Why you shouldn’t let your marketing go into lockdown

It goes without saying that Coronavirus is heavily impacting life as we know it. And whilst lockdown is the best way to protect the health of the nation and #flattenthecurve, businesses are understandably worried about how they will keep going. However, just because things are slowing down doesn’t mean that your marketing activities need to go into self-isolation as well. Here are some of our suggestions of how you can proactively keep on top of your marketing activities over the next few months.

1. Create a game plan

If your business has had to close due to coronavirus and you’re finding you have a lot of spare time on your hands that you didn’t have before, now is the perfect opportunity to have a really good look at your marketing plan. Regardless of whether you’re a novice or an expert, think about how you’re currently reaching customers at the moment, the different channels that you can exploit in the future, and prepare materials for each platform so that you’re ready to go when lockdown comes to an end.

To get you started, we wrote a blog about how to write a bullet-proof marketing plan which you can read here.

2. Switch on your digital marketing channels

Social distancing measures means that consumers are growing even more dependent on digital channels than they were before. From a growing dependence on e-commerce to buy essential goods through to increased activity on social media as people stay in touch with family and friends - if there was ever a good time to think about your digital channels, the time is now!

Whether that's developing a content strategy to keep your social media channels active, or thinking about how you can get smarter with ad spend, there are lots of ways to get your business out there to an increased audience of people. Not only could you find yourself attracting new customers but also, it’s a great way of updating and retaining loyal existing customers.

3. Be considerate of content

Whatever content you’re putting out at the moment, it’s important to be mindful of the situation and the mindset of consumers. Stress, anxiety and frustration are just some of the emotions that people will be feeling at the moment so it’s important to be extra sensitive about what you post. Therefore, in a world full of bad news, try and create campaigns that focus on the good things in life and leave the serious stuff to others.

4. Let people know what’s happening

It’s important that if your business is switching off for a while, you make sure you let your customers know. Make sure you update Google My Business to reflect changed closing hours, update your website and all of your social media channels with your current business status, and put a link to any coronavirus-related content on your homepage. Finally, make sure you leave a door open for customers when things do eventually start to get back to normal.

Remember, you're not alone

At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that we’re all in this together. Don’t be afraid to be honest with your customers about your current business situation - goodwill towards the business community has never been stronger. And if you do need help with evaluating your marketing activities over the next couple of months, we’re here to give you a helping hand. Get in touch with us here.

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