7 Small Business Marketing Tips for COVID-19
7 Small Business Marketing Tips for COVID-19
With uncertainty around because of COVID-19, you need to take positive steps to market your business astutely. Use the following strategies to get your message across without offending anyone. 7 small business marketing tips for COVID-19.
1. Use Online Advertising
Calls by government urging people to stay home have led to reduced traffic in physical locations. As a result, most businesses have had to shut down their brick-and-mortar sites. If you also had to close down your business, now is the time to take advantage of online platforms and social media paid advertising. Leverage the traffic found on those sites to increase traffic and conversion rates. However, you should keep the message relevant.
2. Consider Marketing Spend Wisely
If you’ve used online marketing in the past, it’s time for you to analyse those strategies in detail and reevaluate spend. It is likely consumer spending such as through greater online usage has changed. Smarten the marketing budget and spend on those channels that bring you the best ROI.
3. Update your Contacts
Go back to your email contact list and remove non-responsive customers from it. Then, create targeted email content for responsive ones. You have to use all digital marketing channels at your disposal. Email marketing is underutilized. Take this period to update that email list. Look through your messages and get rid of customers that have not made contact in over a year. Delete those contacts and save on cloud storage costs.
4. Give Customers the Right Information
There has been a lot of misinformation on social media and other online platforms. On your website, have an information section that shares with your customers all they need to know about COVID-19. You can also include COVID-19 information on your newsletters. The World Health Organization website is a great source for information on the pandemic and local government websites. Always read through any healthcare message to make sure that the writer got all the facts right before you publish.
5. Give Back to the Community
Businesses have corporate social responsibility. Your business should donate to a worthy cause during this period. Show people that you also care about them and their health. You can join hands with other small business owners and donate money to nonprofit organizations that are on the front lines of the disease. Anything that you do to help people cope with the situation will help to build your reputation.
6. Be Positive
There’s no definitive cure or vaccine for COVID-19. As such, people are scared and uncertain about the future. Your marketing message should give people hope. Be positive and avoid words that could make people feel scared and unsafe. Examples of words to avoid are scare and viral. Some of these words have been used to capture the attention of your audience in the past because they arouse curiosity. Unfortunately, they’re inappropriate given the current situation. Use keyword search tools to find better alternatives.
7. Give Gifts and Discounts
When business is down, most firms will avoid giving customers discounts because it can be costly. However, gifts and discounts are the best way to entice customers to buy from you. During this period, you have to adapt to the situation. Come up with offers on subscription services. For example, you can give customers 20% off on certain services to get them back through the door. This move shows that you understand the customer is also going through a tough financial period.
It’s a tough environment for small businesses however with restrictions being eased things will eventually improve. Your business can stay ahead by using the above marketing strategies.