Importance of Digital Marketing for Businesses in the COVID-19 era

Bill Gates once said, “If your business is not on the internet, then your business will be out of business.”Bill Gates once said, “If your business is not on the internet, then your business will be out of business.”

This stands truer today than ever. With the new and more dangerous COVID-19 variants being discovered every few months, the impending policies of social distancing, curfews, and complete lockdown put local businesses at the risk of extinction.

The hardships and unprecedented challenges enforced upon business by COVID-19 aren’t unknown. This includes disruption in the supply chain, customer behavior, and economic losses. This is where digital marketing comes to the rescue. How exactly? Let’s find out!

The Shift in the Consumer Behavior

More and more consumers are turning to digital ways of buying products and services, which is more contact-less.

This is reflected in the increased subscriptions of OTT platforms like Netflix, soaring Google and Facebook ad revenues, massive downloads of video chatting, video gaming, online shopping apps, and beyond.

Besides, many consumers are using digital platforms for the first time, prepared to learn the in and out of the workings. This speaks volumes!

Here’s what McKinsey & Company found out:

Moreover, social commerce is on the rise too. Almost 34% are shopping on Instagram because of influencer recommendations.

And this shift is not likely to run out given the convenience, cost-effectiveness, and safety the eCommerce offers.

The Increasing Role of Digital Marketing

According to IBM, “COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation at 59% of surveyed organisations. Whereas 66% have been able to complete digital marketing initiatives that previously attracted resistance.”

So, not only consumers but also businesses are fast migrating to digital mediums. This should be the reason enough to build your business’s digital presence.

Why?

Well, as more businesses (say, your competitors) get on the online marketplace, the higher competition it creates to reach consumers or increase the traffic.

Hence, a well-thought-out digital marketing strategy may give you better chances of getting noticed. Moreover, it also helps you cope with this behavioural change at much lower prices while proffering a better probability of reaching the target audience, not limited by geography.

But how exactly should you go about it?

Understanding the Basics of Digital Marketing

1. Create an SEO-friendly website

The first step to creating your online presence is by creating a website. Let’s face it; no employee would promote your business 24/7 like a website.

Whether eCommerce or a service-oriented website, create it using the right branding, design, and informative, clear content. The idea is to offer more clarity and not confuse the audience

2. Leverage Social Media

This is one of the essential elements of digital marketing. Why?

Well, more than 50% of the world’s population social media. This is the easiest way to reach out to your potential audience. Moreover, platforms like Facebook and Instagram have incorporated multiple tools to grow small businesses.

However, you don’t need to be present on all platforms. Choose the most relevant one to your business and be consistent in posting and interacting with your audience.

3. Go local and build brand awareness

Many people perform an online search to see the nearby stores. You’d be missing out on a major chunk if you don’t get in front of your local audience.

Claim your Google Business page, optimise your website for local SEO. Besides, you can also run a Google ads campaign for similar nearby keywords relevant to your business.

Additionally, don’t focus on sales. Build trust. It’s a long-term process, but it’d help sustain your business for years to come. Share testimonials, run brand awareness campaigns, define KPIs, etc.

Wrapping up

Quoting Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, “It is hard to find things that won’t sell online.” And we couldn’t agree more. The only thing that needs to change is your approach if your product isn’t garnering your audience’s attention.

Digital marketing is gradually becoming an essential skill for businesses. There is no other way around it. Either master it or take the help of the expert to help navigate your business to digital success.

If you’re unsure, let us help you design or revamp your digital marketing strategy from scratch in a way that gains you traction!