At this point, we are all aware of the Coronavirus pandemic that has brought the world to a standstill. With the virus spreading exponentially and the death toll increasing by the day, the economies of affected countries have been adversely impacted.
This has affected both businesses and marketers on an unprecedented scale. Marketing budgets are being cut down, businesses are closing shop, creating business continuity plans, and more.
This is the worst business shutdown of the last decade and it has affected our digital marketing community as well. I myself am sitting at home like millions of others and thinking of ways to deal with the crisis both as a marketer and as an individual.
As individuals, all that we can do is stay at home.
But as marketers, we can do a lot more.
We can inform people, spread awareness, engage with our audiences, or simply be there for them in their time of need.
Want to know how businesses have been impacted by this pandemic and what we, as marketers, can do in these uncertain times? Read on to find out.
=====X=====
Disclosure: Please note that a few of the links in this article are actually affiliate links. This means that if you click on them, I will get a commission, without any extra cost to you. So, feel free to check these out as I only recommend products or services that I personally tested and highly recommend. For more information, please read my affiliate disclosure in my privacy policy.
=====X=====
Table of Contents
The Impact of Coronavirus on Businesses in General
The coronavirus outbreak has adversely affected businesses worldwide. The stock market performance in all regions has seen a continued downfall in the last month.
What’s more, you ask?
Well, the pandemic has affected almost all industries, though, some more than others.
Here’s what the S&P sector performance for different industrial sectors looks like, as of March 19, 2020:
Image via Barchart
Overall, the entire business world is suffering and most companies are barely surviving by implementing business continuity plans.
The Current Sentiment: How Are Businesses and Marketers Responding?
Due to the ongoing crisis there has been a cross-industry freeze in spending by businesses, especially those that are hit hard.
Given that most businesses are suffering from losses, it is understandable that they are cutting their spending in all areas. This, unfortunately, also includes their advertising and marketing spends.
But, is that the best way to deal with the situation?
We think not.
Let’s find out what you should do in the next section.
The Better Alternative
While it may seem counterintuitive to spend on marketing in this time of crisis, it is actually the best time to invest in digital marketing.
With most people working from home and being extremely active online and on social media, digital marketing is the best way to reach a much larger audience.
People, in general, are spending more time online to stay updated about the current happenings.
Media and news websites, social media platforms, etc. are the most frequented online platforms for people dealing with this crisis. People are looking for all sorts of content resources to stay informed and be ready to deal with the situation.
In such a scenario, when the whole world is flocking to social media and online resources, it makes sense for businesses and marketers to try to win their attention. After all, why would you spend less on digital marketing when the whole world is online now more than ever?
Pro Tip: Check out my podcast with Mark Schaefer to learn how your business can cope up with this Coronavirus crisis.
What Brands Should Do in the Times of Coronavirus? Effective Coronavirus Marketing Tactics
Here are some of the marketing ideas in which you can continue your digital marketing efforts during the coronavirus pandemic:
1. Show Empathy
The first and most important rule for you to follow is to show empathy and be responsible.
Do not create or publish content that spreads fear or causes more panic. This is a time of crisis and you need to be empathetic to the situation and this should reflect in all of your marketing communications.
If your marketing seems insensitive or provocative at all, it could do irreparable damage to your brand’s reputation. Marketing in the time of coronavirus needs to be responsible and useful for your audience and people in general.
One way in which you can show empathy is by helping out in this time of need, thus, winning people’s respect and trust.
Take the example of Loom Videos, for instance. They provide video-conferencing services that enable people to work and collaborate remotely.
In this time of crisis, most people are working from home and would require such services. So they slashed their prices and expanded the scope of their free plan to help people do that.
Image Source Loom Videos
This is something that you can replicate for your business. Provide free service, extended trials, and discounted prices during the Coronavirus crisis and win people over.
Moreover, this will also help you get more customers, so it's a win-win for everyone. So, come up with lucrative offers and promote these across channels to benefit as many people as you can.
PRO TIP: Use social media to promote your offers as people are extra-active there in these times.
2. Use Remote Working and Marketing Tools
Given that most businesses have shut down their offices and are encouraging employees to work from home, there is a need for remote working tools. These can help you not only to continue your business activities but also to win new leads.
Webinar Hosting Tools
While you may be stuck at home due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), you can still conduct a webinar to engage your audience. This is an especially good option for influencers and industry experts who participate in industry events and other speaking engagements.
The only difference is that now you can do it from home, by hosting webinars using a webinar tool.
You can use this to host webinars and online presentations for up to 5000 people, with up to 6 presenters. The live chat option lets you run Q&A sessions as well.
Want to know the best part?
You can use their Replica Replay feature to record your live webinar and replay it for future use. You can schedule these replays and use the same webinar to engage your audience.
That’s not all. They also help you build optimized landing pages to get maximum registrations for your webinar.
Web Conferencing Tools
With most people working from home amid this coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, web conferencing is no more an option, but a necessity. Here are some tools that you can use.
This is a useful tool that you can use to conduct virtual meetings directly from your browser, for up to 12 attendees. The host and attendees can join the meeting using any device.
It also allows you to make video conference calls, making team collaboration easier. They provide a free trial, so you can check out the interface and features.
A single license for Easymeeting costs $159 per month.
- Proficonf
This is another tool that you can use for hassle-free HD video-conferencing with your teammates and colleagues while working remotely. All you have to do is create a room and share the link with your colleagues.
They can simply click on the link and join the meeting right from their browsers. Simple, isn’t it?
They offer a basic free plan. Paid plans start from $12 per week.
This is a web conferencing tool that not just lets you host meetings with your colleagues, but specializes in business meetings as well. It has essential features like video call and screen-sharing that makes remote meetings just like face-to-face meetings.
In addition to that, it also has an esignature compliance tool to record as you close and sign business contracts. Overall, it is a must-have tool for all sales professionals who want an easy way to conduct business meetings and close deals online.
You can get in touch with their sales team for prices.
Project Management Tools
While video conferencing does make things easier, you do need some additional help to ensure effective team collaboration and task management. Here are some tools that can help.
This is an all-in-one project management tool that can help with different aspects of your business including finance, BI, DevOps, and more. This is especially useful for IT, industrial services, and educational businesses.
You can use it to track attendance, manage tasks, collaborate with others, schedule meetings, and more.
Want to know more about all its features?
Get a free demo.
This is another multi-functional, project management tool that is suitable for businesses of all sizes. You can use this to practically manage all your day-to-day tasks and stay productive while working from home.
Want to know how much it will cost?
Plans start at $25 per month. A free trial is also available.
Real-Time Communication and Collaboration Tools
These tools can help you communicate with your colleagues and collaborate effectively.
This is a business communication platform that you can use to ensure smooth and real-time communication between team members. You can create project-wise communication channels and reserve access only for relevant team members.
The monthly pricing is $6.67 when billed annually.
It is an office software suite to manage all your day-to-day business activities even when everyone is working from home due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) threat.
It has numerous apps that can help you with all aspects of your business. You can buy these individually or get a bundle package containing different apps.
Contact their sales team to find out more about the packages and pricing.
PRO TIP: Assess your business requirements during this pandemic and then choose the tools that you really need.
3. Start an Awareness Campaign
One brilliant way of continuing marketing during the coronavirus pandemic is to start an awareness campaign. What this entails is spreading useful information about the crisis and how to deal with it.
The aim of such campaigns is to inform people about the severity of the situation and to urge them to not take it lightly.
Here’s an example of a coronavirus awareness marketing campaign started by ViacomCBS:
Image via Instagram
They are using the hashtag #AloneTogether to spread awareness about social distancing and the importance of staying at home during this crisis.
PRO TIP: Hashtags are the best way to promote your awareness campaigns, so, create a hashtag and use it to reach more people.
Want to know more such effective marketing tactics that work even during the coronavirus pandemic?
Read on…
4. Double Your Budget For SEO
Again, this might seem counterintuitive to a few of you but is actually a brilliant marketing strategy.
Investing in SEO now, when everyone else is slashing their SEO budgets, will give you a competitive edge later.
This is a good time to build backlinks by writing guest posts on current and relevant topics. Strengthen your backlink profile while your competitors are waiting for the crisis to end.
Also, improve your technical and on-page SEO and utilize your time working from home. Use the extra time that you have now to work on SEO and reap the results later.
Wondering why you should do it?
Well, it will give you a strong push ahead of your competitors. When all of this is over, and yes it will end… then you will be leaps and bounds ahead of your competitors.
PRO TIP: You can also use this time to conduct that SEO audit that you’ve been procrastinating doing for a while.
5. Create and Share Valuable Content Resources
When it comes to marketing during the coronavirus pandemic, content marketing is your best bet. The demand for useful content resources related to the outbreak is very high as people are turning to online resources for help.
This is a perfect time to create different types of content on the topic and share it on multiple channels. The kind of content could range from informative blog posts to “how-to” videos on precautionary measures.
Basically, anything that tells informs people about:
- What’s going on in the world
- How to deal with it
Here’s an example of how Google has created one such useful resource for preventing the spread of coronavirus:
Image via Instagram
It is a simple infographic that provides useful information on the precautionary measures that should be taken during this time. This is an excellent example of responsible coronavirus marketing that you can take inspiration from.
Also, try to customize the content to make it relevant to your target audience and industry.
For example, if you’re in the fitness industry, you can provide resources on working out from home as people are avoiding going to the gym. Businesses in the food industry can provide resources like “easy recipes to try at home” given that people are quarantined at home.
You get the general idea, right?
Whatever industry you’re in, think of things that might help your target customer segment. And, don’t make such content promotional, otherwise, you will lose credibility.
Think of this as a long-term marketing strategy and not a short-term one. You need to win your prospective customers’ trust in this time of crisis and this will be beneficial later.
Don’t try to sell. Try to help.
Here’s another example of brilliant coronavirus marketing from the brand Airbnb:
Image via Airbnb
They created an exhaustive list of travel advisories to various regions for their customers and hosts.
PRO TIP: Create content that is relevant to your niche and directly helps your customers in their time of need.
6. Try to Diffuse the Situation with Humor
These are terrible times and there is a palpable sense of fear and panic worldwide. Everyone is scared and looking for ways to deal with the situation in the best possible manner.
This has led to a slew of memes related to coronavirus on various social media platforms. The purpose of these is not to be insensitive to the situation but try to diffuse it and make people laugh.
You can use a similar strategy and use humor to give people hope and make them smile in this time of crisis. However, be very careful and ensure that your posts are not insensitive or offensive.
Take this post by POPxo Wedding, for example. They have used humor while also addressing the current situation and posting about something relevant to their niche.
Image via Instagram
PRO TIP: Simply repost memes by adding a nice caption if you don’t want to invest time into creating posts from scratch.
7. Invest in Social Media Marketing
Everyone these days is flocking to social media platforms to get the latest updates and see what’s going on around the world. People are getting together on social media while practicing social distancing in real life.
This is the best time to invest in social media marketing as you will get more reach and engagement than ever before. Instead of cutting your social media marketing budget, you need to increase it.
What better time to share social media posts than when people are most active, right?
Take Marvel Entertainment, for example. The movie industry has taken a big hit as cinemas have shut down, but that hasn’t stopped the company from remaining active on social media.
On Instagram, they post once or twice a day. Lately, most of their posts have promoted their comic books and online games.
Additionally, they are also asking their comic readers to opt for safe purchasing options for the latest comic books.
Image via Instagram
So, invest in social media marketing and increase your frequency of sharing posts and stories.
PRO TIP: Find innovative ways to connect with your audience on social media, even if business-as-usual has stopped.
8. Start a Challenge That Encourages Positive Behavior
WHO started the “Safe Hands Challenge” where it encouraged people to wash their hands the right way. They did that by collaborating with influencers like Alisson Becker and Natalia Becker.
The challenge became viral and soon people started posting videos of themselves following the WHO guidelines for washing their hands.
The hashtag that they started #safehands already has over 46K posts. Most of these show people washing their hands the right way and encourage others to do the same.
Image via Instagram
You can participate in existing challenges like these and show your support or start a new challenge. This could be a part of a broader marketing campaign that starts a conversation about coronavirus, while also marketing your brand.
Go through all the precautionary measures suggested by WHO and other authorities and come up with your own ideas for a social media challenge.
If there’s one thing that we can say with absolute certainty it is that challenges have a way of going viral. And, in times like these when coronavirus is all that people are talking about, these might do especially well.
PRO TIP: Use influencers to participate in your challenge and promote it to their followers.
Ready to Overcome the Coronavirus Challenge?
We are facing one of the biggest crises of our lifetimes and this has hit businesses hard. However, all is not lost.
While the coronavirus outbreak has forced people to stay in their homes, it has also caused an increase in the amount of time people spend online. Therefore, it is a good time to invest in digital marketing to reap long-term benefits.
So, use these tips and start your coronavirus marketing campaign right now.
Have any more questions on how to do so? Feel free to reach out to me or ask in the comments below.
=====X=====
Disclosure: Please note that a few of the links in this article are actually affiliate links. This means that if you click on them, I will get a commission, without any extra cost to you. So, feel free to check these out as I only recommend products or services that I personally tested and highly recommend. For more information, please read my affiliate disclosure in my privacy policy.
Related Articles
What is Digital Marketing? Everything You Need to Know
Best Blogger Outreach Tool – 21 Tools to Minimize Your Outreach Efforts
33 Free Google Marketing Tools for Marketers and Developers
22 Best Online PR Tools to Build and Monitor Media Relations
Digital Marketing for Startups: The Strategies to Use in 2024