India has reached Stage 3 of the pandemic, and the situation is growing at an alarming rate.
The case count has reportedly risen to 415, as per The Economic Times and the States are enforcing strict lockdown to control the situation.
In the meantime, the market is declining at a rapid rate, down to 3,200 points.
In simple words, the situation is grave. In the past week alone, for example, notable big-tech conferences like IBM’s Think, SXSW, and Adobe Summit were canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.
Well, it is odd to think about marketing right now, when the world is suffering this much, but without a proper marketing strategy, it would be impossible to recover from all the losses we have been making.
What are some of the challenges for marketers in this pandemic?
With Sensex falling at such an alarming rate within minutes, and the pandemic literally blowing up the trade market, there is an urgency to redistribute the budget quickly.
Averagely, 30-40% of the marketing budget is allocated for trade show sponsorship, travel, expenses, attendance, and collateral.
The options are shutting down. As social isolation is becoming an absolute necessity with events, conferences, even ad shoots are shutting down for good.
The only thing to rely on is content marketing and proper use of it.
Communication with customers, clients as well as audiences has become a requirement and to ensure consistent communication, content is the only way.
What is the importance of content marketing in this situation?
Look, the content has evolved a lot from just blogs, editorials and long posts.
Now, it more of a whole package of emails, social media, ad copy, SEO, videos and lots more to keep the communication intact!
IBM recently canceled its IBM’s Think in San Francisco. They rebooted the whole event as a new ‘digital’ conference scheduled for early May.
Digital events can become a way to be a storyteller for the brand and provide customers with efficient content to increase the brand value of the company.
The goal of the companies should be investing in experimental marketing strategies with content marketing delivered through online platforms.
What are the types of content marketers can experiment with?
Here are the types of content you can experiment as a marketer amidst the outbreak of coronavirus:
Video Content
Video is the “next big thing” in the content marketing norm now.
All the social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram even TikTok is investing a huge amount on video capabilities, either by adding new filters, new features, etc.
It is said that 81% of the marketers use video as a marketing tool and it can be of several forms:
- Product demos
- Live videos
- Interviews
- Webinars
- Ads
- Presentations
- Tutorials
Interactive content
Reports say that around 93% of marketers use interactive content to educate their buyers.
Interactive content which is shareable increases brand awareness automatically.
Hyper Dynamic content
Not just personalization, people need fully customized super personalized content at the right time to generate conversions.
SEO Content
Google search algorithm constantly changes and the smartest thing to do right now is investing in SEO centric content to generate more traffic.
Voice search content
Very new in the game, but extremely important.
According to Google, 20% of the searches are done with a voice search. Creating content keeping in mind the natural language of the search will create a sense of communication within the buyers.
Some techniques you can follow for content marketing in this pandemic:
Businesses will be working carefully within a tight budget for some time now. Maintaining visibility in your market is essential for long term profitability and continued investment.
Content production
Do not stop producing content, even if it is in the form of emails or newsletters. Brands are working hard on producing effective content regarding the pandemic.
Update your content
As the whole marketing will be dependent on content, updating the old ones is a necessity.
Revisit your content, update it, give it a spring clean, with the objective of improving your rankings in the search engines.
Make content for social media
Social isolation means people will be spending more and more time on social media. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook – these are places where your customers are reviewing your products, discussing their purchasing decisions, exchanging views on your business.
Create content exclusively for social media. These can include some tips, guides, infographics, etc.
Website content
In terms of cost-cutting, do not forget to make a few changes in your website to give a more personalized, updated experience to your customers.
Lastly, as a business organization and more as a part of the society, educate people about the recent situation. Do not mislead them or take advantage. Let’s hope we can all fight together, by staying away from each other!
Did we miss anything? How are you planning your marketing strategy in this pandemic? Contact Skyram Technologies and tell us!
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