What you will learn.

We know how you feel.

We’re all a little scared – a little unsure of what happens next. Because of COVID-19, we don’t know how long retailers and restaurants will be shut down, or how long people will be social distancing and self-quarantined on lockdown.

Many businesses are using this time to reassess their marketing during COVID-19, a challenging and uncertain time. And it’s even more important for brick-and-mortar businesses to take another look at their marketing, especially if you traditionally have relied on footfall for sales. This also applies to all businesses that depend on trade shows to acquire new customers.

So, where should you reinvest the budget for your company’s marketing during COVID-19? Does it even make sense to spend on marketing while all this is going on?

With the caveat that available information on the pandemic is changing daily, here are our top recommendations.

1) Communicate with your customers.

You need to be sensible with your marketing spend, but at a minimum, it’s a good idea to devote some resources to public relations.

Your inbox has probably been flooded with coronavirus-related emails from airlines, local restaurants, and even that random website you bought something from three years ago. These messages all tell you what they’re doing in the midst of this crisis – not just for their customers, but for their employees and partners as well.

Ongoing communication helps keep you top-of-mind with customers, and it also provides a way for you to update them on your business news. Email marketing, blog posts, social media, and press releases are great ways to get the message out. Now more than ever, communication is key.

2) Start investing in search and online content.

It’s time to pull back on offline media and move more budget online. Yes, we know we’re an SEO agency, but we’re putting our money where our mouth is and investing more into search and content marketing during COVID-19 ourselves.

Why? Because for the foreseeable future, more and more of your customers will only be to find you online. Event marketing is totally on hold – while some trade shows may pivot to a virtual presence, it’s too unpredictable to base a marketing strategy on.

Aside from bolstering your business blog with more content, consider investing more in PPC, social media, and email marketing as well. With so many people staying at home, online channels are the best way to reach them right now.

3) Think long-term.

The outbreak is undoubtedly going to last longer than we would like, but it’s not going to go on indefinitely. By the end of the year, we believe that business will basically be back to normal in most sectors, which means now is the time to assess and plan ahead.

If you keep a cool head, you can position your business to thrive once the worst of this global crisis is over. Can you acquire top-tier talent while other companies have frozen their hiring? Can you gain an advantage in local search while others are pulling back? Are there products or services you can start building demand for in the future?

We don’t know the full scope of changes to the global economy from COVID-19, but there are practical steps you can take today to secure your company’s future.

Marketing During COVID-19 Wrap-up

At Common Ground, we want to help you weather the storm and come out stronger for it. Whether you’ve been doing digital marketing for years or you’re looking to pivot to it during this unprecedented time, we have experts in SEO, PPC, and content standing by to help you grow your business.

Contact us today to learn more!

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