In addition to its impact on global health, COVID-19 has had a major economic impact on businesses. However, many businesses have excelled due to their understanding of the benefits of digital marketing during the coronavirus.
A lot of businesses still need all the help they can get. Of course, there’s help from the government, but it’s not working for everyone. A survey from the Federation of Small Businesses says that some 250,000 companies are about to close their doors and disappear from the market.
What could digital marketing during Coronavirus do to prevent this?
When we mention the term digital marketing, a lot of people are not exactly sure what is meant by that. Digital marketing is the use of several channels to reach consumers. The internet as the main channel, then social media, search engines, and mobile devices, are all part of it.
So, how does digital marketing actually help businesses get through the Covid crisis?
By helping them become visible to the internet audience! During the pandemic, when almost the entire world was in lockdown at some point, people stayed home and did everything through their smartphones. We say smartphones, and not computers because stats show that consumers use their smartphones for product research more than desktop computers or tablets.
Digital Marketing agencies are aware of this fact, but most business owners are not. Lots of them are still trying to cope with their problems with tools that are close and understandable for them. Instead, they need to entrust a digital marketing company to help them sail through the storm.
What they need is raising the brand to a new level. Make it available online for people who are no longer on the high street, but online.
If businesses opt for this kind of solution, they are likely going to see a rise in leads and new customers within a couple of months. For those who are in the mud at the moment, and trying to keep their heads above, this might be the straw they are looking for.
Everyone should be aware that marketing in the Covid era is different than the traditional one. Giant billboards won’t do much, but a precisely targeted ad on social media can make a huge difference. Not to mention it is a lot more affordable.
Covid moved customers from the stores to the internet
People were shopping for goods in stores and retailers for centuries. It’s how everyone is used to doing it. We want to see what we are spending our money on.
Traditional shopping started changing in 1992. This is the year when the first online bookselling company appeared on the internet. Since then, people can order goods online and wait for the package to arrive at the front door.
The culture of online shopping changed significantly in the last decade. Ecommerce is rising year by year. More people buy through the internet, and more retailers appear too.
For those companies who already have an established business, this seems like an unfair competition. Online retailers don’t pay rent for their stores, and many of them don’t even have warehouses to keep the goods they are selling. This is called dropshipping, and it’s already a massive industry.
All these methods were invented and practised before Covid entered the scene. When lockdowns started, it seemed like a dream come true for these retailers, no matter how obnoxious it may sound for someone. The number of online customers raised tremendously in 2020. In the UK, surveys show that the eCommerce industry jumped 34.7% since 2019. It is responsible for over 30% of all the retail sales made during this year.
At the same time, the figures from the British Retail Consortium show that 2020 retail sales were the worst on record.
They say 180,000 jobs were lost in 2020, which is the worst record in the last 25 years. The next one won’t be any better for companies. The business has changed, and everyone who wants to remain above should adapt to the new ways. Of course, the new ways would be investing in their online presence.
Digital marketing and SEO provide sales
Setting an online business does not come easy. It’s different than having a website that acts more like a business card. Today, companies must step up and aim for perfection when their website is in question.
By stepping up, of course, we mean to invest in digital marketing. As we mentioned previously, it can significantly change the business. Driving more sales through the internet can be a lifesaver. With all the statistics provided, it’s clear that this is possible.
A good marketing agency will do its best to make the company’s website appear higher in the search engines results. For this, proper SEO expertise is needed.
For those who are not aware of the term SEO, it stands for Search Engine Optimization. This marketing technique helps pages rank higher on the search engine results by doing various actions.
But why is this important, someone might ask? Why being higher on search engine results matter?
Being in the first three positions for some search queries means a much higher chance of getting customers on the website. According to statistics, this chance is around 60%. The lower the position is, the less chance for visitors to click. The last, tenth position converts only 2.3%.
When the proper marketing agency takes over, they are going to do a thorough audit of the business’ website. Everything that needs improvement for the search engine crawlers to rank it higher will be done.
The search engine crawlers are nothing more than software used by engines to read and index information on websites. Based on various factors, they will rank the website higher or lower.
Being higher in the results means getting more visitors and potential customers. Digital marketing agencies can provide this for businesses by implementing what is needed. This Covid 19 marketing, if we can call it that way, will help them drive more sales online.
All marketing strategies during the Covid-19 pandemic must include Social Networks
Social networks or social media were huge even before people were locked in their homes. Now, with the pandemic around us, social networks are thriving. Almost 3.5 billion people around the world are present on social media. That’s nearly half of the entire world population. No one can underestimate its significance. Social media owners profit tremendously out of this fact.
Companies want to explore the market and reach out to customers through them. Of course, there’s a price to pay for this type of advertising. That’s what makes some of the social media owners the richest people on the planet.
In the UK, 67% of the entire population uses social networks. That’s more than 44.6 million people. The good thing about social media marketing is that it is not necessarily expensive. Every company can set up a free profile on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or any other popular network.
Through their profiles, they can reach the audience and make a difference. Building a strategy for growing a perfect social media presence is required at the beginning. It’s crucial to know what must be done. Here at MDE, we have true professionals who know exactly how to up the game on social media.
Some already established brands drive major traffic through their social network profiles and pages. For example, Samsung has 162 million people following them on their Facebook page. When they publish a post, it gets out there.
It’s not easy setting up such an influential presence. After all, Samsung is a worldwide brand that has been building its legacy for decades. When it comes to small UK businesses, you can say that every piece of the puzzle matters for making a true Covid marketing impact.
What’s the alternative if businesses stay offline?
The alternative is shutting down the company. This seems like the destiny for some 250,000 companies in the UK if their owners and decision-makers do not make a change fast.
We’ve all seen that the virus can mutate and become even scarier. No one can predict what’s going to happen in the future, but some experts suggest that we may face new viruses that might be even deadlier.
Bill Gates, the Microsoft genius, and a person involved deeply in the world of vaccines and world population safety, in one of his Ted talks said that we’re not prepared for the future pandemics. That was in 2015, and he was obviously right. Scientists warn that the future will be full of potential threats. This means we’re going to be more “off line” when trains and travelling are in question, and more online when the internet and shopping are. Insisting to run a business without an online presence is suicide.
The rise of technology helps eCommerce
You can’t help but think about conspiracy theories for a second when you put together the rise of technologies and coronavirus. It seems like someone deliberately pushed the world into this crisis, just to promote their tech products.
We’re not about to get in that dark spot of the web, of course. We’re just pointing out the obvious, which is that 2020 was the worst year for humanity, but a fantastic year in a technological sense.
What does this mean?
In 2020, we first started implementing the 5G network, which is a logical upgrade from 4G – the network most smartphones use now. This move is crucial because the 5G network provides faster surfing speeds.
We’re not talking about just minor change here. We’re talking about speeds up to 100 times faster than what we used previously. The 5G network reaches a speed of up to 10 gigabits per second.
That makes downloading movies, software, apps, and everything else just a click away. Even HD movies will be available on your smartphone or laptop within 6 seconds. The best part is that this connection is available almost anywhere on earth.
Artificial Intelligence makes buying extremely easy
Another technological advancement that really took off this year was implementing artificial intelligence in almost everything we use.
Although AI is a part of our smartphones for some time now, in 2020, it reached a new level. For example, Amazon’s drones are using AI to deliver short distance packages to the doors of their customers. This showed amazing results during the Covid crisis because there’s no contact from human to human while delivering the goods. At the same time, smart speakers are on the rise. According to stats, there were 5.8 million of them sold in the UK by the end of June 2019. That’s a reach of some 10 million British citizens. This number is much higher now.
What smart speakers do is help you control the appliances around the house entirely hands-free. Just a voice command will do it. Additionally, they act as day planners, call managers, and research stations. The last one is crucial for businesses.
People who use smart speakers and are interested in a product, or an industry, will ask the assistant driven by artificial intelligence. Based on many factors, the speaker will choose the best answer. In almost all cases, this answer comes from one of the three top positions in search engine results.
With the rise of smart speakers, fast internet, and tech gadgets altogether, there will be more voice searches. People will keep on shopping via the internet. A business without a strong online presence will have no success.
In Conclusion
Times are always changing. The only way to continue working is to adapt to new ways. Before television was invented, marketing only existed in newspapers and magazines. The telly changed the game of marketing forever, and the papers now take almost no piece of the action.
Everyone who wants to see their business survive and blooming, especially during these tough Covid-19 times, needs to opt for a serious online presence. That means getting a team of great digital marketing specialists that will make all the difference.
If you want to know more about what we can do about digital marketing during coronavirus, feel free to contact us.
