During these unusual and challenging times, you might feel uneasy about marketing your business. But, if you’re stuck at home in lockdown with additional time on your hands, there’s never been a better time to sit down and think strategically about your marketing approach and how your service or product could help people right now.
The importance of online marketing has never been higher. People are isolated with minimal contact with the outside world other than through the internet. People are shopping online and spending more time on social media than ever. On average, in 2019 people spent 144 minutes each day on social networking sites globally, according to BroadbandSearch (https://www.broadbandsearch.net/blog/average-daily-time-on-social-media), and that was before the whole world was in lockdown, think how much it would be now! Online sales in several sectors have increased significantly since the last week in March according to Awin.com, with purchases of fitness equipment going up by 53%, TV orders and Video On Demand up by 174% and online gaming seeing an increase of 237% compared with the same period last year. You can’t afford to miss out on that type of exposure!
Read on for our four top tips on how to revamp your marketing regime in the current climate:
Marketing Strategy
First and foremost, make a plan. Write down what you want to achieve and how you intend to do it using the resources and tactics available to you currently. Review the plan regularly to make sure you’re following all the steps and working towards your objectives. This is an excellent habit to get into and a way of keeping yourself in check and on track. Why not also take a look at our recent blog – Marketing Planning For 2020 for some extra insight and tips? https://3twelve.co.uk/blog/marketing-planning-for-2020/.
Email marketing
Take a look at your database. Is it up to date? Now’s a great time to cleanse it ready for a new marketing approach. Once it’s up to date, send an email letting your clients and suppliers know what you’re up to during the pandemic – are you up and running, still taking orders or slightly changing your service to adapt with the current situation? Send out some entirely value-driven content that people might find helpful or useful right now.
An email marketing calendar will help you keep you on top of your strategy. Plan ahead using a simple email marketing calendar, so you have sight of what you want to speak about, and you have plenty of time to plan each email. Mailchimp and Campaign Monitor are both excellent for helping you keep track of which emails have been opened and which topics have been clicked on, allowing you to tailor future content perfectly to the recipient.
Content Marketing
Create engaging and value-driven content to use on your website, social media, PR, email marketing, or to share with other bloggers or titles online. Great content will sing about the credibility of your business. Blogs, videos, white papers and pdfs are all useful to include, adding value and positioning you as an industry leader. You could also link with other companies within your sector and write a blog for them to use on their social media with a backlink to your website. This approach is excellent for SEO as well as allowing your content to reach a wider audience.
Social Media
Social media marketing is vital at the moment. Make sure you’re using the right platform for your business and use a social media calendar to plan your content and make sure you rotate around the three content pillars: Affinity, awareness and authority.
Affinity content could include items from behind the scenes, i.e. problems with Skype meetings or interruptions from children while you’re working remotely – great for adding a little humour or something that your audience can relate to and feels obliged to engage with, including tips and value-based content.
Awareness is all about your core solution messaging, so this is where you would sell and talk about your business. Again, try to include value-driven content plugging into people’s pain points, showing how you can help them with your knowledge and services.
Authority content includes case studies, testimonials and industry tips, anything that shows you as a voice of authority within your field.
Lead nurturing is also essential for people to consider when they are networking and building relationships online. Take a look at our earlier blogs on lead generation using LinkedIn – https://3twelve.co.uk/blog/how-to-generate-more-sales-leads-on-linkedin-part-1/ and https://3twelve.co.uk/blog/how-to-generate-more-sales-leads-on-linkedin-part-2/ for more information on how to approach this.
Facebook advertising is another thing to consider. Currently, there aren’t that many advertisers online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making it not as expensive as usual to advertise on the platform. Cost per lead and cost per clicks are both going down (for the moment!), presenting businesses with a budget-friendly opportunity too good to ignore. Take a look at another one of our blogs to find out more about paid Facebook ads and how to set them up correctly for maximum results – https://3twelve.co.uk/blog/facebook-advertising-for-b2b/.
So there we have it, although you might not think it, the middle of a global pandemic is a great time to get your marketing strategy in tip-top condition and make the most of the opportunities that online marketing can present. As long as you stay mindful of how other people’s businesses may be faring, nothing is stopping you!
For information about how 3twelve can help you, and to book a FREE 30-minute strategy call, please contact us today – https://3twelve.co.uk/contact/.