In order for your business to survive and to drive profits during an economic downturn, here are some tips from an article by Strategy Beam:

1. Audit & Analyze Past Performance

You and your team need to invest a limited marketing budget into initiatives that deliver results. There is no room for error, and the only way to know what is working is to look at past data and analytics.

The good news is that you can review performance data from Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and other marketing platforms to determine what you should cut and what you should keep.

This data helps you make smart business decisions, plus this information can help you discover what your customers are looking for so you can guide your marketing strategy forward.

Top tips for using audits and analytics in a marketing strategy during a tough economy:

• Invest in channels and content that resonate with your customers.
• Use Google Analytics and other data points to understand what channels and types of content your customers engage with the most.
• Direct your marketing strategy around the questions that your customers ask.
• Build personas and unique content to improve your marketing strategy during an economic downturn.

2. Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective marketing channels because it can build loyalty and trust for your brand.

Building a list of customers and prospects should be a priority for your business at all times because you can use this information to speak directly to your customers.

You can deliver relevant content right to your customers because you know who your audience is and how they engage with your business.

Be sure to personalize your emails and segment your email list based on the types of products, services, and demographics of your customers. You can generate a lot of sales during tough economic times by using an email marketing strategy that addresses the needs of your customers.

Top tips for using email marketing during a recession:

• Organize your customers into different groups based on the type of products and services purchased.
• Automate as much as possible, but make sure your email messages are personalized and only include relevant information for your readers.
• Use follow-up “drip campaigns” to engage with customers who do not take action with your initial emails.
• Always include a clear Call To Action (CTA) in each message. This will direct your customers to the next steps for your business goals.

3. SEO Marketing

SEO marketing is a valuable part of your company’s marketing strategy during a recession because SEO helps position your company as a leader as customers go through the Buyer’s Journey.

SEO is a long-term marketing strategy, and if you build a strong foundation and invest in smart SEO, you can actually lower overall advertising costs. While this marketing channel requires ongoing investment, SEO marketing can position your business above your competition in a recession.

People will continue to need your products and services, and you can use SEO marketing to outrank your competition for specific keywords used in Google and other search engines. Since demand is reduced during tough economic times, you will need every option available to attract more sales and boost your online presence on search engines.

Top tips for SEO marketing in a recession:

• Focus on keywords used by your customers as they search for your product or services. Invest in long-tail keywords since people who use these terms are more likely to buy at that time.
• Build content with a clear goal in mind. Don’t waste time or resources, building lots of content without a larger plan. You can create a content calendar and use research strategies to understand what your customers are searching for.
• Be sure to distribute your content on relevant sites to reach your customers. Content that does not serve the needs of your customer or drives business goals is wasted time and resources.

4. Gather More User Reviews & Testimonials

Customer reviews are an essential piece of any local SEO marketing strategy, and this is especially true when marketing your business in a recession. Customer reviews have the power to influence a purchasing decision because they strengthen your company’s reputation.

As we have already discussed, a recession means that your business is facing a time when customer trust and confidence is down. Not only are fewer people looking for products and services, but they are also even more worried about making the wrong decision with their limited resources.

This means that you need to do everything you can to build trust with prospects. Your team should put more time and energy to increase the number of user reviews from past and current clients, and then use these reviews in all content to power your marketing strategy in a recession.

Top tips to maximize user reviews in your economic downturn marketing strategy:

• Reach out to past and current customers to ask for a review on Google, Facebook, or Yelp. You should contact all customers in your book of business who have not left a review in the past.
• There are plenty of Reputation Management programs that you can use to contact customers, but you can also email individuals with a request to leave your business a review. Be sure to check the Terms of Service on different review sites to understand what you can and can’t do when requesting a review.
• Get the most value out of your customer reviews by using reviews across your business marketing strategy. Place reviews on your website near CTA buttons, and include testimonials in your email marketing campaigns.

5. Content Marketing

Content Marketing is one of the best ways to educate, influence, and close sales during an economic downturn. This marketing channel goes hand-in-hand with SEO marketing, and you can use different types of content to help customers along the Buyer’s Journey.

You will need to write lots of blog content and other forms of media to get the most out of this marketing channel for your business.

There are different types of content that you can create based on your industry, the needs of your customers, and your business goals. Regardless of what content you create, you will need to invest all Content Marketing efforts into building information that builds trust and confidence with your audience.

It’s important to note that Content Marketing requires time and resources to execute correctly, so you should take time to review your analytics (see point #1 of this list) to make sure your content meets the needs of your customers.

Top tips for Content Marketing strategy in a recession:

• Review analytics and develop a more extensive plan before creating content. This is important because your content needs to address the questions and needs of your customers.
• Integrate content across different channels, like email marketing and social media. This approach allows your content to live on different channels and reach a broader audience, which makes your Content Marketing efforts even more valuable.
• Track content performance in tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and other analytics platforms to learn what is working.
• As you learn what works, you should commit to developing more content that performs best and meets your business goals.
• Create content around the needs and questions of your customers. Tough economic times create fear and uncertainty, and you should build content to address these new variables.

6. Focus Your Budget On Google Ads Marketing Campaigns

While you may reduce your marketing budget during tough economic times, it’s crucial to only cut costs that don’t generate direct profits. This means that you should focus spend on marketing channels that drive revenue for your business.

The great thing about PPC is that you have a lot of control over who, when, and what people see, so you won’t spend money talking to an audience that won’t buy from you. In addition, you can also track everything within Google Ads, so you can optimize campaigns based on past and current performance.

One of the most effective marketing channels for any business looking for direct sales during an economic downturn is through Google Ads. This platform allows your business to reach qualified leads, and you can generate sales once you properly optimize campaigns around the needs of your customers.

Instead of spending a reduced marketing budget on initiatives that won’t drive direct sales, you can optimize PPC campaigns to reach qualified prospects that will turn to pay customers.

Top tips to maximize PPC marketing during an economic downturn:

• Turn off campaigns that have not performed well in the past.
• Tighten targeting options on Google Ads campaigns that you keep running. This will result in less engagement, but each engagement will be
• more qualified and lead to more sales.
• Run A/B tests on select campaigns to see how to maximize each click and write compelling ad copy to drive more engagement.

7. Remarketing Campaigns On Facebook & Google

You will likely have to reduce your marketing budget during a recession, and this means that you need to make every dollar count. Your business can boost sales if you remarket to people who visit your website with Google Display Remarketing and Facebook Remarketing.

Remarketing campaigns are simply initiatives that tag browsers whenever someone visits your website. Since someone visited your site, you can assume that they are qualified and interested in your products or services.

Instead of letting prospects forget about you, you can use remarketing to engage with your audience once they leave your site. This channel is essential because you need to convert every prospect and close every sale if you want to survive an economic downturn.

Facebook remarketing campaigns are some of the least expensive and more effective marketing campaigns because you can show ads on Facebook to people who have visited your site in the past.

Top tips for using remarketing in a marketing strategy in a recession:

• Create specific ad groups for different pages on your site. Each ad group should have unique creative and ad copy based on the type of content that your prospects visit on your website.
• Keep a close eye on how much you spend for each click on remarketing campaigns. You can adjust spend preferences on Google and
• Facebook and you should set this amount based on your marketing budget and the value of products/services sold.

If you need help with digital marketing services such as website and mobile development, SEO, Lead generation, and other IT Services, Shourai can help. Send us a message here or email us at info@shourai.io

For more articles, click here.

Reference:

>https://www.strategybeam.com/blog/7-cost-effective-marketing-strategies-to-use-in-a-recession/

The post Secrets To Promoting Business Online – Even In This Down Economy appeared first on Shourai Ltd..

An article from Top Floor provided 4 digital marketing trends that are occurring during this pandemic as well as the solutions for these:

The Trend: In-Person Store Visits Nearly Eliminated

Since the start of the virus pandemic, businesses have seen in-person store visits drop 90% within just a month’s span. This unexpected limited foot traffic, that most businesses rely on, has been affecting the way advertisers and businesses are handling their digital needs.

The question that arises from this is, how will you respond? Now is the time you should be focusing on your digital marketing strategy, and how you are portrayed to your customers. You want to make things as easy as possible for them while also making sure you are positioning yourself for the highest level of success.

Solution 1: Website Maintenance
This is the foundation of your online existence, and what ties all things digital together. That being said, you want to make sure your site is optimized properly and running smoothly. Such optimizations include making sure your site speed is up to standard, and your landing pages are refined which in turn will directly affect your PPC efforts since this is where your ads are leading to.

Solution 2: Google My Business
You want to make sure you get your business listed on Google. With the physical visit either being eliminated or altered, you need to make sure your updated business hours, address, any posts, or photos as well as reviews are properly and accurately displayed. With most of these attributes being modified, it is important to make sure you are getting the right information to your customers.

Solution 3: Social Media
The effectiveness of social media is almost more prominent now than ever. You want to make sure you are staying active and strategic and using social channels as a tool of communication with your customers. This is where the bulk of your digital marketing strategy will be altered. Being active on these channels builds a level of trust in your customer and lets them know that you are still open or conducting business in other ways.

Solution 4: eCommerce
To put your business in the best position for success, think about adjustments you can make to meet your customers’ new needs. One way to keep sales coming in is by adding eCommerce to your website if it makes sense for your customers and product lines. Stay proactive and have options available to your customers.

Solution 5: Promote Yourself Online
Once you have all the foundation pieces in place, get to promoting! Make sure you do your research and take advantage of all available PPC avenues. Areas to look to for promoting yourself through paid ads are Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and Facebook as well as other social media outlets such as Instagram and LinkedIn.

The Trend: Online Searches Dominated By COVID-19

The COVID pandemic has had a major impact on what we are seeing in users’ online behavior. Anything related to COVID is dominating searches which means you need to look at adjusting your paid search strategy. What is developed from this is we are seeing a lot of new searches that we’ve never seen before such as more questions being asked, and topics that we have never encountered. So, if you are already established in paid advertising, the question is, how do you respond to this new activity?

Solution 1: Search Query Reports
First, you should make sure you adjust your paid search campaigns for these new search terms and volume that is coming in. Make sure you are reviewing search terms regularly in order to understand what sort of traffic you are getting.

Solution 2: Negative Keywords
Along with running more frequent search query reports for your campaigns, you should make sure you are adding the right negative keywords that could have a damaging effect on your campaigns. With the new type of traffic that is coming through, there are also more irrelevant terms within those queries. You want to make sure you are flushing those out, so you are not spending budget on terms that do not apply to your business.

Solution 3: Follow Trending Searches
You can use Google Trends as an effective tool to dissect and understand how people are searching. Trends include a new hub specifically related to Coronavirus search trends. Here, you can review on a regular basis to see how people are prioritizing within their searches, which will help when filtering through your keywords in your PPC campaigns.

The Trend: Declining Mobile Traffic

This is where there’s more detail in your paid search strategy. Besides what we are seeing in new traffic, we are also seeing new places this traffic is coming from. In the month of March, Google saw paid search mobile search traffic cut by nearly 25% due to the pandemic. What is usually traffic we can always count on, is now suddenly beginning to dissipate. Besides people being physically less mobile, they are also being less mobile in their online behavior.

Solution 1: Device Bid Adjustments
An area you can capitalize on this within your PPC account is by revisiting device bid adjustments. Generally, you would make this type of adjustment based on specific data with your campaigns, but now due to the pandemic, you need to take into account that more users are going back to their desktop.

Solution 2: Smart Bidding
Secondly, you could consider implementing smart bidding in your campaigns. With PPC strategy being altered during the pandemic, it is going to become more difficult to know how search behavior will change abruptly. Smart Bidding may be a potential avenue as it will allow you to be able to digest data that is changing and adjust CPC bids in real-time.

The Trend: Have An Open Mind To New Opportunities

It is important to note that overall internet use is still up 50%, and the good news is that you can still reach your customers. The difference is that they are just looking in different places than usual, like YouTube and social media, which is why it is crucial to advertise across multiple networks rather than just Google Search. This where you can look to make the most effective changes to your paid search strategy.

Solution 1: Advertise In Multiple Areas
With Google search traffic in a downward trend, it will be important to blend your PPC advertising across multiple networks and platforms. Some effective examples of this are combining Google search with Microsoft Ads, or Google search with Display.

Solution 2: Google Search Partners
Google Search Partners is a network of sites that partner with Google to display PPC ads. By using Google Search Partners, you are not only hitting Google search traffic but also many more search engine sites that are included within this network. This will help expand your reach and brand by not solely relying on Google search traffic.

Solution 3: Remarketing
Although a new business might be difficult to bring in at the moment, you can still focus on your past customers and website visitors by nurturing those leads and bringing them back to your website. Serve ads where those users are now spending their time, like YouTube and social media, using display remarketing ads. You’re likely to see more conversions on those return visits.

If you need help with digital marketing services such as website and mobile development, SEO, Lead generation, and other IT Services, Shourai can help. Send us a message here or email us at info@shourai.io

For more articles, click here.

Reference:

>https://www.topfloortech.com/blog/digital-marketing-trends-during-a-pandemic-how-to-respond/#gref

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