Small Business Marketing: 3 Ways to Adapt in the Midst of COVID-19

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Coronavirus has hit the world economy hard.

Many businesses have shut down due to a lack of demand. Unemployment rates have gone up with close to 600,000 job losses in April (source).

As a result, you might be tempted to put your marketing to a halt. .

It seems like a good option, right? With less business, spending time and money, marketing seems like an exercise in futility…

But Here’s the Problem…

You need marketing to maintain the attention of your market. It’ll help you pull through the current pandemic.

In fact, you shouldn’t cut down on marketing. Instead, you need to reconstruct your marketing approach.

Today, we’ll show you how to do that. We have 3 marketing shifts you can try. They’ll serve you now, and after the pandemic ends!

How to move Online and Grow 

As of May, Australia’s COVID-19 lockdowns have been slowly loosening up (source). But that doesn’t mean that public life is back to normal…

People are still spending the majority of their days indoors. Also, large gatherings aren’t allowed, and many still work from home.

And, many Australian states still operate with strict travel bans.

Thus, you have to ignore offline marketing. Forget the idea of buying physical ad space, performing in-person marketing, or sending out flyers.

Instead, focus on the following…

Shift #1: Email Marketing: Affordable and Effective.

Email helps you keep tabs with your pre-existing customer base. The goal here is to use email for informational guidance mid-pandemic.

You can use email in ways that showcase your care for clients and your level of awareness of the current problem.

How So?

Your emails should focus less on product pitches, and more on how your industry ties with coronavirus (if you can find a common link).

For example, maybe you’re running a business that’s fitness-related (like a gym, a sporting goods store, etc.).

You can send emails discussing research on improving immunity, safeguarding from viruses, and good exercises to try.

Also, you can take that as a chance to redirect customers to lengthier content (on a blog) – which is an opportunity to increase shares and awareness to your site!

What if I Don’t Use Email Marketing?

In that case, try the second shift below…

Shift #2: PPC Ads Are An Excellent Marketing Strategy.

PPC Ads are highly competitive as a result of the current pandemic.

They’re good for commercial-intent marketing, which is something you can’t show much of through email.

Also, it’s something you can do on Google. Google’s PPC ads with commercial-intent have extremely high click-through-rates (source)!

Important Note.

You won’t be the only business that’s exploring PPC ads during current times. Many businesses will do the same.

Thus, you’ll find intense competition for keywords that are normally good options.

Thankfully, you can sidestep that competition by changing your keyword choice priorities.

How So?

With PPC ads, focus on local marketing.

You’re less likely to compete for ad space that’s location-specific. The conversion rate of local ads tends to be higher.

Why? The reason is, people performing local searches on Google do so to find a product or service.

So there’s already a purchase-intent in-mind, granting you more sales per ad dollar!

Diversify Your Local Searches.

If clients aren’t buying your products from a physical store, then they’re usually relying on a delivery service.

And what that means is, you have a larger than normal reach with local ads.

You can market to more than one location. You can even market out of state limits (while relying on couriers to deliver products).

But, how you attempt that though depends on competition.

We recommend prioritizing your own address first, then expanding to addresses that have less businesses selling your type of services!

But speaking of couriers…

Shift #3: Reform Your Online Shopping Experience.

If you don’t have an online store, then it’s time to launch one.

Assuming you already have that, then you need to optimize it for high levels of traffic with an easy shopping experience for your visitors.

What to Optimise.

Start by making your store mobile-friendly. Since by 2021, more than ½ your online sales will come from mobile users (source, page 3).

Also, it’s imperative that the loading speed is top-notch. That’s an important factor when converting customers.

After all, 70% of your customer’s buying decisions are affected by loading speeds (source).

And third, ensure that the buying experience isn’t complex. This means…

    • Offering multiple payment options.
    • Quickly processing orders (with proper tracking).
  • Providing a channel for good customer service (preferably email – giving you a chance to establish an email list).

Are these Shifts Temporary Measures?

Not at all.

We want you to look at the current pandemic as an opportunity for growth.

It’s a chance to shift towards online marketing. 

These Shifts are a step towards the right direction. Online Marketing will be a necessity for all businesses within the next few years! The future of business is online. 

Like some guidance? Book a free 30-minute consultation with Adam via the link below.

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