Why Businesses Should Adapt Their Digital Marketing Strategy
Economic conditions rarely stay the same for long, and a digital marketing strategy needs to adapt each time they shift. Online and digital channels remain central to how customers research, shop and get in touch, so a strategy built for yesterday’s market conditions can quickly fall behind.
Viva Digital has helped Sunshine Coast businesses adjust their marketing during major shifts in customer behaviour, from redefining goals to rethinking which channels deserve the budget.
Here’s How Your Marketing Needs to Adapt to Changing Conditions
Redefine your business goals
Pretty much every sector is massively disrupted right now and we don’t know how long this state of affairs will last. You need to look at your usual goals, messaging and branding and ask if they’re still relevant and accessible. What do your customers really need right now and can you give it to them?
If you can, make sure your customers know this. If you operate as a mixture of online and physical outlets or service providers, your messaging needs to steer people away from the physical. Move marketing funding away from in-person events or services towards promoting online or virtual services and deliveries.
Don’t Over-Message Around One Trending Topic
Audiences quickly tune out repetitive messaging built around a single news event. Only reach out to your mailing list when you have something genuinely useful to share, such as a service change, a limited offer or a delivery update.
Avoid jumping on every trending topic just because competitors are doing it. Keep messaging sensible and segmented, so the right update reaches the right customer instead of everyone getting the same generic email.
Let omnichannel do some lifting
If there’s the chance of more lockdowns, then shops selling non-essentials might have to close again. This shifts the emphasis to online retail and marketing. Look at what’s great about your online offering across all platforms and also at what you can improve.
Encourage people to visit your online store rather than wait for your physical store to re-open. Offer rewards for online orders, such as discounts, free shipping or enhanced rewards.
Check that your inbound marketing is up to scratch
If fewer people are coming to your physical store or place of business then they’ll need to seek you out online. Are you ready for all the inbound traffic, both direct and indirect from SEO and PPC? Give it all a test-drive, focusing on chatbots, your website’s internal navigation, videos and online brochures and product listings.
Think about things like your visibility, whether you’re optimised for voice searches and whether you’re FAQs are up to date. You should also include any new information about your covid-19 policies, as well as use session data to look at what customers are asking for at the moment.
Analyse this!
During this pandemic, new search trends will emerge almost daily. That’s why data analysis and reporting are crucial. Learning what pages consumers visit and what searches they perform can help fine-tune marketing messages on the go (see point one) and deliver relevant content.
During something like a pandemic, search term trends change rapidly so you need to stay on top of your data analysis so that you can fine-tune your marketing. Think about your best offline customers – what could bring them into the online fold? How can you appeal to their new and ever-changing needs and interests?
