These are difficult times, indeed. The coronavirus has taken us all by surprise, and it’s rare to find someone who hasn’t heard a friend or family member say —or even said themselves— “I feel like I’m in a movie.”
But the truth is that COVID-19 is very real. This is no movie, and if it were, we all know that simply resigning ourselves and doing nothing wouldn’t be an option. As Winston Churchill said, “If you are going through hell, keep going.”
At least, that applies to your business —because on a personal level, the best thing you can do is stay home.
We’ve been told repeatedly that the only way to defeat the coronavirus as quickly as possible for everyone’s benefit is by joining the movement: #IStayAtHome.
Post #IStayAtHome, you can see it on our Dos Setenta Instagram.
However, that doesn’t mean doing nothing —especially for businesses. In times of crisis, we must adapt and innovate more than ever. As the saying goes, behind every crisis lies an opportunity, and that’s where your focus should be.
Opportunities for Businesses in Times of Crisis
Be careful not to confuse opportunities with opportunism!
Let’s be honest: you need to take action to move your business forward, that much is clear. But be cautious about trying to take advantage of the situation and, above all, pay close attention to how you communicate the initiatives you undertake.
When we talk about opportunity, we mean that just as these are difficult times for you, they are for your competitors as well. The key is which companies are able to adapt better and come out stronger when all this ends.
And your only real asset to become one of those companies is your online presence.
It’s true that almost every industry has seen a significant drop in traffic, except for sectors such as pharmaceuticals, news and media, and food, among others.
The reason these sectors are gaining visibility online is clear, so we won’t focus on that.
In case you’re curious about which sectors are being impacted more or less, here’s a chart from Neil Patel that illustrates it clearly:
You may now be wondering why you should focus more on your online presence if most people aren’t currently searching for your products or services. The answer is: because now is when your business can gain greater visibility. But how?
Digital Actions to Help Your Business Gain Visibility
Within digital marketing, there are several branches. Depending on your company’s characteristics, some may be more relevant than others.
But in general, the most important areas are communication, social media —including advertising on those platforms— and organic positioning (SEO).
Communication
As we’ve mentioned, how you communicate during this situation is extremely important. The coronavirus is affecting millions of people worldwide, and communicating your message with intelligence and sensitivity is essential.
Some actions carried out by other companies that we consider good communication strategies during this crisis include:
Communication Through Social Media
The communication via Instagram from the footwear brand Pompeii, where they speak with total sincerity and transparency, as if speaking directly to a friend, explaining the situation their brand is experiencing, promoting their products (already discounted), and ending with the following message:
“Now it’s time to help others. Time to lend a hand. Count on us for whatever you need. We’ll be here waiting.”
Communication Through Newsletter
A great example of communication via newsletter is from the brand Agatha Paris.
They literally “thank from the bottom of their hearts all the heroes without capes who cannot stay at home and go out to take care of us,” inform customers about free shipping, and explain how their service will operate to avoid unnecessary risks.
Advertising on Social Media
Now that we can’t leave home, the time we spend on social media is much higher. This gives us a huge opportunity to advertise and offer products, especially if your brand has an online store.
If your type of business doesn’t allow online sales or you don’t have an e-commerce platform, you can focus on a branding strategy (which is ideal given the current situation).
Remember! If most businesses are reducing advertising investment, it means less competition —and therefore, more opportunity to reach your target audience.
To build trust and reassurance, online stores should adapt delivery and return policies to the current situation and clearly communicate these changes to customers.
Organic Positioning or SEO
SEO: a crucial investment to survive in times of crisis.
In my opinion, more than ever, this situation highlights the importance of SEO to help your business stay visible in search engines. After viewing the earlier graphic on how coronavirus has affected different sectors, you might still wonder why SEO is worth it. Here are a few reasons:
SEO: A Close Friend of Analysis
SEO can help identify what areas your business should focus on and what actions to take.
SEO and Communication: The Perfect Team
SEO helps content created by the communication team reach more people, and also supports the creation of evergreen content (content that is searched for consistently over time).
Local SEO
An SEO expert can help manage and optimize your Google My Business profile, especially now that many businesses are marked as temporarily closed.
Technical SEO
This period of reduced visibility is a great time to improve technical aspects such as speed across devices, site architecture, usability, tag hierarchy, content cannibalization, and more.
This is why now, more than ever, you should make use of our free SEO analysis, where we detail your website’s status and offer improvement recommendations.
I hope this post has been helpful or at least interesting to you.
In summary, at Dos Setenta we want to send you a message of positivity during these difficult times and offer our support as a digital consulting agency. We wish you lots of strength and luck, and of course, if you have any question at all — just ask us!
