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Do any of these sound familiar?

“Please pause the campaign”

“We need to reduce costs”

“We are shutting down for a while”

We’ve seen these phrases before. Though the current conditions brought by COVID-19/coronavirus are unprecedented, some business owners are cutting budgets and going back to basics. Surprisingly, this means that many don’t consider marketing to be an essential part of the business. 

There are several factors that you have to consider when deciding what marketing plan is best for your business during this COVID-19 crisis. But the most important thing is never to stop your advertising. You may need to reduce your paid traffic but never remove it because there is also something else that you can try during this coronavirus situation. For example, SEO. This is a cost-effective solution to overcome traffic and spend difficulties and can help a great deal.

Coronavirus Can Also Bring New Opportunities & New Markets

While COVID-19 has brought a decrease in paid traffic, organic search is showing the complete opposite behavior. The nature of self-isolation and quarantine is making us look for different things to do, which results in users taking more time surfing the web, reading blogs, researching about the coronavirus, and referencing how to’s. If you can connect your product/service with what’s trending, it will increase your brand presence. 

For example, if you sell furniture or offer home office furniture, more people need your product than you might imagine. With so many people working from home during this COVID-19 crisis, now would be an excellent time to connect with your ideal audience. For example, if you have a YouTube channel, use it. If not, create one. Leverage videos or posts to provide valuable content to people at home and engage with a potential audience. 

Keep Creating Content and Maximize SEO Traffic

Ranking organically #1 is not as “easy” or “quick” as PPC. For anyone reducing costs or re-evaluating their marketing, SEO will still be running.  However, the current pause that many of your competitors are taking as a way of dealing with the coronavirus/COVID-19 consequences will give you a chance to gain online market share through paid advertising. On the other hand, if you invest in SEO, you can gain ground and rank much higher on the organic results over time. You can start with the following:

• Update your Google My Business listing. This platform is a great way to get in front of potential customers who are looking for the products that you offer. People more than ever are relying on the information they see on your website, social media platforms, and local listings. 
• Another way of working on your SEO is by analyzing trends. Tools like Google Trends or Ubersuggest can help you first to see what’s trending on Google, what are the most common searches, related queries, and then create content. The best SEO is publishing good content. 
• Last but not least, always keep learning. Digital marketing changes every day. Staying informed on algorithms, new features, seasonalities, and updates on COVID-19 is part of the job. 

Conclusion

Again, though COVID-19 has brought a lot of uncertainty in the air, businesses must focus on the day to day efforts that can help them in the long run. Instead of cutting marketing budgets during this coronavirus crisis, connect with your customers in simple ways and provide them with valuable content so they remember why they want to support your business. 

Before we wrap up, we’re sending a shout out to Moz who is offering “free training for all” with the promo code: wegotthis. Great ahead, start on training today!

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