Defeating COVID-19 in Digital Marketing
There is a perplexion in the relationship between Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Mobile Marketing, Content marketing, Email marketing, Web design, Big Data, and social media marketing during the creation of a digital marketing strategy for a given brand. With the current situation of COVID-19, marketers are facing challenges, especially those who have not embraced digital marketing. The world has turned into online marketing for fear of contracting of COVID-19. This shows that either the marketer embraces digital marketing or the business fails as potential buyers are at home, and no one will opt to buy goods or get services outside for fear of getting infected with the Corona Virus. Most business owners don’t have an incorporated plan for growing and engaging their audience (Customers) effectively. Lack of a proper plan with the current situation will face difficult times accessing their potential customers. The following are the most significant factors a marketer should consider before creating a digital strategy considering the current situation of COVID-19:
(i) Define your goals: it is very significant for a marketer to establish goals and project objectives if a new digital marketing strategy is introduced. With the current situation of COVID-19, there is a need for businesses to increase sales, build brand awareness and product recognition, and target new customers since, currently, most businesses are experiencing hard times due to a low number of customers. A clear definition of a business goal is significant during the creation of a new strategy to help businesses access customers.
(ii) Business owners should know their audience: The second most important to put into consideration is your audience. Do you have to ask your self “ who is your audience”? Which customer segment are you targeting? Male/female, millennials/gen Z, students/fulltime workers, specific demographic segment, and income segment. Thorough research is supposed to be carried after the segment has been chosen to help in the identification of what customers need, improvements to be made, and how do they want their goods and services be delivered under the current situation of COVID-19. This is achieved by creating an audience profile of the “typical” customer. Discovering what the customer needs or their interests is essential when creating an effective digital marketing strategy.
(iii) Create good content and select the right platforms: After defining the target audience and the goal, the marketer has to think about the content.He/she has to ask himself/herself questions such as “ What kind of content do I won’t put out there?” These questions should relate to the goals and objectives of your digital marketing strategy. The creation of content is very vital to overall digital marketing. It has to be educational, one that starts conversation and interesting as well as engaging. A thoroughly analyzed content will encourage interactions between the marketer and the customers. Also, the creation of a content calendar is helpful in planning. At this stage of content creation, considering the COVID-19 situation in the world, a choice of the best platform to connect with customers has to be made. Platforms such as SEO, Mobile Marketing, Social media, Content marketing, Email Marketing, Websites, and Paid digital advertisement. For instance, currently, most clients can be accessed via social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twiter, etc.
(iv) Please choose the right KPI’s and Know how to measure them: Before initiating a new digital marketing strategy, everything must be measurable. Selection of measurable values, key performance indicators, and KPI’s should be made to portray how efficient the set goals and determination of a chosen strategy in terms of content and right platforms to be used if they are effective. Proper metrics should be selected for measuring KPI’s. In the case of poor results, the marketer should reconsider other platforms of marketing such as SEO and Social Media platforms or reconsider your content. You might have chosen the wrong KPI’s.
(v) Adaptation: The marketer should be able to adapt to current situations of COVID-19 and the poor economy facing all countries in the world. Putting into consideration the current situation of the Coronavirus and the way it has affected a lot of businesses all around the world, with tough times still being expected, every marketer has to be ready for any situation to survive.
