Digital Marketing Practices To Follow During The COVID-19

We all know that the COVID-19 breakout has slowed down the markets. In this lockdown/quarantine situation, you can still grow your business and take advantage of the massive customer base, if doing nothing but browsing most of the time. Unique businessmen think of this crisis as an opportunity in disguise. Let’s discuss some ways in which you can maximize this time to grow your business and bounce back when the time is right. 

Strengthen Bond with customers on social media

Use your business’ social networking accounts to connect with customers and target them. Don’t push for sales or conversions.  More people are logging on social media, and they need to be in communication. People are information hungry right now and if you can provide it to them it will add to your credibility and brand image. Stand out and get noticed by customers during these tough times by staying active through social media platforms. 

Use your business to contribute for humanitarian causes during this crucial time. Promote your good deeds and CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities via social media marketing to build a good name for your brand. Reach out to the customers as they cannot reach you. 

Amplify your online presence

Most people are in quarantine and sitting at their homes. For respite, they are browsing the internet more than ever as there is nothing much that can be done while sitting at home for days on end. This is a great time to be found on the internet.

Search traffic has been increasing rapidly and will continue to climb. People are glued to their computers and their phones looking for updates within our community. Any information that is put out there will be voraciously consumed more than ever before. Use SEO vigorously to climb up the search rankings and dominate the SERPs. This is not the time to hibernate but rather come out with full force on the internet and use this time to build your online presence. 

 Pay per click advertising

Use of PPC advertising at this time is a great move. Connect with customers to gain a competitive advantage. It is a great time to save your marketing budget. Cost for pay per clicks has been decreased by 6% across all domains. CPC (cost per click) is likely to decrease further as time progresses. This means that the cost paid by the advertiser for per click to the ad publisher is going down. This presents a unique opportunity to pick up the lost market shares and build their brand. 

Stay one step ahead or leap forth

Staying focussed on SEO will lead your business ahead of the competition. Don’t make the mistake of simmering down your efforts, rather take them a notch higher up to make the maximum impact. Focus on the market, target the right keywords so that customers land up on your website and they end up calling you. Keep optimizing your website and content daily to remain competitive and float above your competitors. 

When the smoke clears, prepare to bounce back

This crisis will subside soon and everything will be back to normal. As seen in China, the country from which the outbreak began, markets there have opened and normalcy is returning to the streets. Similarly, all countries will slowly resume business. As a business owner, be ready to bounce back when this happens. For the time being, keep building your brand and stay visible. The efforts you put in today will give you unprecedented dividends a couple of months from now when all this pipes down. Pausing now can have a devastating effect on your SEO revenue when the air clears. So stay on track and continue your digital marketing exercises as they were before COVID-19. 

Unique circumstances present unique opportunities

Show special consideration at this point of time to show support to your consumer base by offering special discounts to keep your revenue flowing. Create specially designed offers to complement your business and consumers. People are at home browsing for discounts, if you give them what they want, they will most likely become yours. This is a great time to engage with your customers by offering them discounts and if need arises, push them with PPC advertising and social media to build a stronghold. 

Go local & gather reviews

As people are not leaving their homes, but in case they do, they are looking for local businesses which can be found nearby. The market for nearby supplies and services is still on up to a large extent and this is the time for local SEO. ‘Near me’ searches are the most dominant ones right now and the focus should be to maximize results from them. Gather reviews and feedback that can be helpful later on. Give your customers feedback forms and ask about their experience. They have ample time to fill in detailed reviews which can later on give you the required impetus and information to flaunt. 

Transform as a business and keep your customers in loop

Take this opportunity to reach your customers if they can’t reach you. Keep your business fluid enough to adapt to the changes and morph accordingly to stay in the market and keep generating revenue. Inform your customers about how you have changed your business and you’re still providing services but in a different way like home-delivery, roadside pickups etc. There is always an alternative way to conduct your business, like gym services can offer online courses, restaurants can deliver food to homes and so on. Boost these changes and convey information to consumers via efficient social media channels.

Don’t panic and avoid being paranoid

Don’t fall victim to panic building up all around. Don’t go away spending all your digital marketing resources at once. Move at a normal speed. stay focussed and steady in your digital marketing methods. Be smart in implementing your digital marketing strategy and maintaining your composure. 

Complete your To-Dos

Your schedules are most likely free right now. Use this time to finish that long to-do list that’s been pending. Revamp that website, learn that new programming language or design framework and boost your skill set. Survey the market and the latest practices. Analyse your website’s SEO and do audits. Fill in the gaps in your digital marketing campaigns and check all those boxes that have been waiting since a long time for your attention. 

Keep a sharp eye on how markets are changing and keep changing your strategy accordingly. Don’t settle, rather keep the tickers moving as your customers are looking at you expectantly. Stay active and keep a dynamic action plan ready to tackle all kinds of challenges that are coming up in the near future.