The first quarter of 2020 saw the outbreak and spread of Coronavirus and COVID-19 that left businesses reeling from unprecedented disruption due to containment measures put in place.
Employees and the general populace were asked to stay at home to help contain the spread, adversely affecting business operations and their customer base. A new strategy is imperative in view of the current changes in the business landscape in COVID-19 for companies to stay afloat and thrive post-pandemic.
One consequence of pandemics is panic. Do not panic into knee-jerk reactions that may include shutting down marketing operations as this may burry your business in the long-term.
Whatever you do, stay connected to your customers so that they do not list you among the casualties of COVID-19 when normalcy returns. Here are five ways businesses can use SEO and marketing to combat coronavirus impact.
1. Now’s the time for Online migration
There has never been a better time than now to move your storefront online. Online retailing will not only keep you in business now, but it is also the platform of the future only brought forward by the COVID-19 emergency, and the current situation is as good a motivation as any for you to shift.
Start thinking about creating that website and watch the magic of SEO drive your sales back to profitability.
Janet Greene, SEO expert at Write my dissertation, a service that assists students with their team of professional dissertation writers, says that once your business goes online, improve your communication across multiple channels using emails, social media, and chats to enjoy a wider customer reach.
She adds that the beauty of online retailing is that it costs less in operations and has low overheads, thereby releasing more funds for expansion. This business model is also accessible 24/7 globally on your website and can give you unimaginable opportunities far more than the current brick and mortar setup.
2. Use pay per click to increase traffic
Using PPC advertising during the downtime is efficient and cost-effective. The impact of pay per click effort is almost instantaneous as compared to organic SEO. The fact that you only pay when a user reaches your website is good value for money, allowing you control of your budget.
Using PPC is flexible and you can target your audience any which way you want by demographics like device type, language, location or focus your campaign through social media for individual impact.
PPC is entirely in your control free from Google algorithms and can run a profitable campaign just as effectively as SEO would. You get to choose when and where your ads will show for maximum audience reach.
Design targeted keywords related to your niche to help spread your ads and increase brand awareness, especially in local searches, and remember to protect your site with the best Linux firewall. In these harsh COVID-19 times, budget cuts are inevitable and the PPC campaign is a good option here as you get to choose how much to spend.
3. Use webinars for marketing
Videos and online streaming have a magnetic pull for internet traffic like no other media, accounting for about 75% mobile traffic. Using short clips of educational or training content is a great way of attracting traffic and creating brand awareness.
Spread these clips across channels to increase your digital footprint and boost your SEO rankings without further effort. YouTube is another powerful channel online that you can post your webinar videos on for global viewing.
To use webinars successfully as a marketing tool, master your content so that your audience uses you as a reference study authority. Naturally, this does wonders to your traffic as searches and sharing increase.
One thing about webinars is that only those with interest care to register and this captive audience can be treated as leads for possible conversion. Webinars provide a cost-effective marketing tool while offering an opportunity to connect with other industry players who you can coopt in your training sessions for diversity.
To come up with winning webinars, you need professionally written scripts and for that, you must use a professional essay writing service.
4. Rework your online reviews policy
Online reviews are an integral part of digital marketing and require a structured policy framework to help drive sales. Reviews possess social proof that drives sales based on the notion that if several others approve, then it must be good for you too. Having positive reviews on your website, therefore, helps convert the undecided prospects to purchase.
Online reviews also serve another important function, that of influencing search engine ranking leading to greater visibility. Positive reviews reinforce your reputation as a trustworthy brand establishing your online identity among top brands besides giving you a direct connection to your customer base.
Online reviews, whether positive or negative, are a good source of data that your marketing team can use to make decisions for growth. Create a user-friendly website and use apps like TheOne that allows for easy input of reviews and live interaction with real people who are experts in their line of work.
5. Go on Google my business
Google holds over 87% of the search engine market share and is easily the first stop for anyone searching for anything. What is more interesting to businesses is that a large percentage of searches on Google have a local intent that could lead to sales for those visible.
Update your Google My Business profile to reach local customers that you can easily serve through parcel delivery.
With your profile update, you get listed in the Local Pack on Google that gives you unparalleled visibility and makes it easy for your customers to reach you or place orders. GMB provides additional data through the collection of reviews for you to use for business improvement and gain an even better SEO ranking.
There is a proven positive correlation between reviews and sales, which automatically means listing on Google My Business is a great marketing strategy for your business.
Conclusion
As much as the business has slowed down to near-stagnation, we must strive to remain healthy and look out for others where we can for the duration of these lockdowns. However, businesses must focus on the future while using any available resources to prepare for recovery and bounce back. The key is to remain in the minds of your customers and that means finding a way to stay connected despite the social distancing.
About the author
Becky Holton is a journalist and a blogger at best essay writing service. She is interested in education technologies and is always ready to support informative speaking at essay service. Follow her on Twitter.
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