Navigate Your Business Through the COVID-19 Crisis with Content Marketing

First, the bad news you already know: Because of COVID-19, today’s business owners are facing a wave of economic hurdles and marketing challenges that are unprecedented in recent memory.

Now, for the good news: Unlike the proprietors of yesteryear, today’s entrepreneurs have the Internet, a critical tool to maintain sales and generate leads. Businesses that pivot wisely to meet clients’ new needs can stay afloat despite decreased consumer spending and social distancing measures.

In this blog, Ethos Copywriting outlines five actionable tips to help keep you stay connected to your customers so your business can navigate the uncharted waters of this crisis.

1. Use Google’s Resources to Recognize Evolving Customer Needs

To better understand your clients, you’ll have to get in their heads a little. Google Trends allows you to see what people are—or aren’t—searching for online. Armed with that data, which is available in almost real time, you can modify your marketing strategy to meet your most significant customer needs.

You can use Google Trends’ Latest Stories and Insights to gain perspective on popular topics and better understand how people are phrasing queries. For example, Coronavirus Search Trends provides trending questions during the past day and in the past week.

If you’re a retail business, use Google’s new “Rising Retail” tool to determine if there are products you have that people are actively looking for. For instance, if you own a beauty salon, you’d notice that searches for hair coloring accessories have increased by an astonishing 400 percent since the start of the year.

Or perhaps you sell fitness equipment—then you’d see that queries about free weights have skyrocketed 700 percent! Regardless of what you sell, you need to know how people are searching for it and optimize your website around those terms.

2. Make Your Website Clear and Informative

From where to get the safest takeout food to how to hire a conscientious plumber, people are researching their buying decisions with more diligence than ever. According to Think with Google, 75 percent of smartphone owners first search online before making a purchase. After they’ve narrowed down their options, they’ll pick one as the best solution. As a business owner, you want your products or services to stand out as the obvious choice.

Detailed, actionable information is critical for your media platforms, and your content must inspire trust. State ways you will go above and beyond normal expectations to meet customer needs. Keep communication current by updating your website, blog, and social media profile regularly. Share content that people will want to consume. If it’s informative and contextual, they may even share it with their friends, so make sure it is easy for people to help spread your word.

Of course, if you’re a brick and mortar store, the best website in the world won’t help you generate sales if your potential customers can’t find you. If you haven’t already, create a Google My Business account and update it regularly.

3. Address Customer Concerns

Right now, people are being cautious about both their health and their money. Acknowledge the new reality by addressing possible concerns upfront. Create trust by telling your brand’s story in a way that shows you not only genuinely understand consumer worries, but will also work with them to put those concerns at ease as much as possible.

In a time when fear of the virus is running rampant, demonstrate how seriously you’re taking COVID-19. If you’re selling products, outline the steps you’re taking to keep them and facilities clean. If you offer a service, explain how you’re minimizing person-to-person contact and supplying necessary personal protective equipment.

Now more than ever, people are also tuned in to how employers are treating their employees. Explicitly state your wellness policy so customers don’t worry that you’ll require ill staff members to show up for fear of losing their jobs.

However, contracting COVID-19 isn’t the only worry on customers’ minds. A recent Benenson Strategy Group poll found that Americans have more anxiety about their wallets than their health. Specifically, they’re nervous about corporate greed and price gouging—84 percent of those surveyed said they were concerned about increased prices.

Therefore, if you had to change the price of your products or your service, explain why. And, if you’re able to maintain current costs, tell customers why and how you’re able to do that. Fairness and transparency is front-of-mind for your consumers.

4. Take Events Online

Treating clients well also includes modifying how efficiently you offer online events. Sometimes your business model depends on large gatherings of people. While social distancing is necessary, decide how to hold a function online.

Keep in mind: viewing a gathering from home won’t be the same as an in-person experience. Make key content a priority. Keep it concise. Leave viewers with fundamental takeaways and supplemental content they can use after the event.

Choose the online event approach that works best for your business. Digital content options include:

1. Real Time

Livestream your function as it unfolds without the opportunity to edit.

2. Live Playback

Record your event with minimal editing, then broadcast it later for a live effect.

3. Prerecorded

Capture and edit your event, then share it with the audience later via video on demand (VOD).

Think With Google offers the following tips to making broadcasting your event a success:

Limit keynotes to 30 minutes or less.
Avoid asking anyone to tune in for more than three hours
Restrict Q&As to 20 minutes or less

5. Be the Hero

While customers expect businesses to adapt through technology, they also want to feel good about spending their money on businesses that promote hope. Look for ways to foster a sense of community through your brand. If you’re helping people or businesses in your area, then showcase these efforts. Similarly, if you see other people helping others, be sure to share their kindness.

Treating your community well isn’t just the right thing to do; it will also promote customer loyalty. The Benenson Strategy Group poll cited previously found that 59 percent of Americans say they’re attentive to which companies and brands are helping people and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic so they can purchase more of their products and services.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Churning out the best product in the world won’t matter if potential customers don’t know about it. To learn more about how to get your business at the top of search results, consider reaching out to an agency that specializes in SEO and content marketing. Contact Ethos Copywriting to see how we can help you keep your business above water amid the COVID-19 crisis.