In the last few months, Mother Nature has brought the business world to a halt for many. With the advent of COVID19, businesses that continued to stay open clumsily adjusted their physical businesses to a new world by changing their business models or moving online.
Service industries were hit hard, but soon evolved into food markets or takeout/delivery services, dog walking businesses flourished by getting aggressive online and working for frontline workers, as well as by encouraging clients to purchase gift cards for future use to keep revenue consistent. And corporate workers adjusted to working remotely and over Zoom meetings, while dealing with the new challenges of working in their home environments.
Across the board, this change created considerable obstacles as businesses re-imagined their operations while also dealing with lower staffing, cut profits, and scam artists out to take advantage of them at this desperate hour.
However, while other businesses struggled, some companies that had strong existing digital platforms faced unprecedented volume while others were facing bankruptcy. Why? Because companies that utilize digital tools and form a strong online presence are able to adapt to any crisis more easily. No matter what industry, the continued rise of the digital age has made one thing perfectly clear — a robust online presence is the key to a business’ longevity and profitability.
Others such as Southern Louisiana Generac generators dealer, GenSouth thrived on the uncertainty of the market.
Why Now is the Ideal Time to Start Digital Marketing
Many of today’s business artists are still scrambling to figure out the best solutions for a smooth and effective transition to an online dominated world. Companies with a strong business model, cohesive branding and presence, and effective marketing plans can respond to internal or external crisis mores smoothly and efficiently, which sets the foundation to emerge from the other side with more clients, more profits, and greater stability than ever. Instead of allowing crises to affect them, they use those times as an opportunity maintain solid engagement with current clients and continue to reel in new clients, which is why now is the perfect opportunity to invest energy into expanding and redesigning your marketing strategy.
Recent data reports state that more people staying home has caused a 60% increase in consumption of online content, and internet usage is reported to be up by 50-70%. Businesses that until now have largely depended on brick and mortar locations, word of mouth networking, and personal interactions, will find increasing their online presence the key to maintaining business and continuing to reach new clients. Unfortunately, the same data also suggests less success for those who try to ride out crises and return to business as usual without adjusting their marketing strategy. For instance, in today’s coronavirus crisis, it is unsurprising that social distancing and virus prevention measures will remain important even after quarantine is over, as consumers will still be hesitant to engage in contact with others. All global crises completely redefine how society and businesses operate, and responding to new situations by updating and reimagining their existing online presence and opening new channels over digital platforms, is vital for continued relevance, visibility, and boosted sales.
Creating a Digital Presence
An online presence is one of the most important tools of a successful modern business and a website is one of the first and most important steps to do so. It’s easy to be lured in by the abundance of quick solutions available, such as DIY platforms, pre-built rentals, and copious web designers who offer website “packages” that are nothing more than a virtual business card. These will get you a “website” but nothing more. The accessibility of drag-and-drop platforms or the attractiveness of cheap website packages does not make a website effective as a business tool, even if it’s beautiful, because without integrated strategy, it will do nothing for your business. Yes, you will spend very little, but it will end up being too much for what you got, and the resulting shoddy website will be a symptom of a deeper problem — lack of a marketing strategy and knowledge of how to use digital tools to implement it.
Instead of falling into this digital trap, you need a website that provides creates real change for your business; you should easily be able to to answer exactly how your website is increasing your bottom line, because the website should embody a strategy that melds into your business plan. A website that is updated, adaptable, reactive, easy to navigate and clear in its intent is the base. However, most importantly, your website must actively help you grow your business by bringing in new clients and retaining current clients by providing the clients you already have with access to what they need. More than a website, you need a strategy. Without a strategy, your website won’t end up being much more than a pretty brochure.
How Marketing Tools and Strategies Can Help Improve Your Visibility
The quickest way to boost your company higher in the search results of potential customers seeking your services is to use targeted ad campaigns across traditional platforms like Google, Facebook, and others. Each of these platforms promotes a different kind of media which gives flexibility on strategy vs. targets, and allows you to reach a variety of different consumers through multiple platforms.
Many large companies, especially in entertainment and travel, are spending far less on media marketing, which opens the door for small businesses to fill the gap they leave behind. The ad marketplace is now more accessible than ever, and all-sized budgets are able to extend their reach and effectiveness and make their visibility go further. One example, a small beauty supply company in California found that by increasing their advertising by 50%, they had a massive spike in sales. Now more than ever, marketing campaigns have a great impact on small businesses, by allowing them to have a greater share of market visibility and an opportunity to use targeted marketing strategies to grow their customer base, despite the challenges introduced by the current economy.
A slightly more time longterm solution to help improve the visibility of your business is SEO or search engine optimization. When done correctly, can work to bring in more clients by matching clients looking for your services to your company’s website and relevant pages. SEO is not about keywords, unlike many believe. Rather, it consists of convincing Google why it should display your company higher up in search results, by convincing the search engine that you are the best answer to a question or query. Many companies will say they have tricks or “methods” but trying to trick a multibillion dollar machine is simply not sustainable. When that trick runs out, it is your business that loses and not the SEO company. Real SEO creates greater connectivity between you and potential clients looking for services like yours, and will result in more customers and more profit.
Regardless of which company you end up choosing to provide your SEO, you should choose the one that will actually make a difference for your company and website. SEO must happen both on and off site (80% is off site). It sounds like a no-brainer, but lots of people sell packages that complete the basic “tasks” of SEO, but fail at providing something that can change your business. (Here’s another blog post that may help you be armed with what you need to know when making this decision.)
Why You Should Choose An Expert for Your Digital Presence Needs:
Any company that you hire to overhaul your online presence either through websites and social media accounts, digital ad campaigns or SEO, should be a company that focuses on knowing your particular company and finding solutions that fit, grow and change your company for the better. Any digital marketing company you choose should be focused on working with you to develop a marketing strategy that offers real value — whose primary focus is optimizing your brand and bringing in new clients, and using digital marketing resources as a tool to do so, not as a strategy replacement.
Potential clients will gauge the quality of your business based on the quality of your online presence and digital marketing. This is the time and the market that is ideal for small businesses to grow. If you wait, you may possibly miss out. Create your marketing strategy now and use expert resources here to help you!
