The marketing ecosystem has faced an unprecedented range of unforeseen challenges since the inception of the pandemic. Enterprises are scrambling to keep up with the evolving customer demands and streamline their marketing channels. When the physical mediums of marketing have betrayed enterprise architects, digital marketing is running the show for businesses. Wondering how? Let’s find out!

When the virus hit, every brand’s initial tactic was to ensure that clients were made aware of the continued operation. However, as the world moved towards a brighter future and the economic projection reached a state of turmoil, the defensive strategy of enterprises started to incline towards reaching the potential opportunities. 

With the inception of the pandemic, online customers became glued to their screens. The physical retail mediums shifted online and everything started happening online. As physical mediums of advertising halted completely, the need for a robust digital marketing strategy became imperative for boosting competitiveness and improving ROI.

So, by connecting the dots, we have derived that companies want to:

• Connect with their potential customers on both global and local level
• Create brand awareness
• Engage them
• Promote and sell their products/ services
• Boost conversions
• Earn higher ROI

But when they cannot reach the customer through physical channels, how can they bring them into the sales pipeline? That’s when digital marketing arrives into the big picture. 

Digital marketing which was optional for brands previously now became a mandate. The digital transformation of marketing channels was crucial for a diverse range of reasons. Some of them are illuminated below.

1 Connecting with the customers made easy: SEO for more visibility

In the face of lockdown, many customers have changed the way they find products and services. They cannot access the physical channels or buy products or services offline. So, everyone is searching for almost everything on the internet to be delivered to their doorstep. When your customer is searching online, if you don’t appear on the top of SERPs, there are chances that you will miss out on a wide range of opportunities. To help you rank higher and increase your visibility, SEO can play an instrumental role as a digital marketing strategy. 

2 Building brand authority became straightforward: ORM saving drowning enterprises

Let’s say your customers find your business online. How do they know that you are trustworthy? Some businesses survive with an outdated online reputation. This is simply fatal for a brand image after the pandemic. Negative reviews and unoptimized pages should be fixed. In a world where your online reputation is the only reputation, Online Reputation Management with a digital marketing agency can go a long way.

3 As the marketing budget tightened, social media came to the rescue

Previously marketing budgets were elaborate. Brands used to spend a huge fortune on optimizing their marketing budgets. But, as a global pandemic dominated the economic front, and businesses relied on downsizing to save money, how can marketing be allotted a massive sum? To save money on TV ads, pamphlets, or brochures, the only strategy is to go social. Social media has a lot of untapped potentials that can save enterprises their multi-million-dollar marketing fortunes. Starting from influencer marketing and viral marketing to stories and reels, there is a myriad of channels that can engage customers while saving brands time, effort, and expenses. 

4 E-retail made sales easy: Because selling online is the new cool

Selling offline was a distant dream after the pandemic. So, brands started drifting their sales online. They developed stunning websites and e-retail portals with high-quality content, responsive UI, and an efficient SEO strategy to lure their customers into the sales pipeline. The result? Google alone captures more than 71 percent of all search traffic. So, when your business moves online, the result will be more revenues and increased profit margins. 

5 Brick-and-mortar stores invited foot traffic in with GMB optimization 

Even if your small business is operating during the pandemic to provide all the essentials, how will your customers know that you are open? How will your target demographic find out where you are located? To solve this problem you can optimize your page with local SEO to rank better in the Google My Business or GMB listings. By doing so, you can easily appear on the maps, and get more foot traffic through the digital channels. 

Okay, digital marketing is important, but how do businesses shift their marketing strategy during the coronavirus pandemic? Here are some tips to overcome the conventional roadblocks and fabricate a surefire digital marketing strategy:

• With the disruption of the economic markets and the evolving customer demands, enterprises need to reassess their business goals and find out whether their marketing strategy can accommodate the new digital quirks.
• A data-driven marketing strategy is the need of the hour. Undoubtedly marketing budgets are limited now. So, businesses must harness real-time data to understand buyer personas and create a seamless marketing strategy.
• As the customers will more likely search for products and services online, it is a crucial time for businesses to compete and drive inbound sales.
• Businesses must rethink how customers are finding their websites. Are they arriving at your site through SEO or paid search or are they searching for your website directly?
• Furthermore, businesses must re-evaluate their communication channels and try connecting with the customers on a more personal level through social media and email. 
• Metrics are crucial to analyze, review and adapt. That’s why businesses must constantly analyze and monitor data to find out what is working for their customers and what isn’t. 

Digital Marketing because reimagining marketing is the new normalcy

Smart work, consistency, and a bit of creativity can go a long way to clear the post-pandemic aftermath for businesses. The pandemic’s impact has been tragic and major. While the economy is dwindling in ways seldom seen before, the internet has been a place of solace for many. 

When everyone is confined inside the four walls, the internet has become the only platform for people globally to connect with one another during difficult times. Not just individuals, the benefits also extend to business, as the digital space offers a medium to increase traffic, establish, maintain and grow brand awareness and generate sales. 

With a properly executed, orchestrated digital marketing strategy, brands can stay afloat amid the crisis. More importantly, they can instill innovation, do a bit of research and inculcate digital marketing ideas in their long-term marketing strategy. 

Want to get started with Digital Marketing services? Get in touch with Yuved Technology now!