The coronavirus also known as COVID-19 outbreak is the first of its kind and foremost a human tragedy, affecting hundreds of thousands of people. We have been talking tremendously about how it’s affecting our personal, and social lives, but it’s having an equally negative impact on companies.

It has impacted markets and businesses around the world. While some business leaders are taking what they think is a safe first step by cutting their marketing budgets – it is a opportunity like never before for others. Many companies realize that consumers are  spending almost all of their quarantine time digitally.

In the long run, keeping your digital marketing function going, is crucial. If companies really want to save their money they should reduce their total marketing budget or outsource marketing to an agency – But they should never stop engaging with their customers. It is the best time to focus on your messaging and amplify your brand image by talking about how you contribute to the society in this pandemic phase.

Below are just a few digital marketing tips for the business during COVID19 pandemic.

1) Reciprocal Digital Marketing Strategies

During a viral outbreak like the coronavirus, people will be spending more time at home, which means they spend maximum time on digital media. For many companies, it’s a chance to show empathy to others and reach out to serve their community in any way possible. This helps the audience relate to your brand message and humanize it. For any companies, it’s not the right time to sound sales-oriented or too pushy  – rather it’s an opportunity to shine during difficult times and create a stronger customer relationship for the long run.

2) Smart Digital Marketing Plans

During this COVID-19 outbreak and with quarantine recommendations globally it is vital to keep your budget low and avoid any unnecessary expenses. During this time the goal should be to keep your business alive and prevent any long term damage to your customer base or your brand. So, to save your budget it is necessary to make a strategic digital marketing plan tailored to your needs and desired outcome.

Following are the steps for strategic digital marketing plan.

2.1 SEO Digital Marketing :

SEO helps brands increase organic traffic to their website. It takes time to rank a website. Building your organic traffic can have a huge benefit to your business. Invest in a robust SEO team, or outsource it to reasonable agency. It’s the most cost effective way to establish brand credibility and improve your online presence.

2.2 Content Marketing :

In these challenging times, communicating your brand identity and values remains important. COVID-19 provides a new challenge for marketers that shine a light on the importance of relying on strategies outside of traditional channels. Customers seek out content that entertains, inspires and educates them. A strong content strategy during the coronavirus outbreak will give you the opportunity to leverage important elements from online marketing. Spend some time brain storming that how your company can create a new and engaging content for new platforms that will help boost your organic reach and monetize your digital marketing efforts. Ensure that your customers are aware that you are still available and interested in their business throughout this challenging time.

2.3 Review Ad Campaigns:

Review your current ad campaigns and withdraw any unnecessary ads that no longer make sense or cut down your budget on advertisements.

2.4 Competitive Ad Re-targeting:

Keeping tabs on competition is a good strategy to grow your business. Find out what your competition are offering  and what they are lacking. Go beyond a Google research. You can take advantage of competitive information and use it for competitive ad retargeting. By creating a list of target audience similar to those who visits your competitor’s website. It’s a low-cost marketing tactic that routinely sees a big ROI.