Strengthening Your Digital Marketing Strategy During The Crisis

Growing your business in times of need can be a challenging prospect, especially if you start panicking and making moves willy-nilly to avoid falling behind on the market during this sensitive period.

The thing is, while many non-essential businesses during the newly-developed coronavirus situation are, indeed, getting halted, this doesn’t mean that you should stop what you’re doing with your social marketing strategy and abandon all of your online growth plans.

The main idea behind halting many of the non-essential businesses in countries struck the hardest by the pandemic would be to prevent people from working in close quarters – so, it’s nothing to do with rationing what businesses matter and what don’t.

Governments encourage people who can work online to by all means do so, because that way the negative effects of the global infestation on the world economy are at least going to be reduced to an extent.

So, if you have a digital marketing strategy in place you would like to further, you must keep calm, (as they say on that WWII poster) and continue doing what you’re doing. What’s more, you may even want to increase your digital output during this period, so to speak, as well as post on your social media accounts more frequently.

While many of your posts and updates certainly have to do with the state of the matters in your country and region related to the virus, there is also space in this time of great need to talk about your business. If the products or services you’re selling can somehow help your government or medical community fight the pandemic, then even better. If not, giving your customers special deals, communicating with them, and spreading optimism also counts.

Here’s how to strengthen your digital marketing strategy during the time of the current coronavirus crisis we’re going through.

Don’t Cut Your Marketing Budget

The first reflex many business  owners have when it comes to managing the times of decreased sales and less traffic (such as during these times of crisis), would be to scale down their marketing campaigns and make budget cuts.

Here’s the thing, though.

Even though you aren’t making as many sales as you were before the breakout of the virus, it’s still smart to continue investing roughly the same amount of funds in your marketing campaign, because both your existing and potential customers need to see that you’re there for them in times of need.

While turtling can seem like an attractive money-saving prospect until the storm passes, you may benefit much more from taking a couple of financial bullets, so to speak, so that you may reap the rewards later on.

Of course, if you simply don't have enough money that you could continue investing in your marketing campaign, than you may be forced to scale it back, but if you can keep it up without jeopardizing the business itself, you may be better off if you just keep doing it the best you can during the times of crisis, as well.

Reevaluate the SEO Strategy

The times of lower traffic and lower sales can be an opportunity for testing out new strategies and reevaluating the old ones you already have in operation.

So, one of the first steps to pursuing your marketing strategy during this time could be to sit down and perform a thorough checkup of your goals, your progress so far, as well as the tools you’re using to get to your desired search engine ranking and online popularity.

Remember, even if you can’t make as many sales at the moment, sitting back and doing nothing will inevitably translate into a big nothing, and you’ll only see the lack of results when the pandemic starts clearing up.

Reevaluating your marketing strategy can help you spot its weak points, so you can come up with new replacement tools and tactics you could use to bring the strategy back into the game. Perhaps all you need is a little tweak such as creating a couple of more accounts on different social media platforms or even turning to an experienced seo agency, in order for some professional help.  As long as you can do that, you'll be in the position to get to the answer of how to stay ahead in and after this crisis period.

Strengthen Your Client Relations

Another thing you can and should do during the times of this pandemic is strengthen your existing bonds with your long-term clients by showing that you care for them. This includes posting frequent updates about the new products or services you’re preparing for them, commenting about the latest news about the spread of the virus, as well as offering words of encouragement and hope.

The good news for the business owners who have been hit financially by the spread of this virus would be that creating a stronger bond with the clients in this way does not mean you’ll have to spend a lot of money. Indeed, frequent updates, e-mails, and social media posts where you show the members of the audience that you’re still alive and kicking is all it takes to retain your relevance while this state of the matters is at hand.

Don’t Decrease Your Work Hours

If the urge to spend less on your marketing campaign during the times of crisis is a bad move, decreasing your work hours (if you can work from home) would certainly be another.

While working from home and in isolation won’t be nearly as fun as when you’re with your colleagues, continuing to soldier on and put in the work hours necessary to make your digital marketing campaign run as smoothly as a greased lighting is of utmost importance.

The more you’re capable of meeting your desired work hour schedule and keeping up with your marketing plans during the times of crisis, the easier you will be able to get back on track when the pandemic starts subsiding. All in all, keeping active and working on your business even in quarantine will not only help you pass the time more easily and productively, but it will also let your customers know that you’re a tough cookie as well as source of inspiration and hope in this difficult time.