Already there were some speculations about the world economy going into recession; the pandemic pushed all the nations more towards it! The world bank and IMF reports had already talked of a global slowdown and how every country was suffering from low exports.
The pandemic proved to be the final nail in the coffin when all the states imposed the lockdown, and every business came to a halt!
Now it’s been more than three months of lockdown, and it is quite observable that online businesses still could save themselves by digital marketing. While those who didn’t deal with online sales could not earn anything, those having a website and selling services rather than products made a decent amount.
Therefore, having a website today for your business and marketing your services or product online is the need of the hour. In this article, we will discuss how digital marketing can help your business reviver from the enormous losses due to the pandemic.
How has COVID-19 impacted different businesses?
The pandemic has impacted the MSME by a massive capital of Rs 380 lakhs, while the chemical sector itself has faced a hit of 12 crores 90 lakhs. The industry, which provides employment to over 114 million people and contributes to more than 30 percent of the GDP, is going through one of the tough phases.
Thus actions are required immediately. Not only the GDP, but the employment rate has also decreased exponentially. Inflation is increasing every quarter, and most countries are on the verge of facing a recession. Experts say that it will be worst than all other economic crisis happened earlier.
The need for digital transformation for your business
How can I have a more agile supply chain? Can I make Manufacturing more competitive in higher cost environments? Can I shift my supply chain to new geography without a considerable cost or risk?
The list of such questions is endless, yet the answer remains the same – Digital Transformation. This is the time to adopt new digital tools to manage supply chains and throw away those spreadsheets. Include AI, machine learning, robotic process automation in your business, and ramp up your sales.
There are supply chain software to manage purchasing, supply chain, inventory, and provide real-time data. There are platforms like Fictiv and MacroFab that allow users to upload design data, get instant pricing, perform DFM (design for Manufacturing) on-the-fly, and then select the right manufacturing option for every project.
Do you want to grab this opportunity to take full advantage of maximum online users during the lockdown or still wait for the vaccine to be developed and conditions get back to normal? Digital marketing itself is the vaccine for treating the problems faced by businesses.
Impact of COVID-19 on digital marketing
Though there has been a decrease in digital marketing spending, this lockdown is the best time to invest. The CPCs have fallen along with an increase in CTRs and CVRs. People are more focused on running social media ads, especially on Instagram.
The more prominent e-commerce companies had initially stopped spending on google analytics, but now with some unlock down, companies have again started spending vigorously.
How can digital marketing help you survive your business?
Digital marketing is the only option left to help you survive your business during this pandemic, and after that too! Having an online presence is not enough to generate leads. You have to snatch away the traffic from your competitors and bring them to your website.
According to a survey, 40% claimed that they saved around 28% of capital when shifted from traditional marketing to digital marketing. Digital marketers get better Cost-per-Lead (CPL) compared to other marketing channels. Using modern tools, you can easily track your lead and convince them to buy the product.
Apart from this, it also lays stress on improving brand awareness. It gives a chance to listen and interact with the customers, which helps to get a better insight into customer satisfaction and demand.
Digital Marketing leverages social media signals, social proof, and testimonials from actual consumers who have previously purchased, joined or availed of a product or service marketed by a particular brand or business.
Last but not least, the coming era is of “Internet of Things,” which means inclusion in this interconnected grid, giving you an access window to reach targeted audiences belonging to this online grid.
Do not reduce your digital marketing budget
We know that you might be cutting down on every sector of your business, which might include digital marketing to maintain positive cash flow. Surprisingly, this is the best time to spend more and get ahead of your competitors. E.g., people during the lockdown are spending more of their time on social media than ever before.
So, if you increase your budget on social media marketing, PPC ads will surely generate leads. The bids for the keywords have also come down, and therefore you can get keywords at a lower price.
Audit your content
Most people are searching for COVID-19 and related topics like sanitizers, vaccines, online services, home delivery, lockdown services, etc.
Therefore, if you can twist your content around the latest issues, it will generate better traffic. Here also, SEO will help you increase the sales and rank your site better.
Focus on your online reviews
Here, you have to focus on local SEO. Local SEO can be easily improved through online surveys. Reports can be positive or negative. If you think that only positive reviews will fetch more customers, then you are going wrong! Customers want to know the genuine reviews, and the presence of negative reviews will show the genuineness of the product.
Please send an email to all the customers who bought your product or service and ask them to review it.
Invest in PPC Advertising
This is the right time to spend on PPC advertising. Using Google Analytics, you can know the trending keywords and modify your ads.
Having a trained digital marketing team will be required who can follow the best practices like A/B testing to ramp up the CTR. Cost per clicks have decreased to a large extent, and you should grab this opportunity to get more sales.
Local SEO
While national SEO focuses more on ranking in searches across the country, local SEO prioritizes appearing on SERPs in a specific location. This strategy relies on marketing your brand, products, and services to local leads and customers.
It includes the following strategies:
- Create a Google My Business Account
It will help you get all the statistics related to your website. Through analytics, you can prepare your plan.
- Create content based on local news stories or events
You can write blogs on local news, activities, or events. You can also organize charity events, make a video, and post on social media.
- Optimize your website for mobile
Most of the time, people visit your site on mobile. Therefore, you must optimize the website so that there is no lag in loading the website on mobile.
Social Media marketing strategy
Facebook and Instagram saw a 70% increase in usage while Snapchat saw a 47% surge during this lockdown. Therefore, this is the time to know your audience and market your brand.
Experiment with a new type of content like video and Instagram reels. After the ban on Tik-Tok, Instagram captured the same market by introducing reels. Making short videos on your products or services will surely attract more audience.
Listen to your audience. Through the option of polls on Facebook and Instagram, get an insight into your audience’s needs. Keep an eagle’s eye on the comments of your post, reviews, and if there are any grievances, try to solve them as soon as possible.
Conclusion
Digital marketing is the oxygen supply to businesses today, and there is no other alternative to save them. You have to tap all the possible avenues available, which can happen only if you have an experienced and trained digital marketing team. We, at Techies InfoTech, provide top-notch digital marketing and advertising services.
Our digital marketing Services focuses exclusively on different aspects of digital marketing. We have a separate social media marketing team that will make a detailed proposal on generating leads and running ads on all the online platforms.
We will run PPC ads along with audits within your budget. So, it is time that you win over this pandemic with our digital marketing services.
