Don’t Stop Marketing During The COVID-19 Pandemic

By sitesmart | March 26, 2020 |

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered life as we know it for the time being. We are increasingly being asked to isolate and practice "social distancing" to help flatten the curve and slow the spread of this new virus. As “nonessential” businesses are being asked to temporarily close or shift to remote working, new challenges arise, especially for small business owners.

If you are wondering how your business can weather a pandemic, you are not alone. We are a small business, too, so we understand the pressures of “keeping the lights on” and making sure employees are taken care of in uncertain times. How you respond right now may mean the difference between surviving or permanently shutting your doors.

Utilize Your Online Presence

With brick-and-mortar locations being temporarily closed, your website and online presence have quickly become your only location and your only salesperson. While a kneejerk reaction might be to cut ALL expenses across the board, try to cut marketing efforts that are profitable last, especially if you need to hit the ground running when you resume normal operations.

Take this time to scale back or cancel marketing efforts that haven't been working, reduce budgets as needed, but still think about what CAN help you. Get creative. Pivot to new marketing strategies and utilize any web technology that can help you.

Your marketing strategy defines your future customer pipeline.

Make sure to get an emergency game plan in place.
Be proactive in communicating with potential customers online.
Use all available online tools to communicate (website, social media, e-blasts).

Focus On SEO

Stay Visible With Seo

It may be tempting to suspend your marketing and SEO budgets, but research tells us that companies who continue their SEO efforts gain an edge over competitors who stop their SEO focus and become “invisible” to Google. Search engine optimization is about winning the long game.

In time, things will return to normal. People will be out of their homes… shopping, dining, getting massages and embracing life again. When that happens, they will turn to the businesses that are easily found.

Adjust Ad Campaigns

We have already seen some creative ad campaigns come out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than stop all advertisements, some of the hardest-hit businesses are trying new ways to keep things afloat. We have seen ads on Google, Facebook, and Instagram from restaurants actively promoting their takeout and delivery food options. Others are offering discounts and special promotions and utilizing virtual tech solutions to adjust how they operate during the shutdown.

No matter what, each business has to learn how to quickly adjust and identify tools to help reduce the impact of COVID-19. Not sure what to do? Talk to us.

Pivot to New Marketing Strategies

Old Tvs &Amp; Radio Mics

Now is the time to get creative and try new marketing strategies. If you are a front-facing or consumer-driven business, you will have to think out-of-the-box to get cash flowing during the quarantine. We have ideas to help you reach your existing customers and find new ones, even in the bleakest of times.

How can your business take advantage of new ideas? If you need marketing or consulting help, we've got your back! The only way you can really fail is if you don't try anything.

Offer gift cards or vouchers for future visits.
Give consumers “pre-booking” discounts.
Use auto-scheduling software for future appointments.
Meet with clients over Skype or Zoom for consultations.
Livestream classes or events on YouTube or Facebook.
Add live chat to your website to keep engagement up.
Ramp up your social media campaigns.
Target specific types of customers on Google Ads.
Use your website to communicate your hours and availability.
Adjust your local listing in Google Business Profile as needed.

Utilize Work From Home Resources

Many businesses are adapting and surviving by setting up telecommuting options for their employees as they shelter in place. This is one area where modern technology has a chance to shine. Are you aware of all of the options technology can provide? We can assist you in exploring which services will be best suited for each unique situation.

Zoom or Skype for virtual meetings with conference calls, video, screen share, and file-sharing capabilities.
Grasshopper, Ring Central, or OnSip for teleconferencing and cloud phone services.
Microsoft Teams, Trello, Airtable, Slack, and Asana for project management and virtual workspaces.

Our Favorite Tools To Try Right Now

Web Chat

WP-Live Chat by 3CX

This option is a completely free plugin for your WordPress site that offers six different theme options for customizing your chat, as well as unlimited agents, the ability to transfer chats to another agent, and many more features. There are not chatbots with this option, so you are your staff will need to be the ones who reply. WP-Live Chat is a feature-rich option for those who want to save money and who also want a hands-on approach to chatting with customers.

Tidio Live Chat

If you like the idea of a chatbox on your site to engage clients, but don't have the time to personally respond to every query, then Tidio is a great option! There is a free version that offers many features. The paid version is a low monthly cost and offers unlimited active chatbots and templates to help you steer the interactions toward conversions.

Auto-Scheduling & Pre-Booking

Calendly

Calendly acts as a middle man and automatic scheduler for your clients. Essentially, the service syncs with your calendar and allows you to specify meeting times in advance. Your client simply choose the time slot that works for them. It's easy to direct clients to the service: You can either send a link to your customer to choose their appointment time, or you can direct them to a page on your site with a Calendly embed code.

Calendly effectively navigates different times zones and ensures the appointment blocks you’ve set for your meetings are displayed correctly for your clients in any location in the world.

You can eliminate the endless back and forth effort of trying to get a meeting on the calendar and avoid overbooking and other scheduling conflicts.

There is a free tier of Calendly that allows one calendar integration. The paid tiers offer more features, but may not be necessary if you only need to utilize the service for a short time due to an emergency situation.

Digital Gift Cards

Gift Up!

Gift Up! is a free WordPress plugin option. It integrates with your website and allows for customization options to provide your customers with several gift card design options. You can also set expiration dates. Gift cards can be redeemed in person or online.

WP Gift Voucher

WP Gift Voucher is another WordPress plugin that can integrate easily with your website, including WooCommerce integration for eCommerce sites. There is a low fee to purchase this plugin, but it offers many features, including the ability for customers to download a PDF gift certificate to use in-person.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is now offering digital gift card option for websites that already have the plugin installed and are running the current version of Woo. There is an annual fee, but this is a simple solution for eCommerce sites already using WooCommerce who simply want to expand their offerings.

Virtual Meeting & Phone Solutions

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is rapidly becoming a go-to project management and collaboration tool for businesses everywhere. This feature-rich platform offers chat, video conferencing, calls, and you can access, share, and edit Word docs, PowerPoint, and Excel files in real-time. It integrates with several third-party apps like Zen Desk and Asana.

Teams also allows collaboration outside of your company with vendors suppliers and clients. Also, it's FREE.

Zoom

Zoom allows you to host virtual meetings for up to 100 participants for a virtual meeting up to 40 minutes on the Free Version. The first tier of the paid version also allows for 100 participants, and meetings can last as long as 24 hours! Whew! Zoom provides easy screen sharing to effectively communicate important information to your team or clients and collaborate. Zoom is ideal for web and video conferencing, especially for teachers, counselors/therapists, and medical professionals who need face-to-face connection.

Skype

Many people think of Skype as a way to call Grandma who lives far away, but it's also a brilliant solution for businesses that need to connect across the country or the globe. You can easily create group communication for chat or phone calls, share your screen, or send files. Calling Grandma is totally optional. The best part - Skype is free.

Grasshopper

Grasshopper allows you to use your current smart device, but still keep a separation between your work life and personal life. You will be notified when a call or other communication is business-related, allowing you to put your best professional foot forward. It offers features like call and text, desktop and mobile apps, and call forwarding and transfers.

OnSip

Get phone calls for your business and your whole team with the desktop and mobile app from OnSip. They make it easy to handle video conferencing, call forwarding, and voicemail. Easily transfer calls to your team members to any device. They are also offering free support for setup during the COVID-19 pandemic.

RingCentral

RingCentral is another desktop phone option for business that allows audio conferencing, call forwarding, fax, and even spell-check for text messages. It also integrates with Microsoft Office.

Document Sharing & Data

G Suite Apps

A lot of businesses have already migrated to using G Suite (Google) apps for a variety of operation and storage needs. Google has their own versions of the familiar Microsoft Office software items like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

Not only are these free to use for anyone with a Google Account, but the documents are "living." This means never having to click "Save" and changes are automatically reflected and visible to all users. They are the ultimate in collaborative tools and are especially useful for working remotely with a team.

Google offers are variety of solutions:

Google Drive for storage of documents, photos, videos and any digital file.
Google Docs is a word processing option.
Google Sheets is a spreadsheet option with many features.
Google Slides will help you create flawless presentations.
Google Forms will help you collect and compile data, including surveys and quizzes.

Remote Work & Project Management

Slack

Slack allows you to create "channels" for individual teams or projects to facilitate focused and simple communication. You can integrate dozens of apps you are already using like G Suite and Office 365. Do you need to create workflows and processes and manage projects? This is the go-to option for many industries. Check out everything Slack can do.

Asana

Team management, project management, and communication are all part of the packages of features offered by Asana. You can create spaces for teams or projects and coordinate everything on desktop and mobile apps. Assign tasks and easily get status updates and more.

Air Table

Organize your team workload with Airtable, which bills itself as "part spreadsheet, part database, and entirely flexible." You can create project databases and workflows to easily manage everything your company needs to get done, pandemic or not. The

You Are Resilient

Be Strong &Amp; Resilient

We can’t predict when things like this will happen, but we can learn from past experiences and take steps to be resilient to weather the storms. Site Smart is here to help. Our commitment to our clients is unwavering. We want to help you implement the strategies you need to keep your business going.

Contact us today to find out how we can assist you - we’re in this together. We want to see you not only stay alive but thrive at this time.

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