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Digital Marketing in the Time of Coronavirus COVID-19

The entire world has been hit by the Coronavirus. When you go online, you’ll most likely see news updates showing you the latest statistics and telling you to stay home.

We’re sad to say that this has affected businesses worldwide, and we can only speculate as to how and when it will end.

As a business owner, what can you do during this time of uncertainty?

In this blog post, we’re going to discuss how and whether you should continue marketing online. You’ll learn how to communicate with clients and what to avoid.

Let’s get started.

Exercise empathy.

Thousands of people have been infected. Businesses around the world are losing money, and people are being laid off from their jobs as a result. Everyone is feeling a little unsure and vulnerable.

Take a careful look at how you’re currently marketing your product or service. Are you using language or imagery that may now seem inappropriate at this time? Examine your marketing messages across your website, social media profiles, and online advertising.

For example, promoting a “Quarantine Sale” would not be a good idea. Yes, it’s okay to continue digital marketing your business, but be mindful of how you do it.

Consider pay-per-click advertising.

We’re going to be honest with you.

This piece of advice is not for everybody. For example, businesses like restaurants, clothing stores, and travel agencies have understandably pulled back on digital advertising.

However, if you sell products online or provide services that don’t need to be done in person, you may want to consider investing in pay-per-click advertising. Your competitors may be pulling back on pay-per-click advertising, which means that your ads may be more visible and cost less per click.

Offline advertising options like networking events and speaking opportunities are also no longer an option. If you want to keep your business going, digital advertising may be your best bet.

Create relevant content.

Since we’re all encouraged to stay at home, people are spending more time online than ever.

You can create content about how your product or service can help. Be conscious of how you word things. If you exaggerate how beneficial your product is, people will remember long after quarantine is over.

You can also create content that’s informative or entertaining. We’re now bombarded by flashing news updates 24/7. A piece of content that teaches us something new or makes us laugh could be a welcome respite.

Utilise social media.

More people are at home now which means they’re spending more time online, specifically online. According to a recent survey, social media traffic has increased by 70% since the start of social distancing measures. You have more opportunities to attract and communicate with users.

In the previous section, we encouraged you to create relevant content. You could reuse this content on all your social media platforms, modifying it to fit each platform’s requirements and audience.

Communicate with clients.

People need support now more than ever. Contact your clients and see how you could assist them. Maybe there’s something you could do businesswise that could make things easier for them.

For example, plenty of eCommerce stores are now offering a free delivery option for clients. These businesses understand that going to a physical store to make a purchase may no longer be an option for some of their clients. So, they’re offering a free delivery option, so clients don’t have to spend as much.

Plan for when this is all over.

We don’t know when this pandemic will end, but the number of people testing positive in China and South Korea has significantly dropped. We can only hope that the numbers for other countries will soon drop as well.

When that happens, it may take a while for your business to truly get back on its feet. Having a plan in place might help. For example, you can start creating web content and drafting press releases. You could also start working on other marketing materials.

Conclusion

Business owners might be at a loss about what to do marketing-wise at this time, but you consider implementing some of the action steps we discussed in this post.

They could help you connect better with both potential and current clients, weather through this situation, and recover a bit faster once this is all over.

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Darlyn Herradura

A self-professed book and digital marketing nerd, Darlyn Herradura focuses on building trust between customers and businesses with the written word. She understands that creating valuable content is the best way to get found online and happily spends her time doing that.