When the first case of corona virus was reported in India on January 30, 2020 none of us imagined that we would be locked up in our homes for months straight to protect our lives and also the lives of our loved ones.
COVID-19 has forced governments around the world to impose lockdowns which have disrupted businesses, jobs, and livelihoods of countless people. Lockdowns have forced individuals and companies to adopt digital.
Even the Kirana store near my apartments are now accepting online orders through Whatsapp or a third-party mobile app. These brick and mortar stores who were until now technologically disabled had to learn new technologies to survive the lockdown & COVID-19’s forced new normal.
Many companies are laying off employees as part of their cost cutting policy in order to survive this pandemic. Economies of the countries are hurt badly. The first department which is to be faced with a cost cut is Marketing.
Given that Marketing of a product is generally outsourced for most companies so it is an easy target to chop budget from that department.
By carefully analyzing what our customers were doing, we tried quickly to understand what was going on. Within a few weeks, it became clear that this crisis was different.
While certain industries like Travel and Hospitality and Retail were hit very hard and it felt like they may take a while to restart, many other industries it seemed could see a tremendous need and opportunity to invest in Digital Marketing technology.
Huge Cost savings:
Now is the time for the businesses to switch from print advertising, hoardings and billboards to Digital platform. This will help to reduce your marketing cost drastically.
Also it is said that the internet consumption in India during lockdown rose 13%. As Marketing channels continue to proliferate and as brands look to deliver relevance through personalized content and creative, these costs have significantly escalated.
Marketing consumer goods is imperative:
We have to accept the fact marketing consumer goods is more important now than ever. The consumer market is going to face a change in the buying behavior. More and more online and cashless buying will be preferred.
Thus it is very much important for small businesses to reach the local audience by portraying the importance of their product using online tools like customizing the audience who will be able to see their products on their online feeds.
Similarly, quick service restaurants (QSR) also are facing a bit of an existential crisis as dining out becomes risky and consumers instead are opting to order in.
So, brands like McDonald’s, Subway, Chipotle that focused most of their Marketing efforts on brand awareness need to shift gears quickly to 1:1 personalized digital marketing — it is important that they direct consumers to their own or other food delivery services in order to survive.
So here we are explaining how to amp up your digital quotient on various platforms through effective social media marketing.
Facebook:
As per the reports of brandwatch, there are 60 million active business pages on facebook at this point of time. That’s a huge number. So how can my business cater a significant amount of reach, engagement and awareness amongst my targeted audience.
Since physical marketing has taken a blow back, it is important for small businesses to market their products on facebook. There are 2.6 billion people who actively use facebook.
Imagine you, shedding lacks for hoarding, in the busiest area of your locality and being just able to reach the local audience. What if I say that you can reach a wider audience at just 1/4th of the budget of your physical marketing? Facebook does this for you.
Facebook is based on interest, not intent. Not every update you send out on your Facebook page should be promotional. Rather, 80% of your updates should be social. Otherwise, users won’t hesitate in clicking the unlike button on your page (it’s just a click away).
Approach your Facebook page from the mindset of building a community. Add value and start conversations with your audience.
It’s best to vary your posts to include different types of content:
Brand story posts
Authority building posts
Lead nurture posts
Personal posts
Instagram:
On Instagram you need attractive images and grab your audience attention there. The focus is not much on content but the aesthetics of your page. Invest in photo editing tools for your content.
Whether it’s Adobe Photoshop or VSCO, your content has to be stellar to grab audience eyes. To avoid being overly promotional but still market your brand, consider branded Instagram hashtags.
Make effective use of free instagram tools. You can use various statistics like impressions, engagement data and can also view the breakdown of your followers like the age group, geography and active hours.
As said earlier, Instagram is more about how you can visually play with the graphics and attractive pictures. You can release small teasers about your product and increase the curiosity amongst the audience about the final launch. This will help you in keeping them glued.
You can also use the sponsored ad features that will help you in increasing the reach and engagement with your audience. This gives brands the ability to target their audience in a whole new way.
Post at the right times and avoid overposting. Post one to two times every day and check out when your followers are most active. Schedule posts to go live during those days and times.
Finally, be sure that you track the right metrics to see how your Instagram marketing efforts are paying off.
Twitter:
Twitter is a great place to have one on one interaction very quickly. Things move very fast at this platform. The first and the foremost thing on twitter is to have a really attractive bio. It has to be short, crisp and an engaging one.
Tweet during peak hours. There are certain hours in a day when you users are more active. Make sure that you are using twitter analytics in the next possible way.
Unlike instagram where hashtags are important, use minimum hashtags on twitter. One of the easiest ways to create more activity on your Twitter page is to create a Twitter poll.
Twitter is one of the best places to increase brand awareness and generate new leads, but things move quicker on the platform than any other social media network.
The average lifespan of one tweet is just a few minutes, and thousands of new tweets are generated every second.
At the core, Digital marketing agencies across the world are helping their clients to increase their online visibility on social media platforms even at a time when the offline world has come to a halt. This helps them to establish their relevance to their target groups and reassure them that they remain dedicated to providing the best quality services and products, even during these difficult times. Most importantly, even as the lock-down is gradually relaxed, it helps companies to not only sell their products but also increase their sales and earn significant profits.
