Adapting Your Digital Marketing to the Covid Age

Covid-19 will be history at some point, but we don’t know what society and the economy will be like then. One thing we do know is that online and digital channels of commerce and communication really came into their own as people worked, shopped and even carried on with family life and romances over the internet. 

As cities and countries entered lockdowns, most regions saw a sharp spike in online traffic and purchases. This unique situation has presented digital marketers with challenges and opportunities in terms of outreach and using new strategies to communicate with customers.

Here’s how your marketing needs to change to keep up with covid

Redefine your business goals

Pretty much every sector is massively disrupted right now and we don’t know how long this state of affairs will last. You need to look at your usual goals, messaging and branding and ask if they’re still relevant and accessible. What do your customers really need right now and can you give it to them?

If you can, make sure your customers know this. If you operate as a mixture of online and physical outlets or service providers, your messaging needs to steer people away from the physical. Move marketing funding away from in-person events or services towards promoting online or virtual services and deliveries.

Don’t send too many covid-related messages

Quite frankly, everyone’s over-saturated with covid news so you should only reach out to your mailing list if it’s critical. If an event has been cancelled, you’re offering a discount to vulnerable people, if your delivery times are going to be affected and so on. 

Try to avoid jumping on a bandwagon and bombarding customers with news of how you’re all using hand sanitiser in the stockroom. Keep things sensible and spread out your messaging, segmenting it if necessary, so that the right notices and emails are getting to the right people.

Let omnichannel do some lifting

If there’s the chance of more lockdowns, then shops selling non-essentials might have to close again. This shifts the emphasis to online retail and marketing. Look at what’s great about your online offering across all platforms and also at what you can improve. 

Encourage people to visit your online store rather than waiting for your physical store to re-open. Offer rewards for online orders, such as discounts, free shipping or enhanced rewards.

Check that your inbound marketing is up to scratch

If fewer people are coming to your physical store or place of business then they’ll need to seek you out online. Are you ready for all the inbound traffic, both direct and indirect from SEO and PPC? Give it all a test-drive, focusing on chatbots, your website’s internal navigation, videos and online brochures and product listings.

Think about things like your visibility, whether you’re optimised for voice searches and whether you’re FAQs are up to date. You should also include any new information about your covid-19 policies, as well as using session data to look at what customers are asking for at the moment.

Analyse this!

During this pandemic, new search trends will emerge almost daily. That’s why data analysis and reporting are crucial. Learning what pages consumers visit and what searches they perform can help fine-tune marketing messages on the go (see point one) and deliver relevant content.

During something like a pandemic, search term trends change rapidly so you need to stay on top of your data analysis so that you can fine-tune your marketing. Think about your best offline customers – what could bring them into the online fold? How can you appeal to their new and ever-changing needs and interests?

PAUL SMITH – For over 20 years I have worked with businesses, enterprises and brands in Australia, NZ, UK and US to drive digital marketing growth using organic and paid traffic strategies. No fluff or BS, just straight-forward return on investment.