Social distancing and working from home are the new normal, at least until the Coronavirus pandemic continues. Many marketers work remotely and learn new things day by day about themselves, their brands, and their customers. Changes in personal habits, such as staying out to dinner or canceling children’s play dates, are likely to force us to spend more time online.
Here at Outbrain, our job is to help marketers find audiences and customers through native open web advertising. As more people are quarantined in their homes, small and large companies are feeling the impact. Every day, new rules and restrictions come into play, and the posts move quickly. So we decided to ask the Outbrain Growth Marketing team (all of whom work at home …) for their best tips and ideas on how to adapt your digital marketing strategy in a time of crisis. Let’s see what they had to say:
Make sure your business can be found online
In case you haven’t noticed, there are more people online right now than in their cars or walking on the sidewalks. Search traffic has increased significantly over the past week and will continue to increase as we duck. We are also looking for entertainment and ways to pass the time. For many, that includes buying online.
Anything online right now will be consumed more than ever before. This is not the time to be hidden online. You should be using search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to climb to the top of Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) so your business can be easily found. This is not a right time for a business to go into a shell and poke out your head every few days to see if the sun has come out.
Use your online advertising budget wisely
When there is some kind of national or global event, good or bad, Internet activity skyrockets. Naturally, people turn to their smartphones and laptops to watch the news, search the web, and listen to what their networks are saying. During a crisis, impressions and page views tend to go through the roof, however getting those extra visits to convert is very difficult. So while CPMs (cost per 1000 impressions) tend to decrease, CVRs (conversion rates) tend to decrease as well, and sometimes at an even steeper rate, which commonly results in CPAs (cost per acquisition) every time Taller.
With more people at home in front of their screens, this is a great opportunity for companies to use PPC marketing to connect with their customers and gain a competitive advantage. Oh, and it’s a great opportunity to save some money on your digital marketing budget. On average, the cost per click has decreased by 6 percent across all verticals since last week, according to Thrive PPC senior manager Jacob Wulff. And CPC is likely to continue to decline in the coming week, reducing the amount of money an advertiser pays an editor for each click on the ad. That gives your business another chance to gain that lost market share from others who retire during this time.
Focus on strengthening your relationship with your customers
First, you must communicate regularly. Today’s customers want a relationship with the companies they do business with and go beyond transaction to a more attractive human setting. If you don’t have a regular communication cadence with your customers yet, now is the time to build one. Second, file the ‘hard sell’. COVID-19 is an unprecedented pandemic. Be empathetic. Focus on strengthening your relationship with your clients, but for genuine and thoughtful reasons, ask how they’re doing it, exchange life stories of caution and triumph.
Some companies may choose to participate in charity or volunteer activities in their local areas. These can and should be published on social networks, native ads, videos and blogs. Businesses can also create special offers to help customers through a difficult time, either by providing discounts, coupons, or extending subscriptions for a limited period. Of course, each business must determine for itself whether an offer will be financially viable. It’s about finding the balance between being there for customers and what the company can afford.
Stay Ahead or Jump In Front of Your Competition
SEO helps your business increase organic traffic to your website and outperform your competition. You want to be on the first page of Google SERPs, and at the top of the list, so that when your customers search for certain keywords, you are the company they end up calling. Climbing to the top of SERPs takes time and strategic optimization strategies. If you don’t continue to optimize your website and content on a daily basis, you lose valuable ground in search results, and your free fall could cost your business thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
Communicate directly and openly with clients
Trust and authenticity are some of the most important aspects of a brand’s relationship with customers. According to the Edelman Brand Trust Report 2019, 81% of consumers say, “I must be able to trust the brand to do the right thing.” And what better way to build trust than to communicate openly and honestly? Especially during a crisis when everyone feels vulnerable.
This can be accomplished quite easily through an email or SMS to your mailing list, or a post on social media. The tone can be sincere, supportive, edgy or in fact, it really depends on the character of your brand and the message you want to convey. The tone is not the critical part. The most important thing is to be honest and true. This is what customers value and feel when they feel authentic.
