.
Pay-per-click Could Be a Smart Move
You may think that spending funds on your marketing channels won’t be wise. You’re thinking you’ll want to save money where you can and your marketing will be the first place to look at with so many people staying indoors. Well, you should actually consider thinking opposite to this.
Users are searching more than ever online and will naturally revert to search engines if they’re unsure about what exactly they’re looking for or don’t have a preferred brand.
On top of this, with more businesses choosing to hold back on their marketing, the average cost-per-click has actually decreased as a result. This means you could be saving more money for the long term with your marketing.
A solid PPC strategy will get you at the top of the search results and make you noticeable to users who are searching for your services.
Provide Discounts and Special Offers
The pandemic has taken a toll on practically everyone’s finances. So although they may be searching for services they may be apprehensive to part with their money when they wish to be sensible with their purchases.
This is a prime opportunity for you to support your customers and offer them discounts to purchase from your website.
Be sure to use your social media and PPC channels to promote any offers that you have so your consumers can be fully aware of your deals and encourage them to make purchases on your website.
Wrapping It Up
These different marketing ideas are opportunities for business owners to come out of the other side in a good place and benefit as a result of it.
Hopefully, you also see it this way and utilise these marketing strategies to get through the last hurdles of the coronavirus for your business. Just be sure to adapt your marketing strategies that work for your business specifically and your customers – now is the time to connect with your consumers more than ever.
Jamie Costello is a marketing and design freelance writer based in the UK. He uses his previous education and experience of working alongside a branding agency in his hometown to help collate his articles. When he’s not writing, he likes to read and play sports. You can find him on Twitter below.