Digital Marketing as a Coronavirus (Advertising) Cure

As businesses around the world continue to deal with the effects of COVID-19, many marketers are facing a reduction in available ad spend. Companies that have to cut costs right and left to stay operational may not be willing to invest in paid advertising techniques. In turn, this could result in concern over the continued viability of a business' marketing model.

The good news is that there are alternatives to the paid advertising model that companies can take advantage of during this crisis. For example, digital marketing tactics can serve as effective replacements for paid ads when budgets are cut. The following information will discuss four low-cost ways to keep your marketing momentum rolling and "cure" your advertising from what ails it.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is an excellent strategy in its own right. Research has shown that content marketing can yield up to 3 times more leads than paid search advertising. The current crisis has provided many business owners with an excellent opportunity to beef up their content strategy at a meager cost.

How can you leverage your content marketing program for maximum effect? Here are some pointers to keep in mind:

• For B2B marketers, be as specific as possible in terms of your targeted industry or even job title. To stand out from the crowd, it's important to narrow the focus of your content down to your most profitable niche demographics.
• Don't shy away from the subject of coronavirus. Businesses and consumers alike are looking for ways to deal with the pandemic. When the demand for content is this high, it's vital that you ride the wave along with other content producers.
• Keep in mind the specific pain points of your target audience. For example, some companies have lost a ton of business from demand shortage, whereas other organizations are overloaded and can't keep up. By tailoring content to your consumers' specific pain points, you'll be able to engage them in a much more personalized way.

Search Engine Optimization

Global pandemic or no global pandemic, ranking high on Google's first results page is still the most affordable way to generate leads and increase sales. With other advertising tools temporarily on the back burner, use the time you have now to optimize your older blogs for their highest-ranking keyword. Optimization will enhance its visibility on Google's Search Engine Results Page (SERP) rankings.

In addition, review which keywords are already driving your website's SEO ranking. Use your favorite ranking tool, such as Ahrefs or KWFinder, to inform your content strategy going forward. This may seem like grunt work; however, digital marketing is very often a "game of inches" and pulling out all the SEO stops may win you an edge over the competition.

Social Media Marketing

People are spending up to 20% more time on apps, including social apps, during the coronavirus lockdown. In terms of marketing, this means that not only are more consumers engaging with social media platforms, but they're doing so for longer periods of time.

With that in mind, it's important that you factor social media marketing into your overall "coronavirus strategy." What should you do? Here are just a few suggestions:

• Maintain high visibility for potential customers by providing relevant, informative, and engaging content to help them get through this difficult time.
• Be willing to share and curate high-value articles that you find. By doing so, you'll position yourself as an "authority by proxy" to your target audience.
• Interact with target users. Join existing discussions and respond promptly to posted comments on your own account.

Cause Marketing

Many governmental and charitable agencies are working around the clock to assist those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. During this time of crisis, you have an opportunity to align your brand with a worthy cause. For maximum business impact, it's vital that you integrate the selected cause with your overall marketing message (e.g., promote sponsored online events, emphasize your partnership with the organization, and so forth). The cause should be one that appeals to your target audience rather than your personal preferences, and it should involve a legitimate investment of time, money, or both.

Aligning your brand with such a cause demonstrates your sincere concern for those in your community, which in turn will result in increased engagement and brand advocacy from observant consumers.

Coping with the Coronavirus' Impact on Business

While COVID-19 has wreaked unprecedented havoc on the global economy, there is still a light at the end of the tunnel. If you use this time wisely, your business will not only survive, but it will even thrive as the coronavirus outbreak recedes into the pages of history.

In the meantime, however, your advertising budget may suffer significant cuts. There may be no way to know when things will turn around. Still, if you leverage digital marketing techniques as both a supplement to and temporary replacement for your paid advertising strategy, you may very well enjoy similar results with much lower ad spend.

Moreover, as the world returns to the new, post-coronavirus normal, you'll be in a much better position to combine marketing tactics moving forward. Your future campaigns won't solely depend on PPC or other paid methods alone. Instead, it will take the best from both worlds by dovetailing paid advertising and low-cost digital marketing for maximum impact.