Businesses are facing huge loss and they are helpless due to this coronavirus spread across the world. The number of patients is increasing each passing day or we must say every hour. The challenge is tough and all businesses whether big or small are facing its consequences. We must say that start-ups and small businesses have suffered more and they are clueless about what they should do to save the reputation of their brand when no one is there to buy your product or service.
The time is tough & slow and it is important for businesses to take some small yet necessary measures to see positive results when this pandemic is gone. Instead of just sitting and watching your downfall, you must keep working slowly & steadily for the growth of your brand. Now you must be thinking about what you can do during this period when everything is falling apart. We must say one thing that you can do during this period of crisis is content marketing.
Content marketing could be of most importance at this time when people are using social media more than often instead of being social physically. This is one of the reasons why we have suggested this idea that could show interesting results when the time will become good again. Let us see in brief what content marketing is first before explaining what should be your strategies towards it.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is a process of providing valuable, informative, unique, and engaging information to a target audience in order to receive some profitable actions from them. It is one of the most common and important forms of marketing techniques. Content is everywhere and without that, you won’t be able to explain the message you want to convey to your audience. Content not only means the written part, but it also includes images, videos, infographics, GIFs, and Gifographics. We must say that content marketing is the heart of all marketing strategies for businesses.
Why content marketing is important during this coronavirus pandemic?
Content marketing is admired for being highly effective in clearly communicating with your audience. As of now, everyone is at home and the only way they have to work, get entertained, and get updated about the world is the digital platform. So, during this period, the importance of content marketing just gets doubled as you might get more attention than usual.
We know that numerous business and marketing events have got canceled and the only way companies have to interact with their audience is through the digital platform. That’s where the importance of content marketing lies during this COVID-19 pandemic. While it is still necessary to adopt a strategic approach to avoid any harm from your own actions.
Content marketing strategy during coronavirus outbreak
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Select the right channel
In times, when there is no human interaction and people are advised to stay only at home, it becomes important to use marketing channels that have high human interaction, and there is no doubt in saying that online/digital platforms are the only ones. It is advised not to waste your resources in using offline platforms for content marketing.
Online channels like social media and email are the best ones to post your content now and show your clients that you are there with them. Engage with them by sharing the information Rof what they should do and what they should not, to stay safe from coronavirus. Especially, if you have a business of providing essential things, do make them sure that you are here to provide them with the product or service at no extra cost or price hike. Believe us, this is the right time to build trust that will stay for long.
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Social media activities
We must say that during this period of self-quarantine, you have all the time in the world to stay actively engaged with your clients on social media. Show your presence and engage them by organizing quizzes, games, and questions & answers to see how much they know about you and your brand. Doing this will also help you know what people think about your brand and you can later create effective strategies to improve.
People across the globe are using social media more than they normally used to do, thus, it is the best time to interact with the people who are most valuable for your business i.e. your customers. Another thing that you can do is to ask your clients for their feedback about the experience they had with your product or service.
Besides everything, educate people on why they should stay home and follow the guidelines issued by the government. Doing this will also be a positive sign for your online marketing campaign and you might see an increase in traffic on your website.
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Local SEO
Local customers are important as that is where most of the business comes from for the majority of companies. Their importance has increased because due to this coronavirus pandemic that’s all businesses have right now. Thus, it should be the right time to focus on local SEO and take some necessary steps to strengthen that. It becomes vital for businesses that are supplying essential goods & services. Optimizing your Google my Business account, monitoring reviews, and updating all the required details is a must to tell people about your presence with your products or services.
While optimizing your local SEO, you must also ensure people about precautionary measures that you are taking while providing the products or services. This will build more trust and they will prefer you over your competitors. Local SEO always plays a key role and during this time of crisis, its role becomes more vital.
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Avoid being aggressive
It’s the time when everyone needs support in one or another way, thus, you must avoid posting any content that shows your aggressive behavior. What we mean by saying aggressive is being pushy towards your products or services. Doing this could be harmful, so you must avoid this. Instead of selling your products or service, you must show concern about this current scenario as this is the best way to promote your brand now.
A message with polite, optimistic, and kind tone should be posted and that is what will help your brand. You must understand that your support during this COVID-19 pandemic is your investment that will give good interest when the situation gets healed.
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Learn empathy
The time has changed and people don’t care about sympathy anymore. This is the time to show empathy in whatever you post about your brand. This is the time to stand strong when the whole world is fighting with this dangerous pandemic which is increasing day by day. Any content you update must show that you feel exactly what others are feeling. Share your views on how you are supporting everyone during this global pandemic.
It doesn’t matter which product or service you offer; this is not the time to sell and generate revenue rather this is the time to do whatever you can to stop the spread of coronavirus. Do social posts, send newsletters, and post blogs about the latest updates of COVID-19 pandemic. But make sure that any information you are updating is referenced from credible sources. Any fake news or information will do serious harm. Your target audience must know what support you are providing in this unfavorable situation.
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Offer discounts and relieve stress
The whole world is under deep stress due to coronavirus and if you can delight your customers by offering discounts or other perks, the result will be great for you. We think it as one of the best content marketing strategies during this crisis time. Send notifications to your clients about what you are offering whether it is a free gift, discounts on products or services you are offering, free delivery, or coupons. This is one of the best ways to keep your customers engaged and ensure their loyalty.
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PPC advertising
When everything is shattered due to coronavirus, this could be the best time for PPC advertising by creating quality content. It has been noticed that cost-per-click has seen a significant decline, thus, you should not waste any time to consider PPC advertising. You might also see high traffic and engagement of people now as a large percentage of them are at home. So, it could be the best chance to reap good results at a low cost.
The Bottom Line
We all know that nothing lasts forever be it a good time or bad. Similarly, the situation raised due to COVID-19 will also become normal with time. So, we do not have to lose hope as everything will come back to normal. Thus, instead of waiting for this pandemic to go, we can do simple things for our business to ensure people that you haven’t left them alone. One of the simplest things that you can do is content marketing as it is the best way by which you can interact with your target audience.
Create an effective strategy based on the points shared above and you’ll see how people will get in touch with you. The time is hard for all of us and the digital platform is the only one that can be used to make efforts for your business. One important point that must be considered before posting anything is that the content you are posting is not focusing on driving sales or generating revenue rather it should reveal that you are standing with your audience during this tough time and are ready to help as much as you can. It must convey the message in a positive tone giving hope to people that everything will be normal soon.