Many businesses are standing at a crossroads in light of the ever-changing Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic.
There’s no question that we’re all operating in a very different environment to what was considered ‘business as usual’ only a very short time ago. As a business owner or marketing professional, you’re probably trying to consolidate what the Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic means for your business and search marketing campaigns and looking for strategies to help minimise the impact.
To help out, we developed this blog post to address some urgent questions that might be running through your head at the moment.
Should I stop all my online marketing activity?
This largely depends on your industry and business model. Certain sectors (like travel and tourism for example) have seen demand go from relatively strong to non-existent, while other industries (such as healthcare, food retail and finance) have seen a significant up-turn.
During an economic downturn, some of your competitors may decide to pull back on some of their marketing efforts, so you’ll most likely find that you will have less competition, making it easier and faster to get results. In some cases, you may even be able to get some good deals, such as a potential reduction in pay-per-click advertising.
What does this mean for business?
So what does this mean for my search marketing campaigns?
1. Demand is still there
Remember, with search marketing you only show up when someone is searching for your services. You only pay when someone clicks. Keeping your campaigns live means you’ll still be there when someone is looking.
People are not going to stop needing or wanting things during this downturn. With more time on their hands at home and online, they’ll likely be thinking about the things they want and actively research it. While you may not see immediate leads and sales from this traffic, they are entering your funnel. If you have an e-book or lead magnet to offer your customers, now is a great time to get it out there.
2. Check what support is available (e.g. financial stimulus, PAYG benefits, handouts etc.)
The federal government has announced two rounds of stimulus packages to keep small businesses going through this unprecedented crisis with a range of tax savings and concessions available. More information and eligibility can be found here.
This money should be used to keep staff employed where possible, but can also be used to support your online marketing efforts to keep your business continuing to thrive during this time. Some businesses will actually be in a better position as a result of this crisis, so any tax offsets or benefits should be invested in growth.
3. It’s time to get creative
We’ve had clients launch new campaigns for sanitisation products in the past week. We’ve had others see increased sales for their e-commerce stores as more people shop online and from home. The potential for growth is still there. You just need to work out how to tap into it.
We’re all in this together
The bottom line is this doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom for your business. This too will pass.
The government has handed out serious economic stimulus for businesses and opportunities are still there—you may just need to look a little harder for them.
If you want to have a chat about your campaigns or business plans in the coming weeks, feel free to call or email us at any time. After all, we’re all in this together!