The Threadgill Agency | Easy Marketing Strategies During COVID-19
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Easy Marketing Strategies During COVID-19

Easy Marketing Strategies During COVID-19

Businesses of all sizes are scrambling to adapt to unpredictable economic conditions and shifting consumer behavior during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Above all, people are trying to keep themselves and their families safe and healthy. They’re also learning how to navigate daily life in a new socially-distanced, work-and-learn-from-home normal.
Brick-and-mortar shutdowns and mass layoffs are impacting multiple industries. Now more than ever, it’s important to find ways to stay connected to consumers, nurture existing relationships, and continue to gain new ones.

We’ve put together a list of easy marketing strategies that can help retain and attract consumers and meet changing needs in the current landscape and beyond.

Embrace Change, Empathize, Give Back, and Look Ahead

The COVID crisis has disrupted life for millions of people around the world – embracing these unexpected changes and empathizing with consumers helps foster faith instead of fear. It also builds trust.
Ad campaigns that reflect how consumers feel reinforce that a brand understands what they are going through. According to a special COVID edition of The CMO Survey, 79.1% of respondents observed consumers giving “greater acknowledgment of companies’ attempts to do good.’”
Simply put, people like to see businesses giving back or pitching in to help fight the pandemic. Dove, for instance, honors frontline doctors and nurses fighting COVID in a “Courage is Beautiful” video. The spot ends with a message that Dove is donating to Direct Relief, a humanitarian organization that supports vulnerable populations all over the world, including American frontline healthcare workers.
Nearly five months into the coronavirus crisis, companies also need to look ahead and project hope in a brighter post-pandemic future. Coca-Cola’s “To the Human Race” ad offers an outstanding example of highlighting heroes while emphasizing the strength of the human spirit to overcome.

Seize Online Sales Opportunities

Phased reopening of physical storefronts with reduced customer capacity aims to prevent COVID transmission in a crowded indoor space. Unfortunately, less store traffic means fewer in-person sales.
According to a March 2020 American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) survey, 37% of consumers are buying online instead of going into a store. In addition, CMO Survey results show an 84.8% increase in consumer openness to new digital offerings.
To boost revenue, businesses should expand existing online sales efforts or launch an online selling platform if they don’t have one. A good marketing agency can develop an engaging and informative website to bring a company’s brick-and-mortar products and services to a consumer’s fingertips. A website never closes.

Stay Connected, Share Knowledge, and Cross-Promote on Social Pages

Companies can stay digitally connected to consumers via social media 24/7. Sharing knowledge, product photos, and informational videos by cross-promoting social channels is easy.
For example, linking to an Instagram post on Twitter or promoting a YouTube livestream event on Facebook are effective cross-promotion strategies. Creating branded #hashtags for slogans, sales events, or popular products can also attract consumers to social pages that ultimately link to the company website to place an order.
Likewise, linking to social pages in email campaigns or sharing valuable tips in a weekly blog will draw consumers to the website. Hosting a virtual Q&A or inviting feedback in an online survey also engages social followers or site visitors. The goal for these kinds of online interactions is to build rapport, showcase expertise, and hopefully convert browsing to sales.

Offer Teleservices

Many people fear going to the doctor for a routine checkup during the pandemic because they don’t want to risk contracting the virus. Therefore, many healthcare providers are now offering virtual visits to address a variety of non-urgent medical issues.

Conducting teleconferences or virtual visits may also help homebound, at-risk consumers. Physical therapists, personal trainers, lawyers, and fix-it professionals can all offer guided service to clients at home.

Give Ads an At-Home Focus

Following shelter-in-place orders and the rise in working remotely means many people are spending a lot of time at home. Tailoring marketing campaigns toward products and services for home use is a way to focus on meeting consumer needs while also driving up sales.

Food delivery, toy sets, and home-schooling supplies are just a few of the growing list of in-demand products that quarantining or homebound people need.
Using some or all of these marketing strategies can help businesses survive in this challenging time!

Need help changing up your marketing campaigns to fit the current climate? Reach out to us today!