Marketing in times of forced isolation

In the era of millennials, lockdown feels like a trap something like caging oneself with the so-called isolation because of a deadly virus.

And tension rise along with the number of Coronavirus cases reported in the headlines that make us feel a bolt from the blue is the new reality to adjust our way of living and work managing between precautions and panic while we busy ourselves in stocking on groceries, taking care of the safety of our loved ones with the overhaul of our daily routine. 

Then we try to normalize our daily lives in the times when there are new fears surrounding us.

We all are facing so many issues altogether from health concerns to social distancing and financial anxiety all feels like an attack on health issues and the economy at the same time. The pandemic rage is ravaging the economy with the stock market plummeting, people losing their jobs, and facing issues in developing a lockdown lifestyle too.

Now it has become an impulse to run for cover to drastically reduce all costs which include marketing budget, to set ourselves for the worst. Although it is not the right time to put a halt on marketing so intelligent marketing tactics are a need of the hour for the customers during the days of unraveling nerve and social distancing.

Cost-cutting or invert in marketing:

In this time of saving costs by lessening your marketing budget. 

1. The cost cut will affect your gains as they will be temporary, during the crisis the ravages of recession surrounding the situation will be reduced brand awareness and weakened customer relationship.
2. The competitive advantage in the marketing efforts can stand out by investing wisely in the marketing tactics while other brands will be occupied in cost-cut.
3. And if you succeed in maintaining and building your brand through hard times, and you will be trusted with reliability reassuring presence in your industry.  

At this moment it is important to connect more to the audience and in spite of social distancing. 

There are methods to replace in-person meetings with teleconferencing.

Usage of videos:

Usage of videos has become important in the times of social distancing as video marketers say that communicating through videos has created leads for them. It is something like approaching many at the same time when a video is prepared and it is done, it is shared and advertised on a large platform on the website and social media. And adding to which you can also facilitate one-on-one exchange on the video. 

1. Send a personal video and introduce yourself to potential customers.
2. Give a product demo to potential customers through video.
3.  Send potential customers or subscribers a personalized greetings video. 
4. Greeting potential customers with an online video of the product you’re advertising.
5. Provide clear and customized customer support.

Animated Videos:

Like the traditional-talk videos, the animated videos are similarly effective for sharing your ideas remotely and you can share this video personally to your potential customers so that they feel valued and would love to be a customer forever. 

Eventually, the idea is to stimulate someone scribbling on the whiteboard and doodling as they explain and that makes whiteboard feels familiar and friendly. That is one of the tactics to overcome the challenges of social distancing.

What is a whiteboard video?

Whiteboard animation is the process where an author physically draws and records an illustrated story using a whiteboard or a whiteboard like surface and maker pens. 

And the animation constitutes a narration by the script that adds interest and understanding for potential customers. 

Whiteboard videos are helpful in achieving a variety of different purposes such as promoting your product or service, describing your origin story by making the story and narration interesting and persuading potential customers to take action with easy methods of explaining complicated ideas. But due to the present scenario, you are unable to play with your whiteboard at events and if by any chance you have embedded them on your website sharing them on social media including them in your email marketing.

Be a part of Virtual Conferences:

Due to the sudden ravages and rising of Coronavirus that has been caused by many important conferences and events were canceled and that eventually went on the loss path that was to be absorbed by recovering the costs. 

The ingredient to succeed in the virtual conference is not giving up easily by improving the skills, creativity, and reimaging in-person events as virtual experiences.

In the same way, it was entertaining to watch Dua Lipa and Backstreet Boys perform their songs with their teams through Virtual conferences to help people enjoy their music and staying safe at home. 

Repurposing your Presentation:

If you were unable to showcase your presentation on deck and you have to come to rely on your sales meetings and may not be able to present them in person, but that doesn’t mean you cannot show them off online or repurpose them in other creative ways. 

Publish them on SlideShare which has a good number of users saving your best slides as images, and share those on your social channels and exporting the videos and reinventing them as infographics.

Convert portions of them into animated GIFs and turning them into an online slideshow using a tool like Slidely. 

Creating Infographics:

A well-designed infographics deliver a complex task to look intelligent and efficient that is the data you share with your audience and you cannot be around to offer explanations but if you try attractive infographics and using surrogate in a procedure that is sending by email to your subscribers, leads, and customers, then publishing it to your website along with embedded codes to earn backlinks and sharing it on social media to boost your engagement. An infographic that can take over can boost your credibility and help position you as an authority in your space.

Checking your website from time to time:

Improvement is the key to be perfect in whatever to perform even under normal circumstances. And especially in the middle of a pandemic that has shaken the economy. Take a look at your website to make sure that it hasn’t fallen out of step with the general mood. 

Where social distancing makes it harder to earn the trust so make sure that you have ample evidence that you can be trusted by your potential customers. 

And make sure that you add the trust booster like testimonials, a list of clients you have worked, any guarantees you offer, and recent distinctions and awards. 

Creative content for your blog:

An interesting content is always an eye-catcher and interesting so as to get priority because crafting it is an art and make sure to consider the global mood of stress and fear. 

It is important to focus on helping people and answering their queries, and not selling so that you can become a trusted resource with information and motivation and you can hold potential customers by being generous with free resources to help your community. 

Active participation in Social Media:

Active participation on social media at this moment is a great idea. And in these times it is important to guide your potential customers or audience and focus on social listening, engaging with your followers, supporting and inspiring your community. 

Email Newsletters:

Strengthening relationships is a great idea and one way through it is creating Email Newsletters and you can connect to your potential audience through this platform that belongs to you. 

Focusing on potential customers:

With the present scenario of unrest, it is essential to focus on potential customers because it is a hard time to earn new customers. Therefore, deepening relationships with the present potential customer is a great idea. 

And you can perform certain things to keep them active on social media in the times on social distancing by asking your customers for feedback on what you can do better and act on it, sharing content that can be beneficial for them, and setting up a loyalty program to reward repeat transactions. This is the time when you can show creativity, flexibility, and help yourself with better ideas and solutions by valuing your potential customers.

Advertising:

Recession has created an overall alarming situation for everyone in the business which means that recession directly acts upon the ad spending with a fall. But the good investment can prove to be a downturn to invest in advertising. 

Advertising can deliver more immediate income by albeit at a lower ROI than inbound where your competitor will pull back on their advertising which means that there will be less noise in the market and you’ll have a better chance of standing out.

But weaker advertising demand may reduce costs and make your campaign more affordable by maintaining mindshare through hard times that can position you as a stabilizing presence. 

Conclusion:

These following ways can act as a boon for your business in times of pandemic and economic recession and marketing in times of forced isolation can be beneficial for you and your business.