As is evident from the moment you turn on the news, the COVID-19 pandemic remains a strong influential force in today’s economy. The global business community across nearly all sectors has spent a number of weeks and months under a near-total shutdown, forcing the majority of industries online. As a result, most business owners had to rapidly pivot to stay solvent, maintain customer engagement, and continue to grow their businesses.
Fortunately, the American economy is slowly beginning to open up, as state by state, industry by industry, businesses everywhere prepare to begin to serve customers in person once again. It’s important to note, however, that even once reopening is complete, most won’t soon be returning to pre-COVID-19 operations. Instead, the majority of business owners are preparing to adjust to what will be a “new normal” for business after the pandemic.
How Should You Approach Digital Marketing After COVID-19?
Chief among the concerns for many of us is how we should approach digital marketing after the pandemic. It’s an area that received more attention than ever before (and rightfully so) with the majority of the country under lockdown – but how can you pivot once again to get the most out of your marketing now that the situation has changed once again?
Start with these tips:
- As reopening commences, it’s essential to stay in close contact as your business adapts to the ever-changing situation. Transparency is as crucial as it has been throughout all stages of this pandemic. It provides a note of comfort and familiarity for your base. Better yet, you can glean insights from your audience’s needs at this time and develop strategies to put yourself in a position to fill them.
- Update your website. Your website should keep your audience up to date without the need to reach out to you directly to request information. Ensure your website remains current with all the changes to your opening hours, production schedule, service offerings and more. Similarly, continue to keep your audience informed regarding the protocol your business is using to keep employees and clients alike safe at this time.
- Tailor your advertising. During the economic shutdown, users spent more time than ever accessing social media and entertainment from home – leading to most businesses ramping up their video marketing efforts. It’s a strategy that will remain important even now that some of the country has returned to work. However, now is the time to consider redistributing your marketing budget to cover the reopening of brick and mortar stores and local businesses after the pandemic.
- Monitor your web traffic. The way consumers will respond to the transition toward reopening isn’t yet clear, and it’s difficult to predict consumer behavior in this unprecedented situation. That’s why it’s so crucial to monitor your web traffic and other metrics, then conduct analyses of the results. With attention to your numbers and the moves your competitors are making, you’ll have a better idea about how your efforts are received.
- Utilize behavioral analysis. The way your users respond to your actions before, during, and after COVID-19 stands to show you a great deal about how they’ll choose to interact with your business in the future. Take a look at whether you seem to have reached a new audience, lost a demographic, or incited some other reaction with your COVID-19 related actions, and plan future actions accordingly. Keep in mind – 33% of consumers have already punished brands whose response they disliked.
The return to business is just beginning here in America, and attention to how other countries have navigated the situation is only a small piece of your post-COVID-19 marketing puzzle. Stay vigilant in your communications with your audience, as well as with monitoring the responses to your efforts so that you can continue to adjust your digital marketing strategy as the situation dictates. If you’d like more guidance about digital marketing’s “new normal,” contact Arca Interactive for tips, strategies, and post-pandemic insights.
