In our current, uncertain times, as businesses are forced to close or are being subject to periods of unproductivity, it’s logical that the first avenue to turn to would be to cut costs. This can include things that don’t seem ‘necessary’ when you don’t have as much money coming in, such as your marketing.
However, history shows us that if you cut less during the bad times, you’ll gain more in better times. While digital marketing might seem like an expense that can be sacrificed right now, it will only harm you in the long run.
So, here are some strategies to help your business and continue your marketing during this unusual event across all industries.
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Use this time to work on your business and make sure it can come back stronger than ever
Many of us have projects we want to complete in our own business but have never been able to find the time. Now’s the time to get your database cleaned up (so you can email all of your past clients when you’re open again) or flesh out those new services or anything else that has really been on the backburner.
Additionally, now is the perfect time to audit your online presence. Consider things like:
- Is our website up to scratch, or does it need a refresh?
- Is our content presenting your business in the best light?
- Are all our social media profiles completed in full, up to date and do they show up online when you search the business name?
Periods where you’re not getting as much traffic to your website are generally the best times to overhaul it and make sure that it’s up to date and fresh.
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Pivot your business’s focus and services
As more businesses are forced to close, business owners are needing to become more creative. The best thing to do at this time is to pivot your services and make sure you’re seen as essential rather than desirable. An example of this can be an air conditioning company changing their focus from installing new units, to maintaining air conditioning units as people stay at home and use their air conditioning more than ever. After all, you wouldn’t want to be stuck inside with an air conditioner that doesn’t work.
Similarly, it can be important to review how you deliver your products and services. Do you need to open an online store to offer your products now, or offer gift cards for services that can be redeemed later? Maybe you need to figure out how to offer your services virtually, through online conferencing or telehealth.
A great way to offer this new information to customers can be through paid ads, and through posting to your Google Business Listing and other social media platforms. Usually, the best way to do this is with an infographic, as the visual nature of an infographic is more likely to capture the attention of your audience than just a plain text post.
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Stay ahead of your competition
This, of course, is one of the main reasons anyone pays for marketing. Stay ahead of the competition, reach more customers, and do more business.
It’s crucial that you don’t stop your SEO campaign when business begins to slow down. All that will do is cause you to fall in the rankings, meaning your website will not be found once consumers are ready to spend money again. By continuing your SEO, you have a better chance of maintaining your rankings, ready to climb once all this is over. Plus, as your competitors wrestle with these same questions, if they decide to cancel their SEO, you’re positioned to potentially overtake their positions in the search results.
If you have any new services you want to promote in the future, this period of quiet business is great for allowing pages to rank so that they’re in position for when people are looking for them again – just talk to our team.
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Invest in Local SEO for new ways to be found
If you’re not quite able to invest in organic SEO, look to local SEO instead. While people aren’t able to visit businesses in their local area currently, once the restrictions are lifted people will be out and about, willing to spend their money on things that may have previously been deemed a luxury. Local SEO will help you be found by customers in your local area, and appear in Google maps and the Maps Pack on the front page of the search results. This quick access plays on our preference for convenience and will encourage more calls or visits to the website.
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Be prepared for the bounce-back
The most important thing to do during this quiet period is to prepare for when things do return to how they were before. If you’ve kept up all of your marketing, you’ll be in the best position to receive an influx of customers once any restrictions are lifted. Use this time to plan ahead and figure out how you’ll handle this amount of business.
And of course, once all that business does come back you’ll be glad that you continued with your SEO campaign and other digital marketing efforts. Imagine if customers were demanding your service, but you still had no work because no one could find your website.
The team at Digital Surfer can help. We’ll be here to run and maintain your digital marketing campaigns through rain, hail or pandemic. Contact our team today to talk about your online strategy.