Remember when 2020 started just a few short weeks ago? Chances are you had the entire year planned out with a marketing strategy. You knew your budget. You had traditional and online marketing campaigns laid out based on the seasons. You even had target numbers in place for growth, with new ideas leading the way to get your products and services out to a new audience.
Oh, how times change.
Suddenly, the world came to a screeching halt. You’re no longer sure what to do. You’ve been pulling back your tactics, stopping campaigns, and putting a halt to future ideas. Instead of growth, your planning has turned to survival.
What’s a company to do?
While this pandemic and economic crisis is historic – we’ve never witnessed anything like this before – we can use past recessions as a guide.
A study published by McKinsey looked at stability and growth of 1,000 US companies over a sixteen year period, with the recession of 1990-1991 falling right in the middle. The study showed that what happened in the middle of the recession was indicative of the performance of the company after the recession. In other words, if a company is conscious of how they spend money on marketing, whether in good times or bad, they are more likely to have a stable business structure through both as well.
That’s good advice as we come out on the other side of staying in place due to the pandemic.
Luckily, one of the best places to put your marketing dollars in with online marketing. It has the ability to work for you longer because it resides online. Even small efforts can pack a big punch.
While you might not be heading in the same direction you thought you were on January 1st, as you’re refining your plans for the rest of 2020, here are some areas where you should consider making an investment.
Evaluate your web presence
Take a good look at your website. Chances are you’ve overlooked a lot of problems that exist with your current site.
- Does the navigation take you where you want people to go?
- Are your products and services properly highlighted?
- Are you using social appropriately on your site?
- When was the last time you added new content?
- Is the look of your site straight out of 2010? (Or worse, 2000?)
Now is the time to talk with an online marketing company and fix those problems. Create an up-to-date site. Add new colors, fresh content, and a whole lot of pizzazz. When the world starts up again, you’ll be ready to go.
Make sure your business can be found online
Social media is surging right now. Every site is seeing exponential growth.
It’s pretty obvious why. When you’re stuck at home with no place to go, the most obvious choice is to find something interesting to do online. That also means that if your brand isn’t out there, you’re missing the chance for exposure.
You should be using SEO tactics to come up under the key terms for your brand and business. Pay-per-click is also a great way to be there when you’re potential customers are looking.
We get they might not be buying right now. But we believe the adage “this too shall pass” applies here. And if someone finds you, loves you, follows you, they’ll also remember you when it comes time to buy. This is long term thinking and strategizing here.
Use social media platforms better than ever
Have you ever said: I’d love to use Twitter/Facebook/Instagram, but I don’t have the time?
Take the time right now to figure it out. Instead of diving into all the social media platforms, we suggest picking one and getting very good at it. Where are your prospects most likely to hang out? Pick that one first.
Then learn to use it well. If it’s Instagram, for example, you can find plenty of courses online for using it better. Take one and learn about it. Start creating images and sharing. And then when you’re ready, start a campaign to share it with the world. Don’t worry, if you need a little advice, we can help.
Pay-per-click can give you a big bang for your buck
Pay-per-click is all about getting instant action on the keywords most relatable to your business.
Those words can change all the time. For example, Google has released trending insights for April 15th related to the pandemic. It shows what search terms have been at the forefront of searchers’ minds. Can you use any of the current trends in your own business model?
Also, a lot of marketers have shut down their strategies. And with fewer players in the marketplace, that means many of the search terms have gone down in price. Remember, with PPC, you only pay for clicking. With less traffic, it may also mean fewer clicks. Which ultimately means less cost for you, while being there for when people do search as well.
Dig Deeper
Do Your Landing Pages Do All This?
Mobile Marketing Trends – What You Need To Know
Local SEO is needed now more than ever
Your local SEO is more important than ever. People are looking for ways to do business with people in their own communities. This will only increase as we return to life in our neighborhoods, looking for who is open for business.
Have you spent any time with your local SEO strategies? When was the last time you focused on Google My Business? Or paid attention to your online reviews?
Not all review sites are accepting reviews now that we’re closed. But they will go back up at some point in the future. What are you doing to improve how you look online?
This can also give you an opportunity to connect with past customers in new ways. Thank them for their business. Offer free resources just to help out. Stay in touch just because it’s the right thing to do.
This activity will only help you more once business gets back to work.
Where do you want your business to be when we reopen?
Have you taken the time to sit down and map out what you want your business to look like when we reopen? If not, maybe now is the time.
We all have a little more time right now to think about how things are working. Use this time for planning and creating.
Because it’s the perfect time to learn something new. To dig deeper into your business and find a better way to communicate with your audience.
And we can help you build that plan, and make a stronger business through the use of online marketing. Online marketing is the one tool that will help bring all of us back to working, building, and growing our communities once again.