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With most of Australia experiencing lockdowns, it’s no longer business as usual for most of us. What can you do to keep your business alive in lockdown?

Don’t panic just yet! Thanks to digital age, the show can still go on. It’s going to look a lot different, but you can still make it work for your business. Make your time in lockdown useful by investing in some marketing strategies that will help your business stay afloat during coronavirus outbreaks.

Try the list below:

Marketing Strategy #1: Generate Leads and Potential Customers

Take the lead and charge ahead.

Running a business with limited capacities is tricky enough. But as many businesses during downtime will look for different ways to survive, this could be a perfect opportunity for you to build a new network of potential customers and get ahead of your pack.

There’s an extra flood of traffic on different social media platforms that you could use to your advantage. To obtain the right traffic for you and hit your ideal customers, check out demographics and measures of intent based on actual conversions, time on site, and pages viewed.

When you put in time and effort to lead generation during lockdown, you’re keeping your business in tact with a pool of potential customers to rely on once things have subsided.

Marketing Strategy #2: Strategise According to the Present Situation (Lockdown)

Differentiate, don’t just imitate.

Re-evaluate your current marketing strategies and campaigns. While others might just stick to the same content and posts, differentiate yourself by addressing what the situation is. The pre-coronavirus world is already a thing of the past; hence, you should not just rely on your regular work of scheduled posts and tweets.

Know when and where to pause and pivot. Strategise based on the needs of the people. As everyone is forced to maintain social distancing, this is not the time to run ad campaigns that don’t provide comfort and value during this difficult time. As an empathetic brand, you should know what to and what not to post.

But what about the posts you’ve already created prior to corona outbreak? Save them for later. For now, you have to get creative in delivering your message whilst still being relevant and considerate.

Marketing Strategy #3: Retain Your Existing Customers

Out with the new, in with the old.

Okay, so most customers might not be that open when buying from a new brand as they will most likely buy from someone they already trust. Not a problem. At this point of time, it’s easier to retain your existing customers than to find new ones so that’s where you should invest your energy and resources.

Additionally, the situation calls for value over profit. To retain your customers and build a stronger relationship with them in the age of quarantine, be more active in engaging with them. Be where your customers are. Reply to their queries and reviews to let them know you value and appreciate them.

Automate the messages you’re sending to your customers across text, email, web, and social media to effectively give you an ROI and possible number of leads.

Marketing Strategy #4: Consider Using Chat Software

Thou shalt work from home.

Sure, working from home has its own perks but as a business, you have to ensure all communications are flowing efficiently at all times. With everyone working from their own abodes, simple phone calls and chats may not be fast enough.

Consider upgrading your means of communication by using chat apps or software. Slack and Microsoft Teams are examples of chat software that allow seamless communication between members of your entire business.

Marketing Strategy #5: Optimise your Website for SEO

When there’s a downtime, there’s more time.

Your website serves as the home base for your business. Take time to revisit your website content to see if it’s optimised enough for driving traffic and conversions. What do you need to check and improve?

• Update your old content with new and fresh ones.
• Optimise your calls-to-action.
• Enhance your keywords.
• Add internal links to new products or services.
• Check for spelling or grammar mistakes.
• Write compelling headlines and descriptions.

Websites with fresh content rank better with or without the coronavirus pandemic; this is one tried and tested marketing strategy.

Marketing Strategy #6: Increase your Social Media Engagement

There’s no traffic outside; but there is in social media.

Take advantage of the fact that people are currently at home and online. Although the news feeds are inundated with overwhelming updates about the coronavirus, you can still break the cycle and boost your social media presence.

 More and more people turn to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even Tiktok to connect with the world. This spells opportunity to leverage your brand and increase your following.

Post timely and relevant images, write educational blogs and professional articles, and create compelling videos that offer valuable content. This is also the best time to hold webinars to get in touch with more people online.

How will these marketing strategies benefit your business during coronavirus and in the long run?

• While your competitors are still contemplating on their next move, you’re already getting ahead of them even if you’re running slow.
• You can learn more about your customer base – their pain points, their buying behaviours, and what motivates them to buy. By knowing these, you can be more strategic in creating content that converts.  Even if all this subsides, you can still position your products and services as a solution to your audience’s specific needs and problems.
• Through lead generation, you can have a pool of potential customers that’s just about ripe to converting once everything is back to normal.
•  If people know you’re open for business, they can rely on you to provide for their needs. Continuing to be active is as simple as giving them options for goods and services.
• And the most important benefit is, you’re setting yourself up for success when the coronavirus pandemic is over. You don’t need to start from scratch as you have already positioned your business as a forward-thinking one.

Conclusion

Keeping your business alive while in lockdown is one tough challenge. But it is not the time to stop your marketing efforts. You will need to shift your marketing gear and take your business by the horns.

Don’t be afraid to seek help and reach out to marketing professionals like us. We understand that managing an undertaking is a daunting task. But with the right marketing strategies, you’ll be able to pull everything off and come out from the other side more resilient than ever.  

Take one task off your plate. We are here to help you ease your load and create a plan that will get through the storm that is coronavirus.

Get in touch with us today through our website. Remember, we are all in this together.