To help your business subsist with the effect of the current economic slowdown, we bring you the seven workable marketing strategies that convert a downfall into a pool of opportunities.
No matter if you're a retail business with no online presence or you are already an established eCommerce store, you can find a strategy that fits your situation and can help you fight through the slowdown.
These online marketing strategies are based on three main criteria:
- Fast setup and results – You can easily set up these strategies and execute them immediately. And these will get you good results also.
- Affordable solution – It’s crucial to have a strategy that does not burn a hole in your pocket. It's important to note that the strategies listed below do not require a big budget and risk. All it takes is a bit of effort, time, and patience.
- Scalable for the new normal – The ultimate goal of these online strategies are to enable you to look beyond the slowdown and prepare you for the world that comes after this economic downfall.
In the past few months, we have observed a significant change in customer behavior. And, according to experts, these changes are here for some more time. This is the new normal.
In many industries like retail, services , and even health, we see a shift towards the internet, e-commerce, and even providing services online.
So, these seven strategies will not just help you subsist and survive the economic crunch but also set up a foundation for long-term success in the new normal.
1. Move Online
Your business needs an online presence, right now more than ever. Why?
There are two reasons for this 'new normal' trend:
- People are staying indoors.
- People are spending more time online.
So, you need to bring your products online at least virtually in front of them. It is the best time to engage them. This is nothing new. Consumer behavior has been shifting towards internet shopping for quite some time already. But now it happening at a faster rate.
Regardless of the industry, if you had to close the retail store, you can still bring your products and services online via an eCommerce store. It's a good start to take your offline retail business online. Even if you don't feel the need to do so, the online store will help you survive the economic slowdown and let you set a strong foundation for the future.
2. Get in touch with existing clients.
If you are a little hesitant in running a paid advertisement due to the financial crunch, connect with your existing customers or leads and run email campaigns to re-engage those users. It's the most cost-effective way to leverage what you already have and reach people on a large scale.
Since email marketing is one of the low-cost and highest return digital channels, leveraging your email marketing the program can help you survive by keeping lines of communication open with your existing customers and leads.
3. PPC Advertising
Running PPC ad campaigns on Facebook and Google is essential if you want to generate more leads and accelerate sales and get customers right now. PPC ads are highly targeted, especially Facebook and Google ads. You can reach out to your potential customers and let them know you are in business and working remotely or whatever is your operational model as of now.
People are at home, spending time online on social media channels like Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn. Running PPC ads on these channels is a good marketing strategy. It'll not just get you the traffic but will also drive direct leads and sales.
4. Prioritise Re-targeting Ads
Focus your ad budget on campaigns & efforts that give you quick and immediate returns. Online ads are perfect for generating lots of QUALITY website traffic and product views, but not everyone buys immediately. Here's when you can retarget your ad campaign. Retargeting ads send a reminder to customers to complete their purchase which was left in between.
People are spending more time online than ever. This gives you an opportunity to re-engage previous website visitors.
Get them back into the funnel to your site and in the shopping mode with offers that stimulate the buying decision - like free shipping or special promos and discounts or whatever that suits your product line.
5. Use the power of online data available to you.
Data is the heart and soul of marketing. Mobilise the power of data and let it guide your business decisions. Look through the heaps of data available online and in your analytics to uncover new opportunities, you can find products and services that are high in demand, conversion analysis enables you to modify your campaigns and budgets, and it also lets you stay ahead of the curve.
For instance;
Google Analytics allows you to analyse where your traffic is coming from, which landing pages are performing better, which website pages are getting more traffic, etc.
If you run an eCommerce store, your Google Analytics reports can help you identify products that are in demand and get you the most profit.
With the timely data analysis, you can learn exactly where to pivot to offer items in demand.
If you're using multiple marketing channels, analyse Top Conversion Paths report in Google Analytics to understand which channel combinations or marketing mix are converting the best.
You can also use Google Analytics Attribution models to make more informed cross-channel and campaign-level budgeting decisions.
6. Lead Magnets
If you do not have a robust marketing model, you can still create awareness and collect user information such as emails etc. from the content, i.e. landing pages, blogs, e-books, case studies and lot more.
Ideally, you should be available for your audience when they are looking for information about your products or services. This is the best time because your prospects are online and they are looking for you and your services, and it is the best way to capture leads that you can target when things get back to normal.
Dig deep into your Google and Facebook Ads dashboard to inspect where and how your ads show up and optimise for best results.
7. Channelise Social Media Interactions
The key to your social media success is in providing interesting content. You need relevant, interesting and read-worthy content to get user's attention. The more of such content your share, the more followers you will have. And, it'll turn out to be a great marketing channel at an affordable cost.
