How To Navigate Your Digital Marketing Strategy During Coronavirus
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When we were in school, I am sure every one of us would have definitely read about various pandemics that ruled the world for a certain period of time. Well back then reading about those pandemics was only a part of our academics but we actually never thought that someday we will have to live with it. I still remember as a child I use to enjoy the thought of “No School” “No Study” like a complete shut and only being at home with my video games. But today when we have this pandemic situation i.e. Coronavirus, the world is at a standstill, and trust me no one is enjoying this.
Coronavirus has not only brought us the fear of getting sick but also the fear of losing jobs, fear of being helpless, fear of inflation, fear of being hungry, fear of whether can we ever return to our home, and the most painful is the fear of losing our loved one. This pandemic has taught us to live in fear and also to manage ourselves in a way that we never did.
Coronavirus has forced businesses to change their working style. For instance, we have witnessed a sudden shift, especially in the Indian working culture i.e. 100% work from home. Changes are part of our life and if we don’t adapt to them, surely we will be left behind.
This pandemic situation has made it very difficult for businesses to connect with their target audience. So, one of the best ways to reach out is through the messages that can be sent out through digital marketing efforts. To survive the market, it has become very essential for businesses to increase their digital footprint or to pivot their strategy in such a way that should benefit both the business and the customer.
So let’s take a look at how to navigate digital marketing strategy in this Covid-19 situation for the each digital channel mentioned below:
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- Public Relations
- Email Marketing
- Content Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Influencer Marketing
- Paid Search Marketing
- SEO Marketing
Public Relations: At this point of time, there is a lot of disturbance which has made customers dreadful even towards those brands that they were loyal to. The customers are not engaging like they use to before. Hence, a constant communication about the brand i.e. message about the brand and what precautions it is taking, these things will helps us to gain customer confidence. Many businesses have crisis communication plan ready which helps them to survive the unforeseen situations. However, if your business doesn’t have crisis communication plan then check out below some of our recommendations that would help your business to sail through the difficult times.
- Build a crisis road map and ensure that your entire team shares the same goal. They must engage in constant communication about the brand and ensure best practices are followed.
- The road map must include Internal Escalation protocol, Channel by Channel protocol, Customer communication, Media communication.
- Internal Escalation Protocol: Significant speakers should communicate the message to publics.
- Channel by Channel Protocol: Run campaigns on the covid-19 situation as it is important for the business to remain sensitive and relevant to the current issues. Make a list of action items that need to be taken within each channel so that campaigns appear united.
- Customer Notification: Answer the customers concerns and needs.
- Release an approved communication statement to the media.
Hence, it is very vital for the businesses to have a crisis communication plan to survive and overcome the future contingencies.
Email Marketing: Email marketing would be recommended for those businesses that primarily functioned through a shop or office space and due to current situation customers are not able to have frequent visit at the establishment, then sending a dedicated email on how the business is operating currently and the prevailing offers will benefit both the business and the customers.
Content Marketing: Since people are saving on their time, therefore they are consuming a lot of content. Hence, businesses should concentrate more on the content marketing. They should engage more in research and look at those industries which are affected by this pandemic and then accordingly create content that provides solutions. Businesses can even create their own Covid-19 page, where they can communicate about how they are operating their business and what appropriate precautions they are taking.
Social Media Marketing: Due to the pandemic situation, it is mandatory for everyone to follow the social distancing therefore people are actively engaged on social media platforms to be connected with their community, friends etc. This has tremendously crowded all the social media platforms hence it is the best opportunity for the businesses to ramp up social media marketing on Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp. They can use these platforms to update their audience about new changes in company, new products & services, prevailing offers. This will keep the visibility of your business alive among your target audience.
Influencer Marketing: As mentioned earlier, social media platforms are booming. Hence, use this opportunity to market your product through an influencer on the social media who already has a good number of followings. Few things to keep in mind while engaging in influencer marketing during Covid-19 i.e. Sensitize your message so that the audience is able to connect with it & be relevant to the current situation. Also the influencer can go live with some authentic story telling as it would offer some value to user which in return will attract more users.
Paid Search Marketing: Well this situation has made businesses cut down on their ad budgets. However, few things that can optimize paid search marketing during coronavirus are mentioned below
- To be more attentive towards the competitive landscape through auction insight report as this will help us to figure out whether there is a drop in the number of competitors, and if Yes then we have the opportunity to capture more traffic at the lowercost.
- To offer attractive discounts on subscription to gain long –term customers.
SEO Marketing: It is the best time to invest in SEO, as it is fixed cost, long term strategy and it will give the fruits to the organization post the pandemic ends. The unrest and uncertainty that has been caused by the COVID-19 has increased the number of people who are engaged in searching for ample of things, it means that there exist a bigger pool of potential traffic and if we establish brand loyalty now at this time of crisis then surely it will pay us off in future.
Conclusion:
Current situation has brought a lot of fear and unpredictability but businesses should look at it like an opportunity and should make optimum utilization of Digital Marketing during coronavirus to light up the the dark time.
When we were in school, I am sure every one of us would have definitely read about various pandemics that ruled the world for a certain period of time. Well back then reading about those pandemics was only a part of our academics but we actually never thought that someday we will have to live with it. I still remember as a child I use to enjoy the thought of “No School” “No Study” like a complete shut and only being at home with my video games. But today when we have this pandemic situation i.e. Coronavirus, the world is at a standstill, and trust me no one is enjoying this.
Coronavirus has not only brought us the fear of getting sick but also the fear of losing jobs, fear of being helpless, fear of inflation, fear of being hungry, fear of whether can we ever return to our home, and the most painful is the fear of losing our loved one. This pandemic has taught us to live in fear and also to manage ourselves in a way that we never did.
Coronavirus has forced businesses to change their working style. For instance, we have witnessed a sudden shift, especially in the Indian working culture i.e. 100% work from home. Changes are part of our life and if we don’t adapt to them, surely we will be left behind.
This pandemic situation has made it very difficult for businesses to connect with their target audience. So, one of the best ways to reach out is through the messages that can be sent out through digital marketing efforts. To survive the market, it has become very essential for businesses to increase their digital footprint or to pivot their strategy in such a way that should benefit both the business and the customer.
So let’s take a look at how to navigate digital marketing strategy in this Covid-19 situation for the each digital channel mentioned below:
- Public Relations
- Email Marketing
- Content Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Influencer Marketing
- Paid Search Marketing
- SEO Marketing
Public Relations: At this point of time, there is a lot of disturbance which has made customers dreadful even towards those brands that they were loyal to. The customers are not engaging like they use to before. Hence, a constant communication about the brand i.e. message about the brand and what precautions it is taking, these things will helps us to gain customer confidence. Many businesses have crisis communication plan ready which helps them to survive the unforeseen situations. However, if your business doesn’t have crisis communication plan then check out below some of our recommendations that would help your business to sail through the difficult times.
- Build a crisis road map and ensure that your entire team shares the same goal. They must engage in constant communication about the brand and ensure best practices are followed.
- The road map must include Internal Escalation protocol, Channel by Channel protocol, Customer communication, Media communication.
- Internal Escalation Protocol: Significant speakers should communicate the message to publics.
- Channel by Channel Protocol: Run campaigns on the covid-19 situation as it is important for the business to remain sensitive and relevant to the current issues. Make a list of action items that need to be taken within each channel so that campaigns appear united.
- Customer Notification: Answer the customers concerns and needs.
- Release an approved communication statement to the media.
Hence, it is very vital for the businesses to have a crisis communication plan to survive and overcome the future contingencies.
Email Marketing: Email marketing would be recommended for those businesses that primarily functioned through a shop or office space and due to current situation customers are not able to have frequent visit at the establishment, then sending a dedicated email on how the business is operating currently and the prevailing offers will benefit both the business and the customers.
Content Marketing: Since people are saving on their time, therefore they are consuming a lot of content. Hence, businesses should concentrate more on the content marketing. They should engage more in research and look at those industries which are affected by this pandemic and then accordingly create content that provides solutions. Businesses can even create their own Covid-19 page, where they can communicate about how they are operating their business and what appropriate precautions they are taking.
Social Media Marketing: Due to the pandemic situation, it is mandatory for everyone to follow the social distancing therefore people are actively engaged on social media platforms to be connected with their community, friends etc. This has tremendously crowded all the social media platforms hence it is the best opportunity for the businesses to ramp up social media marketing on Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp. They can use these platforms to update their audience about new changes in company, new products & services, prevailing offers. This will keep the visibility of your business alive among your target audience.
Influencer Marketing: As mentioned earlier, social media platforms are booming. Hence, use this opportunity to market your product through an influencer on the social media who already has a good number of followings. Few things to keep in mind while engaging in influencer marketing during Covid-19 i.e. Sensitize your message so that the audience is able to connect with it & be relevant to the current situation. Also the influencer can go live with some authentic story telling as it would offer some value to user which in return will attract more users.
Paid Search Marketing: Well this situation has made businesses cut down on their ad budgets. However, few things that can optimize paid search marketing during coronavirus are mentioned below
- To be more attentive towards the competitive landscape through auction insight report as this will help us to figure out whether there is a drop in the number of competitors, and if Yes then we have the opportunity to capture more traffic at the lowercost.
- To offer attractive discounts on subscription to gain long –term customers.
SEO Marketing: It is the best time to invest in SEO, as it is fixed cost, long term strategy and it will give the fruits to the organization post the pandemic ends. The unrest and uncertainty that has been caused by the COVID-19 has increased the number of people who are engaged in searching for ample of things, it means that there exist a bigger pool of potential traffic and if we establish brand loyalty now at this time of crisis then surely it will pay us off in future.
Conclusion:
Current situation has brought a lot of fear and unpredictability but businesses should look at it like an opportunity and should make optimum utilization of Digital Marketing during coronavirus to light up the the dark time.
