Table of contents
- Brand Refresh
- Tidy up or launch a new website
- Ecommerce Website
- Social Media
- Email Marketing
- PPC
- General Marketing Planning
We’re suddenly living in very tumultuous times due to the Coronavirus. Just one of the things that are currently uncertain is the economy and business landscape. Many businesses have had to temporarily close down while others have become more essential than ever. Some are having to furlough staff or are worried about being able to pay the lease on their premises and other essential outgoings.
Whatever your industry, it’s likely that your business has at least slowed down. If you’re worried about the future of your business or have simply found yourself with very little to do, then it’s time to get proactive. This is a great time to focus on your marketing strategy so that we can all come out fighting on the other side of this situation.
Here are some of the things you could be doing to make your business stronger, during and after the lockdown…
Brand Refresh
Updating your brand or completely rebranding can be a disruptive process for your business and sales. So why not do it while your business is already disrupted? You might need a brand refresh if you are moving into a new market, introducing new products/services, targeting new customers, or targeting a new region. Or you might simply want to update your logo in keeping with modern design trends. Just look at how the Google logo has evolved over the years.
If you go through a brand refresh now, then you can start introducing your new branding to your audience. That way, they’ll already be familiar with it once your business operations go back to normal. This means that you experience minimal disruption throughout the process and don’t miss out on those vital sales.
Tidy up or launch a new website
By similar logic, now is also a great time to work on your website. Start by analysing your website metrics to find out where it needs improving. Does it have a high bounce rate or slow loading times? Maybe your traffic is high but your conversions are low, pointing to weaknesses in your on-site copy or design.
Identify what needs improving and then strategise about how you can do it. You may need to rewrite your copy or improve on-page SEO, for example. Even minor things like checking that all the links are working can help to boost the performance of your site. There has also been a number of changes in Google’s algorithm that could impact and damage your site rankings. So, you might want to spend a bit of time to improve your SEO site-wide.
If it’s been at least 2 years since your website last got a new coat of paint or a tidy up, now is the best time. A new look can attract new customers while reminding your current customers that you’re still going strong despite the tough times.
If your business is yet to set up its own website, now is as good a time as any to finally create one.
Ecommerce Website
Some of the businesses that are least affected by the Coronavirus are those that already sold their goods online. If you’ve previously only sold from a brick and mortar premises, then now is the perfect time to build an ecommerce website for your brand. This will allow you to keep up your sales while everyone’s staying indoors.
We can help you to design and set up a professional ecommerce website with a recognised content management system like WooCommerce or Shopify, which you can then integrate with social media channels like Facebook and Instagram to post your products directly onto your business page. Google has also recently announced that you will be able to list your products on Google Shopping for free to help support businesses during this troubled time.
Social Media
Social media is one thing that’s helping us to stay connected while we’re social distancing in real life due to the Coronavirus. Whatever the situation with your business, you can still use social media to stay in touch with your audience and keep them engaged. You could share content that reminds them of the services that you can still offer, with the great customer service that you continue to achieve. If your company is affected and is unable to do business, entertain your audience or provide them with tips to help them through the lockdown. That way your brand stays in their mind so they think of you the next time they need your service. Finally, social media is a useful platform for handling customer service enquiries, especially if your premises are closed.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is another great way to keep in contact with your past and current customers or prospects. It’s a good way to remind your clients that you exist and are still operating if that is the case.
If you are still operating, then you can use emails and e-newsletters to update your customers on any changes to your services. Let them know how you are adapting in the wake of coronavirus. For example, restaurants who are still offering delivery services will want to reassure their customers that they are following strict hygiene regulations so that they’re not afraid to order food.
PPC
You might think that you should cancel all your advertising campaigns right now because of the Coronavirus. But PPC could help you capitalise on this situation. We recommend reviewing the market to see if there are any windows of opportunity you could claim. For example, if you deliver products that are currently in high demand, then it could be incredibly lucrative to create a PPC campaign to advertise that service. If people are searching for this service online, then having your website at the top of the search listings could lead to a big increase in sales.
General Marketing Planning
Now is a better time than ever to plan for the future. You might often find that you’re too busy working on your business to focus enough on an actual marketing strategy. Since that’s less likely to be the case right now, it’s time to look at your marketing plan. Review your plan to see which goals you’ve achieved and which have fallen by the wayside. Assess which campaigns are working, which could use improvement, and which need scrapping altogether.
Based on what you find when assessing your marketing plan, you can then come up with strategies to improve your results going forward. You might find that one social media channel is working well for you while another isn’t getting much engagement. From this assessment, you can then decide whether to move off the second channel or decide how to improve your activity on that site.
We can help you to review your marketing plan and strategy to boost the future success of your business. If you improve your strategy and set all your marketing activities in place during the lockdown, then you’ll have more time to spend on your business once things go back to normal. At the same time, your updated marketing strategy will be serving you well and bringing in more sales.
The businesses that survive this period and come out of the Coronavirus epidemic thriving will be the ones that can adapt to the situation. It’s a difficult time for any business, but you can improve your chances of success by focusing on your marketing. Get in touch with Vitty if you want support with marketing your business or improving your marketing strategy for the future.