The emergence of Covid-19 over the past few months has thrown many businesses into a state of turmoil and uncertainty. Unlike other global issues, such as recessions, businesses of all sizes and industries are affected by this virus in one way or another, as economies all over the world struggle.
Many businesses have seen their sales plummet over the past few months, and some sectors – such as leisure and hospitality industries – have seen a complete cessation of business, meaning that they are left with little option to survive other than using their savings and whatever government support they can access.
Whatever your business and industry, it is crucial that you work on maintaining and marketing your brand during this time, ensuring that you stay relevant and available to the public, so that you can continue in some capacity throughout the pandemic and beyond.
Marketing, just like other business practices, needs to be adjusted in order to survive throughout the coronavirus crisis. Online marketing is likely to be the only way in which you can realistically reach customers, as entire countries go into lockdown, and this form of marketing also has a benefit thanks to more people being stuck at home, and thus on the internet more often.
Five Forms Of Online Marketing
There are lots of different ways that you can market your business online, and which will be the most suitable will entirely depend on your business. Five of the best ways are:
Digital Marketing
This refers to using online marketing tools, such as Google AdWords campaigns and SEO practices in order to keep your brand in the public eye. You can often break down your audience to make your campaigns more targeted and help to reach both warm and cold prospects in this way.
Social Media Marketing
Offering a way to reach customers and build your brand personality, social media marketing allows you to engage with customers as well as post useful and relevant content that should bring in new potential customers.
Digital Media Interviews
Another great way to build a brand personality is to team up with popular digital media channels (YouTube, podcasts etc.) that appeal to your target market and do an interview where you can discuss your service and what you can offer people during this unprecedented situation.
Online Media Articles
During any crisis, people tend to be more reliant on digital media channels for their news and updates so this is the perfect time to pay for advertising space or get involved in writing content for these sites. Don’t forget that you don’t necessarily have to put out an ad to advertise your business – an opinion piece written for a well-known news channel could be just as effective in creating a buzz around your brand.
Video Marketing
This is a crucial area of social media marketing that many businesses miss out on. Video marketing allows you to get a message across in a fun and useful way that is far more likely to grab the attention of your audience. You can link to videos on your social media channels or other areas of the web, and if your video offers value you should find that people are more likely to share this content than any other form.
Online Marketing Tips
Whichever form of online marketing you decide to take advantage of, there are a few new rules to consider when advertising during a crisis like Covid-19. Whilst a lot of your previous advertising material will still be relevant, some of it won’t be, so here are some things to think about.
Help People
A global crisis is the perfect time for you to think outside the box and rebrand your skills in order to help people.
In New Zealand, a number of breweries and distilleries have adjusted their production lines so that they are now producing hand sanitisers instead of alcohol. Brian Watson, co-founder of Good George Brewery, said: “We had our whiskey and gin program going for a while, and we thought the world needs hand sanitizer more than it needs gin and whiskey right at the moment.”
And this is where a good marketing mind will be useful. Look at your business and try to identify what you can do in order to help out during the crisis.
If you run a restaurant, perhaps you can do deliveries, or create food boxes for the vulnerable. If you produce clothing, maybe you could start making fun masks for people to protect themselves when they go outside. The choice is yours but, if you do it right, chances are this will not be forgotten after the crisis is over.
Improve Your SEO
If business is slow, why not use this extra time to work on your website, and make sure that it is up to scratch and operates under good SEO principles, ready for when business takes off again. It can be difficult for smaller businesses to stay on top of SEO, because search engine algorithms change so frequently.
This is the perfect time for you to research how your current SEO practices hold up and make any changes necessary to improve your site’s visibility on SERPs.
If your SEO is watertight by the end of the pandemic, this should ensure that you will have an advantage on the competition from the off.
Don’t Ignore The Situation
Whilst many people don’t want to think about the virus all of the time, it is a mistake to try to ignore it. You may have noticed that many ads you see on television or hear on podcasts are related to the pandemic, and this is because it is at the forefront of everyone’s minds all the time. Mentioning it isn’t pandering, it helps people to feel connected to the brand.
Successful marketing means always being willing to adapt and change with the circumstances. Make your offers relevant to what your target market is going through right now, what they will need, and what they will be more likely to spend money on. If consumers feel that you understand their situation this will help them to trust your brand over others.
Here at Bricks Media our highly experienced team can offer help and advice on your current marketing strategy and identify areas where improvements can be made. With cost effective packages to suit companies of any size we can take the hassle out of managing your online presence and help to ensure your business puts it’s best digital foot forward now and in the future.
Please call on 917 292 5272 or email info@bricksdigitalmedia.com to find out how we can help.