5 Tips for Creating a Digital Marketing Strategy During the Pandemic

21 Dec ‘20

In: Marketing, / By: Ripe Media

Business strategy theory has persisted through decades largely unchanged. But businesses can no longer depend on a reliable economic landscape. COVID-19 and the pandemic have changed business operations for good.

This abrupt change has likely affected your digital marketing strategy. Learning to adapt is the key to survival and change is key. 

Digital Marketing During the Pandemic: What Has Changed?

Many things we used to do in person have moved online, including how we e-learn, how we work, and how we spend our free time. The pandemic has increased our dependency on all things digital. 

It is important to note that the effects of the pandemic will be long-lasting. Even with a vaccine, how we market in the future will be forever different as a result of COVID-19.

Get ahead of the competition by testing your current digital marketing strategy. Businesses must then adjust to the changing consumer climate. This may involve redefining your company’s goals and mission statement.

No matter what, it is clear that maintaining the status quo is no longer an option during the pandemic. The following are several strategies to put in place. They will produce immediate results and long-term success.

1. A Successful Strategy Includes Current Customers

Retaining your current customers by engaging them based on their new and changing needs is a great way to re-capture and boost loyalty. This is an especially challenging time of increased uncertainty. Customers are likely looking to cut costs and budget for the worst-case scenario. 

Many customers are experiencing pinched finances during the pandemic. Is your business refunding auto-pay or pre-paid services? A great digital marketing strategy should focus on highlighting these difficult company decisions. It should also increase loyalty and address new hardship concerns affecting your customers.

This strategy may cause short-term business investment or cash flow issues. But, brand loyalty and image will pay for itself over the long-term. You will see this pay off when customers are ready to begin purchasing from your business again. 

2. Invest in Your Digital Platform

Innovative web design can help you capture new customers as well as keep current ones. Are you still investing in paper mailers or other physical marketing strategies? Consider re-allocating those spend dollars to enhancing your digital presence.

Augment your website and marketing materials to reflect changing sentiments about the pandemic. Speak to what customers hold most dearly now: their family, security, and safety. Incorporate this into your existing company messaging for the greatest impact. 

Your business’s digital platform includes your website, of course. But it also includes email campaigns, social media, and online newspaper advertisements. In today’s day and age, most things we used to experience in physical form can translate to a digital medium.

A great digital platform speaks to another important stakeholder in your circle: employees. Try increasing your worker’s engagement by offering training webinars and virtual happy hours. Employees are often great word-of-mouth marketers and can help you sell your product. 

3. Good Communication Keeps Customers Loyal

Is your business hitting a rough patch due to lost revenues or unexpected closures? Being open, proactive, and honest with your customers can produce positive results. 

Altering your business communication isn’t just a good strategy. You must do this in a pandemic environment. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes for a minute. Consider how all this change and uncertainty may be impacting them.

Even something as small as changing your product selection, store hours, or delivery options can come as a surprise to your customers. The change can cause negative feelings if not communicated properly ahead of time.

Keep all your digital platforms consistent. This is difficult to do in a constantly-changing climate. But it’s very necessary to keep your customers loyal to you and your business. 

4. Use Data for Decision-Making

There are indeed many upsides to the fact that customer sales are moving almost exclusively online during the pandemic. One of these is that it is much easier to capture customer data for use in business decisions. With more and more online visitors come more robust data patterns. We can mine these for better understanding.

Data makes decision-making more straightforward and eliminates the guesswork. Scale ideas quickly and iteratively to make the most of this instantaneous feedback. Install this data into your digital marketing strategy. Incorporate it into targeted advertisements. This can give you more results on a per-dollar investment basis. 

5. Create Long-Lasting Value

Digital marketing is about short-term results like attracting customers to your website. It is also about long-term results like building brand awareness and recognition. For digital marketing strategies to be successful they must be meaningful to your customer. 

Creating value begins with understanding your customers’ needs. Take the time to segment your customers into relevant categories. This will help you to best understand where you need to invest your marketing dollars to be most effective.

Survey customers and non-customers alike that belong to the biggest segments. This will help you better understand what motivates customers during a purchase decision.

Surveys administered before the pandemic may be very different than surveys administered now. These will be different even three months from now. The results will change frequently. This is why taking multiple samples can be beneficial. 

Part of marketing is getting creative with your marketing message. Be sure to alight that message to your business’ overall goals. This is the time to enlist your best and brightest! Have a marketing brainstorming session or contest to spur ideas and get the ball rolling. 

Change Your Business for the Better

There may be no better time to revamp your business strategy than now. The economic environment is changing daily. Taking the time now will help your business succeed after the pandemic.

Only the most adaptable businesses will survive the pandemic. Maintaining the status quo is no longer an option for businesses hoping to keep their doors open. 

Keep your digital marketing strategy flexible for the best chance at long-term success. For more information on how to improve your digital marketing strategy, continue reading our blog. 

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