With coronavirus being the most talked about topic as of late, it is hard to focus on much else.
As an entrepreneur and small business owner, I have always stressed the importance of investing time and money in your own business. Many of us spend most of our time ensuring our clients are happy and successful, while spending little to no time marketing our own companies.
It’s clear that COVID-19 is significantly impacting businesses around the world, which makes it the perfect time for business owners and entrepreneurs to shift the focus toward internal marketing efforts.
New Websites
You may have had to put off starting a new website for your company due to time restraints in the past. This is the perfect time to invest resources into refining the ideal website for your business, so that the site is all set to launch when things start to get back to normal.
Creating a new website involves a variety of components that must be taken into consideration. Some of which include the design, development, coding, mobile friendliness, loading time, hosting and security, content management, SEO basics, inventory management, analytics, and much more. Whether a lead-generating website or eCommerce, take advantage of an experienced web design and development team to make sure your new website is ready to go in the coming months.
Online Marketing
While ad spend may be down overall on various platforms, there is still a significant amount of traffic coming from search engines. This is especially true with most people working from home now. In fact, it has been reported that internet activity has drastically increased between 50%-70%.
In addition, the overall reduced ad spend means that there is less competition bidding for the top spots in Google, Bing, and other search engines. This is the ideal time to get in front of potential new business at lower cost per clicks or impressions.
In regard to organic search marketing, businesses should start investing in search engine optimization (SEO) now to pass those who may have taken their foot off the gas during this time. Since SEO can take a few months to see top-ranking results, businesses should consult with a qualified SEO agency to come up with an comprehensive strategy to position themselves in the top spots of Google and other search engines.
Social Media
Perhaps an area that is seeing the most growth in usage is social media, especially Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok.
In fact, people are spending about 20% more time in social media apps in general. Both Facebook and Instagram have seen a 40% increase in usage, while YouTube has seen a 500% increase in views since March 15.
Take advantage of this increased usage by creating a strategic social media strategy on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and make sure it includes both content and ads to reach your relevant target audience. Use an experienced social media agency to help set up video advertising on YouTube or other video platforms.
Television
With so many people searching streaming services and broadband for entertainment, television usage has appeared to increase between 30%-50%.
Jump on this opportunity by running ads on these OTT platforms to get in front of a large, relevant audience including cord-cutters during this time of isolation.
Mobile Usage
This may not come as such a shock with so many people being stuck at home now – mobile usage has grown over 50% when comparing year-over-year. And, mobile app spending is actually expected to double by 2024. Take advantage of these surges and run display ads on mobile devices.
Targeted Emails
With so many people working from home nowadays, email open rates are increasing.
Use this to your advantage and run targeted email campaigns for your specific industry.
These are just a few of the ways in which you can be proactive and get ahead while times are slow. As I, myself, am working from home with fewer meetings, feel free to take advantage of my expertise and schedule a complimentary consultation with me. We will also provide independent research of your website and search engine presence, as well as basic competitor research. We need to be there for each other and get through these times together.
While other things may have come to a halt in the world, take advantage of where the people are now.
If things have slowed down working IN your business because of COVID-19, now is the time to work ON your business.