The COVID-19 pandemic is nothing like we have ever seen in recent history, affecting our lives in one way or another. ; Apart from direct health concerns, the novel coronavirus outbreak leaves long-term economic consequences for businesses around the world.
Organizations across the US, from Chicago, Illinois to Frankfurt, Kentucky, are forced to make tough decisions since the outbreak started, such as canceling events, closing operations, and going virtual. Your primary concern is to keep your business afloat, but you also need to plan for what will happen after the pandemic.
Here’s how you can improve your marketing strategy:
Let your customers know how you’re handling things
Reach out to your customers and let them know how your business is managing the outbreak. Inform them of changes in how you do business. Let them know if your store is closed, your operating hours have changed, and what adjustments you’ve made.
Make sure that your message is informative, honest, and sensitive. Doing so puts your customers’ minds at ease.
Optimize your website
Your website should reflect the changes in your business. Make sure you have updated information that your customers need, such as changes in operating hours, availability of e-commerce, and changes in shipping services.
Optimize your site to boost your brand’s online visibility, making it easy for your target audience to find the products or services you’re offering. If your budget permits, hire a search engine optimization expert and WordPress developer to improve your website.
Make the most of social media
Keep in touch regularly with your customers using relevant social media platforms. Make sure your content is honest, letting your audience know how your business is affected by the outbreak. Provide resources related to your business. For example, if you’re a restaurant forced to close, share recipes of your best-sellers so your customers can make them at home.
Update your online listings
If you have a physical store and rely on in-store traffic, update your Google My Business listing. Your listing should now reflect your temporary business closure or changes in business hours and shipping services. Make sure to include all the possible ways they can get in touch with you.
Take advantage of paid marketing
Cutting down on your spending may make more sense, but it’s not advisable to eliminate your ads entirely. Run ads toward resources that are helpful to you and your customers. Minimize pushing sales that might make your organization look opportunistic while people are more concerned about their expenses.
To guide you in deciding whether to run paid ads on your products, ask yourself if your products or services will help your customers during the crisis. If not, focus on organic promotions in the meantime.
Provide special offers to your customers
Keep your revenue flowing and nurture customer loyalty by giving special offers. These promos don’t always have to be discounts on your products or services. Consider free home deliveries, product freebies for select purchases, or donations to a particular charity for every sale.
There’s no telling what’s going to happen after the COVID-19 outbreak. Things might normalize in a few weeks or after a year. Even if your business has been affected by resource limitations, marketing will help generate leads for you. It will also help you maintain customer loyalty and keep your business afloat. Have a firm strategy in place and adapt to what’s happening to remain successful despite the crisis.
