Whilst this might be a challenging time for most businesses.
It can also present an opportunity for others.
We know the world will kick start again in the coming months (we hope).
With it, there is going to bring a surge in demand for products and services again.
Whilst many companies have looked to stop marketing to save money in the short term. Which they might think this is a great cost-saving plan. However, this is a very short-sighted approach.
At the minute there is less competition for advertising space and potentially more people with time on their hand browsing the internet. This creates a fascinating opportunity for ambitious companies looking to steal a mark on their competitors.
Whilst you might not be able to sell your products and services immediately, you can still be sewing the seeds for a future purchase.
And when the market opens again, you could be ready to capitalise.
What should you be doing?
Due to the drop in demand for advertising space, you can take advantage of lower costs. If for example, your competitors have stopped PPC, it might be an ideal time to bid low on the keywords. This will send traffic to your site and start these visitors at the top of your sales funnels.
No budget, no problem. Here’s your opportunity to launch your social media accounts and fill them with content. This keeps visitors updated with what’s going on and lets people know you’ve not ceased trading. This will also give you a platform to let people know you’ve restarted trading again.
Now’s also the time to email your existing customers and keep them informed on your business and when you can resume full trading. You can use free software such as MailChimp to do this. You simply need to upload your email data and create a quick email from the templates.
If you’ve not heard of remarketing, the time could be now.
If you have a budget, one thing that you should consider during this time is looking into remarketing. Remarketing allows you to retarget users with ads on other sites or over social networks. These people have already visited your website and shown an interest in your products or services. Whilst you might not be able to sell straight away you can continue to remind these visitors about your brand over a set period of time. This means when everything restarts your visitors should be ready to buy.
Remarketing is usually low cost compared to obtaining customers through paid channels such as PPC. This allows you to focus on nurturing visitors through existing content and social channels and leading them toward becoming a customer at a later date.
Whilst consumers are low in purchasing confidence, they will be planning for the future and you need to be there when they’re ready.
What if you don’t have the skills required?
If you don’t feel you have the skills to market professionally you can look at potentially outsourcing to a digital agency. This reduces the focus on hiring someone and gives your content a chance to stand out. Packages can be tailored to your requirements allowing you to develop a marketing strategy to suit your needs.
What else can I be doing?
Whilst you might not actively be able to trade you can assess your business and marketing strategy. Prepare for potential spikes in demand and think of ways of driving your business forward when normal service resumes. If you’ve never put a marketing strategy in place then you might want to check out this blog looking at your digital marketing strategy for 2020.
If you’re an ambitious business and wish to prepare for the when businesses kick start, get in touch. We can discuss ways in which we can help.
Kevin has been involved in Digital Marketing for over 10 years. He’s worked with a variety of small businesses from telecommunications companies to skirting board manufacturers.
Working in small businesses has led him to develop various skills from graphic design to web design and search engine optimisation.
Along with his degree in Business Management and his digital marketing experience he formed Pug Mug Marketing in 2017.
After growing many small businesses, he believes he has the experience to help grow yours.
