These are uncertain times, the likes of which many of us have never seen in our lifetime. The global economy is under immense pressure as the COVID-19 virus sweeps across the globe, forcing many industries and businesses to close down. It’s frightening.
With so many people feeling anxious about the future, many business owners are putting all of their marketing & advertising on hold to save as much money as they can. In theory, it makes a lot of sense to do so…Batten down the hatches and wait for this all to blow over, then come back strong as the economy re-emerges. However, could you be missing out on a great opportunity to get ahead of the curve?
The fact is the dust will settle and life will return to some semblance of normality in due course. The question you must ask yourself is: do you want to come out the other end on top?
Endure these difficult times and keep pushing forward!
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Don’t let your SEO efforts go to waste
Whilst most businesses will be halting their digital marketing, many of your key competitors will be powering through. If you stop everything now, you’ll invariably fall behind and lose those positions that you’ve been working so hard to obtain. This is even more dangerous if you were in the early stages of your campaign and you’ve just recently started to build up some momentum.
As it’s been described many times before, SEO is a marathon and you really have to be in it to win it. The moment you stop running, your competitors will overtake you. Thus, you’ll have to work extra hard if you want to catch up again.
We appreciate that it’s difficult enough as it is having to deal with the frightening crisis that is affecting us all, without us throwing more fear into the mix by telling you that putting your marketing on hold could be a mistake.
At the end of the day, you have to do what you believe is best for your business. However, we would advise that you give this some careful consideration before you make any definitive decisions.
While the other fish swim upstream, go with the flow
Now is the time to strike! As many people put their marketing on hold, you should be taking the initiative and continuing your SEO efforts in order to gain the advantage.
Think about how many people are on lockdown at the moment! That’s a lot of users on their tablets and mobile phones, browsing the internet with very little else to do. They’re primed for consumption.
Put your business in front of them and remind them that you’re still relevant. Even if you’re one of the industries that have been forced to put your operations on hold, it doesn’t mean that you must remain silent.
The businesses that remain present during a crisis, are going to be the ones that come out stronger on the other side. Your target audience will be desperate for distraction and once the dust settles and they’re back to work, they will be ready to start spending again!
Scaling back or pivoting are valid options
If you can afford to, scaling up and hitting your digital marketing twice as hard would go a long way towards setting your business up to thrive at their other end of this crisis. However, if you’re anxious about the future and what you are spending right now, then scaling back is an option.
After all, doing something is better than doing nothing at all. Speak to your SEO provider and ask them for advice on how you should proceed. They will be able to put together a crisis package of sorts.
Rather than pack it in altogether, you should go back to the drawing board and think about how you can market through this crisis. Again, scale down, or pivot by all means—but don’t drop off the face of the earth entirely. Get your heads together and formulate a solid crisis marketing plan!
Explore other avenues of marketing
Your SEO should always be ticking away in the background in order to maintain momentum. However, now could be a good time to branch out and look at other areas that you might not be hitting so hard. For example: how strong is your social media game at the moment? Have you considered setting up a paid advertising campaign to get your brand in front of your audience right now? Again, people are spending even more time on the internet due to isolation, so take advantage of that by broadening the scope of your marketing campaign.
Conclusion
The world isn’t going to end! There is yet hope. The amount of people walking away from this virus unscathed is staggering and we must remain positive. Now is the time to be looking to the future instead of panicking.
Sit down with your marketing advisors and figure out a crisis plan that can see you through the next couple of months and set you up for a strong comeback when the dust settles.
If you’re interested in exploring our SEO services further, please feel free to contact us today.