Post-Covid Digital Marketing Tactics
So much has changed all around us due to Covid-19 pandemic that nothing is going to be same again. From businesses having to change their operative styles to workers relying mainly on their laptops to work remotely and students using online means to further their education – a lot has changed in the last year. For digital marketers Covid-19 has ‘fast-tracked’ people’s dependence on digital transactions and interactions. Now shopping on Amazon or attending a Zoom call is a regular stuff for almost everybody. This sudden and drastic change in digital consumption has made it necessary for digital marketers to not only up their games but also to use technology to improve their business prospects.
Overcoming the unprecedented changes all around coupled with the rising competition is going to one of the biggest challenges in the coming days. In a post-Covid world, businesses will take lessons from the pandemic and use more digital resources to stay connected with customers, clients and employees. Customers too will rely heavily on digital interactions in the coming days. In this article, we shall be talking about some of the post-Covid digital marketing tactics that will enable businesses to steer ahead of the competition in the near future.
#1 Keep Your Existing Customers Happy
It has always been challenging to build customer loyalty and in these trying and uncertain times, it has become even more so. While you try to acquire new customers, it is important that you don’t forget the older ones. Despite the tumultuous prevailing economic conditions, it is necessary that you look out for the ones who have stuck by you.
Create ad campaigns and services targeting their new needs. You can also go a step further by offering them refunds on memberships or additional discounts. This is likely will hurt your cash-flow in the short-term but you need to keep your eyes on the long term benefits. Once the economy restores itself, your loyal customers will give back more than you expect. Furthermore, this kind of gesture is going to bring immediate returns in the form on improved traffic to your website and more social media engagement.
At such times when unemployment is steeply rising, looking out for your customers can just do the trick for you. Caring for them now will not only ensure their customer loyalty but also increase your brand’s awareness and consumption. You can also indirectly engage with new prospects using this tactic.
#2 Move Every Service Online
Shifting operations online is the smartest thing to do in a post-Covid world. In 2020 as people were locked up inside their homes, businesses had to go out of their way to stay connected with them. If until then the relevance of the digital medium was understood, it became a living reality during the months of lockdown. Businesses have had to improve their websites and keep them updated, have had to renew their social media engagements and have had to focus on ecommerce.
If you have also done these things, you are surely on the right path. But you need to ask yourself whether it is enough? Probably not, considering how the post-Covid world is likely to look like. The pandemic has surely shown that there is a lot more businesses can do online.
As a marketing strategy, you can start automating email communications to streamline and accelerate messaging. Many businesses, primarily ecommerce vendors, are already using integrated cloud solutions that allow customers to receive alerts about new merchandise, track their packages and create invoices. Basically these cloud based solutions are enabling businesses to keep communication with their customers open, direct and immediate.
Another huge service that has largely moved online is education. Many language learning companies as well as educative resource hubs have become very popular after Covid-19 hit us. As we speak, newer players are entering this market simply because there is so much scope.
It is a good marketing practice for the post-Covid world to be equipped with software solutions and apps that will make it easier to stay connected with customers, clients and employees alike. The only way forward in a completely digitalized world is to stay connected. That’s why it’s important that you bring more processes online, stay connected with employees and customers.
#3 Invest in PPC Ads
There is no doubt that in the past year social media’s popularity has increased manifold. As people stay locked inside their homes, their one main source of entertainment and relaxation has been browsing social media platforms for hours. Businesses interested to boost their sales and social media engagement must use trend as an opportunity to stay relevant.
PPC ads have always been known for their high ROI. Today their significance is even more as consumers spend more time online. Among the many ways to invest in PPC, one that will definitely bring huge returns is ads on Facebook. Zuckerberg’s social media innovation is surely the most popular one right now which means that your business can engage with consumers without investing in exorbitant advertisements.
Using Facebook to showcase your business in front of your customers is a good way to truly scale your business. Since online ads can be endlessly engaging while being affordable, you can now use targeted ads for your discerning customers. Since Facebook has granular targeting capabilities, it is easy to target customers based on their gender, geographical location, interests and hobbies, profession, marital status and so on. Powered with so much data, you can create specific ads that are bound to be successful.
There are more reasons to invest in PPC ads right now, especially for Facebook. The cost per thousand impressions or CPM has lowered over the past months as big companies are slashing their marketing budget. For a small or medium sized business, this is the right time to invest. You will surely get leads and see increase in sales with a much lesser investment.
Another thing to remember is that ads on social media should be repetitive and consistent. The aim with PPC ads, particularly Facebook ads should be retargeting. This means you target your ads at people who are already aware of your brand and have interacted with you in some way.
#4 Go for Promotional Deals
In these uncertain times, consumer buying habits has seen a decline. As we are slowly limping back to normalcy, the onus of luring the customers back is upon you. Your smart pandemic digital marketing tactics will bring back customers. A good marketing tactic for the coming days is to offer exclusive sales and discounts to entice your customers into buying your products and services. You can begin by advertising about these offers on the various social media platforms and also send out promotional emails to your leads.
Two things are likely to happen by offering deals and discounts – you can attract new customers who are looking for newer avenues to make better purchasing decisions and secondly, keeping your existing customers happy. Promotional discounts and offers will work really well if you are into the entertainment and recreational industry. Businesses that have severely and drastically been hit by Novel Coronavirus such as theatres, spas, restaurants, gyms etc. will hugely benefit by offering discounts. Additionally you can also offer membership freebies for a limited period too. This tactic can work really work well for those in the travel and tourism industry as well.
You should look at these promotional deals as investment to keep your customers happy. So spend some money now so that the returns later are good.
#5 Change Your Communication Approach
A lot has changed in the last few months – people’s perceptions, needs, priorities as well as their schedules. As a business organization, you must recognize these changes and accordingly alter your communication strategies. In a post-Covid world you have to be an empathizer. You have to be compassionate with the sufferings of people associated with you.
This means that you will have to rethink how you communicate. You may need to alter the tone of your messaging in newsletters, blog posts and social media posts. If you have had planned your communication strategy, you may have to rework on them right away. Your content calendar will need to be redone. You will also need to work on the type of content you are putting out.
If unsure about how to proceed, a good practice would be to run an online survey to understand people’s priorities, needs and desires. Multiple choice questions and point on a scale is usually helpful. Additionally keeping a few open-ended questions will also help you get more idea about what customers are expecting from brands. Using the information thus gathered, you can work on your ads, emails, webinars, videos and podcasts.
Forward-thinking businesses have already adopted this strategy and reaping the benefits of their thoughtfulness. When you show that you are also a victim of the current situation, when you become an anchor for others to lean on and when you show your empathetic side – you win customers over and over again.
#6 Keep Your Marketing Strategies Focused
Trying to do too many things all at once is not going to help. It is naturally to feel the pressure of the tumultuous times but don’t let that overwhelm you. As the world adapts to a ‘new normal’ you have to calmly tread the way ahead. You cannot make rash decisions nor can you be impulsive. Furthermore this is not the time to panic and think of the worst. It is the time to be rational, to tread your path carefully.
When it comes to ideating marketing strategies for a post-Covid world remember to not sow seeds everywhere. Understand the fertility of the soil in different places and sow accordingly. If you see your brand generates more traction on Instagram with millennials and Gen Z then stick to creating content, collaborating with influencers on the gram. However, if your organic search engine responses are remarkable, go for PPC ads on Google. Don’t do this and that too. That’s not going to help.
Sometimes ideas come easily it is the implementation that gets tough. If you too are brimming with ideas but don’t know how to go about doing things, get in touch with us – Cyrusson Inc. a leading digital marketing service provider. We have been in the business for long enough to understand the changing dynamics. We have closely followed the marketing changes and patterns in the past year and can predict the changes required in a post-Covid world. If you want to be successful with your digital marketing strategies, get in touch with us today!