5 Ways To Keep Your Online Marketing Strategy Alive During COVID-19

The COVID-19 crisis has been effectively controlling our lives for several weeks now. For many businesses, it’s a tough and confusing time. Although most ‘non-essential’ shops have re-opened, many services can no longer be provided, and direct contact with customers has been lost. As a result, many marketers are asking themselves if they should maybe put their online marketing strategy on hold for a while, in anticipation of some kind of return to normal.

The answer is no, this is not the time to put your strategy on pause! On the contrary, this crisis could be the perfect opportunity to boost your online marketing strategy or to catch up.

Finding the silver lining

Every cloud has a silver lining and – despite the seriousness of COVID-19 and its impact on world health and wellbeing – this crisis is no different. Yes, these are difficult times and yes, people might be less interested in what you’re trying to sell right now. But at the same time, this crisis offers certain opportunities to improve your online marketing strategy and to connect with your customers in ways you may not have thought about.

In this article we’ll discuss 5 actions that you can take to keep your online marketing strategy alive during COVID-19.

1. Improve your SEO strategy

SEO can be a very time-consuming element of an online marketing strategy. This is why marketers don’t always feel so motivated about getting started with it. However, it’s a worthwhile investment that can really pay off. Do you feel like your SEO strategy isn’t completely on point yet? Well, this is the perfect time to address it.

Now that many of your other online marketing activities might have been cancelled or postponed, you can take advantage of this valuable time to:

– optimise your content (making sure to use relevant keywords) and images

– break up your content with header tags

– fix any broken links

– make your website mobile-friendly

– conduct an SEO competitor analysis

Thinking about purchasing a (new) SEO tool? This article might help you to make the right choice!

2. Remain visible on social media

Even though it might feel like people aren’t interested in your brand at all right now, it’s important to remain visible on social media. Let go of any purely commercial goals and focus on informing and supporting your customers during this difficult period.

Use your social media channels to advise customers about how your company is dealing with the crisis and about what they can expect. Is there a change in delivery times? Can customers come to pick up an order? Keep your followers up-to-date and let them know that you’re still in the running.

As mentioned, this isn’t the time for hard selling methods. But that doesn’t mean you should be avoiding any sales activities. If the opportunity arises to put a particular product or service in the picture, then go for it. Just be careful about how you communicate your message – appearing opportunistic risks hurting you in the long run.

3. Connect with your audience and enrich your website through blog posts

Now that the whole world is at a standstill, it’s the perfect time to boost your online marketing strategy by writing and sharing some interesting blog posts. Write about topics within your field and enrich your website.

Leave the commercial aspect aside for now and focus on how you can offer value to your audience. During this uncertain time, people will really appreciate small efforts that help them solve a problem.

While writing your content, pay attention to SEO and include keywords that are important for your company. This way your blog posts will also positively contribute to your search engine ranking.

Curious about other ways to connect with your audience during this crisis? Make sure to read this article.

4. Spring clean your website

We already mentioned taking the time to work on your SEO strategy. But if you feel like going the extra mile, you could also spring clean your entire website.

This downtime might be the ideal moment to go through all your content, check for any outdated information, and update your site with fresh articles. It’s also a good idea to evaluate whether your site is still in line with your mission, vision and company goals.

Keeping your website clean, updated and efficient should already be a key part of your online marketing strategy. If this wasn’t the case yet, then now is your chance to put this right.

5. Improve your own online marketing skills

Further developing your own digital skills can also contribute to the online marketing strategy of your business.

These days many leading (digital) marketing companies, as well as prestigious universities, are offering some of their courses completely free of charge. This is a great opportunity to learn from the best and ensure you will be even better equipped in the future.

Not sure where to start? Take a look at our run-down of some of the best online marketing courses you can now take for free.