Nowadays, the world is in utter disarray due to the new Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. The infection quickly became a global pandemic that brought the world to its knees. Today, businesses are shutting down and the world’s economy is facing yet another collapse.
Towns, cities, regions and even entire countries are in quarantine in an effort to prevent or, at least, to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus infection.
Because of such strict measures, only a few businesses are allowed to remain operational during the crisis and those companies that are, indeed, operational aren’t functioning normally at any rate.
Supply chains are stretched to their limits, inventory is scarce and essential products are in high demand. It’s estimated that a lot of businesses, especially small ones, will be closing down shop for good.
Moreover, a lot of people are losing their jobs and will be left unemployed once all of this is over. So, how does a business survive such an outbreak? Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer to that question.
However, what you can do is try to handle the Coronavirus situation the best you can and rely on digital marketing as much as possible.
So, here are a few ways your business can handle the Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak successfully.
It’s not wise to assume that just because your business operates online that it will survive this Covid-19 pandemic and emerge successful when it’s all over. The fact of the matter is that retail businesses, aside from supermarkets, are suffering the most damage.
However, even online businesses can easily fail because the online market didn’t become any less competitive overnight. If anything is to be assumed, is that the online market became even more competitive due to this pandemic.
Consumers changed their behavior and are now more focused on procuring essential items rather than luxurious ones. However, this situation will not last forever and you’ll have to maintain your presence online even if consumers aren’t as interested now as they were before.
That’s why you’ll need to continue doing research and you must create a strategy that will allow your business to remain favorably positioned in the market. That way, you won’t get overshadowed by industry giants that are currently dominating the market because they are providing consumers with all the essential products.
2. Invest in SEO
Online visibility is still vital, and now is the perfect time to improve it. As you may already know, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a mandatory marketing strategy if you want to effectively navigate the crowded market.
Moreover, SEO takes a bit of time to produce viable results, which makes this situation ideal for working on your tactics. As mentioned before, this crisis will pass and consumers will go back to their usual behavior. In other words, you’ll have to make sure that you can meet their expectations once again. Therefore, here are a few things you should do regarding SEO:
- Boost your organic presence by ranking for relevant keywords.
- Improve website functionality and performance by focusing on technical SEO.
- Ensure your pages and content can be crawled and indexed properly by working on on-page optimization.
- Continue engaging in off-page SEO by creating relevant content and publishing it on relevant channels.
- Engage with your audience. People may be quarantined but they’re still free to browse the Internet, especially social media.
3. Improve your online presence
If you think that this Coronavirus outbreak means you can relax for a few months and not worry about your online presence, think again. You can never stop worrying or improving your online presence, for that matter.
The key to handling this situation successfully is to improve your efforts as though there isn’t an outbreak at all. For example, if you haven’t gotten to creating your personal brand yet, now is a good time to do so.
As you may know, branding is an essential marketing strategy that can elevate your business in a competitive market. For entrepreneurs who want to make a name for themselves, personal branding is of vital importance. That said, here are a few things you should work on now that you have an opportunity:
- Consider your core values, company mission and brand promise.
- Create a unique selling proposition.
- Create a brand identity and brand personality.
- Work on your messaging using the right tone of voice.
- Create relevant content for your audience.
4. Take care of your employees
Employees are the core of every business. Taking care of your workers in these difficult times is of the utmost importance. Some businesses, such as tech firms, for instance, have the fortune of remaining operational because their employees can work remotely.
However, these are still trying times and the uncertainty that the future brings worries people. Therefore, regardless of whether you have remote employees or not, make sure you provide them with some comfort.
For example, increase their salaries so that they can take care of themselves and their families in this difficult situation. Also, provide some flexibility so that people can tend to personal matters as well.
If you don’t have remote workers make sure they’re adequately protected from the infection, as well as compensated for the risk they’re taking. If you don’t take care of your employees, there will be no one left to help drive your company forward.
5. Engage with your customers
Now that consumers can no longer walk about freely, they will spend more time online than they usually do. This is a perfect opportunity for you to establish a meaningful relationship with them or improve the existing ones.
Today, 95 percent of consumers are spending more time consuming in-home media. Most of that time is allocated to social media networks and messaging apps. This is a good opportunity for online businesses to re engage their target audiences. That said, here are a few things you should do.
- Communicate with consumers over relevant social networks.
- Create educational, informative and entertaining content.
- Address consumer concerns by answering questions or by providing them with factual sources.
- Provide benefits, such as free shipping, discounts and other conveniences.
- Be charitable and make donations to local communities.
If you play your hand right you’ll be able to handle the Coronavirus situation efficiently and come out of this Covid-19 outbreak successfully.
However, that means that you must create a solid strategy that will help you and your business overcome all the obstacles and challenges that this Coronavirus pandemic will surely throw at you.
Keith Coppersmith is a business and marketing expert who has experienced both the rise and fall of many businesses. He enjoys writing and providing insight based on both practice and theory.
