People will remember for a long time how the business tried to survive during the outbreak of coronavirus. Therefore, right now, in this difficult period, you should reconsider your customer-oriented marketing strategy.
The spread of coronavirus has led to radical changes that have affected everything from education to employment, including our work. In response to this, digital marketers are trying to quickly adjust their long-term strategies.
The tactics of the “funnel” in the conditions of COVID-19 will no longer work as it once was. In times of crisis, marketers should pay less attention to stimulate sales and build as much confidence in their audience as possible. At the same time, it is important to show some responsiveness and empathy with respect to your customers. This applies to both sales and the possibility of consulting on their products.
Although consumers keep their wallets supervised during a coronavirus outbreak, they still spend significantly more time online than ever. And right now, digital marketers have a good opportunity to succeed, finding their audience exactly where they work - that is, on the network, and laying a solid foundation for a long-term relationship between customers and the brand.
9 Ways to Develop an E-Commerce Marketing Strategy During Coronavirus
# 1. Talk with your customers about COVID-19
Now is the time when you need to win the trust of customers, rather than stimulate their sales.
Sending letters to your customer base about how you plan to work during COVID-19 is a great way to get started. Remember: frankness is the key to success. Explain how you will adhere to (or have always adhered to) sanitary rules. Stay on top of any expected changes in your supply chain or delivery time, and propose solutions to your customers in time that could be affected by these delays. If your company helps hospitals or charitable organizations in the fight against the virus, then do not hesitate to tell about this. However, in such messages, try to avoid commonplace. It would be good to conclude my letter with the following sentence: “Let me know if I can help you with anything at this time.” But if you are not really ready to fulfill your promises, then you should not write about it.
Promises you can keep:
- full refund if the goods are not delivered within X days due to unforeseen delays associated with the coronavirus;
- You will always be in touch with your customers to answer questions related to deliveries and try to do everything possible so that the goods with demand remain in stock;
- You will be constantly updating your content in order to somehow entertain your audience during COVID-19;
- You will be responsive to customers and this applies to any issues that may arise.
# 2. Find a new way to engage your audience and become more responsive
Thanks to countless hours spent in self-isolation and remote work, consumers now spend much more time online than ever. Only one use of Instagram Live doubled during the coronavirus. As a result, marketers have to look for different ways to interact more frequently with consumers on the network, from the appropriate hashtags to discussions in online communities.
Many companies are now creative in their online marketing strategy and interact with their audience at a deeper level. For example, a food and beverage company using natural organic ingredients, MUD \ WTR now holds regular online meditation sessions for its clients. The Orange Theory fitness club chain, while their fitness studios are closed, records daily videos for their customers at home, demonstrating how to train at home using household items.
If it’s still not clear, then content is the main thing, especially if it makes consumers constantly return to your brand. In the end, if you don’t have it yet, then at least set up a chat on your website so that you interact with your customers somehow.
Another good way to increase your responsiveness is to conduct online broadcasts on social networks to communicate directly with the audience and answer all questions live.
# 3. Start or keep investing in a blog
People like good content and that’s a fact. Creating content that will be relevant to your audience at the moment (even if it will be just entertainment) is a great way to build trust and increase brand awareness.
“Content is the most important marketing asset in an unstable economy ... Content is what allows people to recognize / love / trust your brand.”
(Dave Gerhardt, Vice President of Marketing, Drift)
A blog can also be optimized to improve your marketing strategy. To interact with the audience, you can publish blog posts, this will be a good addition to the SEO optimization of your site. Promotion of blog posts is also a very cheap way to attract new traffic to your website, and, therefore, is a great way to test and optimize your conversion funnel tactics (pop-ups and landing pages).
Although the circumstances of our general isolation cannot be called ideal, there is a good side to this: research shows that it is best to engage in creativity alone. Looking for inspiration? Start by monitoring the social networks that your customer base most often visits. This will show you which topics are of most interest.
Not enough time to create content yourself? Matcha is optimizing its blogging experience by providing a library of high-quality and instantly published licensed articles from leading publishers, as well as a content marketing platform with tools to increase conversion and analytics. Licensed content is a simple and cost-effective way to interest your audience and find out which topics they like best.
# 4. Review your advertising costs
Faced with the large-scale shift caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, you should take a closer look and see if you spend your advertising money there at all. If you previously gave advertisements relying solely on a sales funnel, now this tactic is clearly not suitable, especially if you are selling goods that consumers cannot use at the moment (for example, those related to travel or those that cannot be used virtually). Now is a period when consumers consider every penny and carefully monitor their spending.
Thus, your most effective advertising that you gave last month may not even find a response at all now. Think about it, or maybe you should completely abandon advertising in which communication with people appears or physical interaction is shown, for example, hugs or handshakes? And you will not be the first to make such a decision - a new study by Pattern89 showed that 27.4% less advertising images and videos showing physical interaction with a person are now used.
