Like it or not, COVID-19 is here to stay. World economies need to survive or co-exist with the virus and eventually move on. But does that mean you stop operating your business because of the pandemic?
Rise above the crisis
The number of positive COVID-19 cases has been alarming but this will eventually come to fade. Managing the situation is in the hands of the authorities but as a business owner, you might have your own concerns too.
The most crucial issue here is to minimize the financial impact on your business. You might be concerned as to whether it is even the right time to market your business considering you are trying to survive COVID-19. The answer is yes! In fact, it is the best time to go aggressive too. Why? You might ask.
Leverage on the situation
Go full-on with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This is the time when Google search is in full force and your potential customers are online for longer periods of time. With proper SEO techniques, your business will gain more visibility and hence draw more visits.
SEO does not work overnight so you need to invest money and time in this. Remember that getting good visibility is one thing, following up is another.
Another platform that you must venture into is in social media marketing. Malaysians are spending more time on social networks. It has been reported that more than 76% of Malaysian adults are working from home since the MCO started. Social media is your best bet to reach out to your target audience during the pandemic.
Go into Email Marketing
Regardless of what anyone tells you about email marketing, it still works. This is the time when users have more time to go through their emails than before. During the pre-pandemic era, users tend to delete emails that they have no time to read.
The situation has changed greatly now. This is the time to send promotional emails and material to your users. Drive them to want something from you or direct them to your landing page. Use keywords that they can associate with and then pull them towards your site for more offers and promotions. This is also where you can push for subscriptions and other interactions.
Connect with your target audience
This is the time when you can start developing more credible and authentic relationships with your customers. Social media like Facebook and Instagram would be a good platform to go into where you can build brand loyalty.
Launch videos and go live. Let your customers know who you are and what you can offer. It is important to allow them to identify with your brand. One of the very successful stories is in a sports retailer that went on Facebook live with daily offers. The seller on the video calls himself ‘Uncle’ which can be easily associated with the customers as it is a common phrase used by Malaysians when addressing a seller in a shop.
So, what is next?
Once the pandemic is over, you will surely reap the benefits of what you have done above. You will need to continue working on what you have achieved and not stop there. Having built a strong and credible relationship with your customers mean you can now relate to them better and faster.
You can send messages to them (personalized if possible) and be sure that they will respond.
