Online marketing strategies have had to undergo some changes during the coronavirus pandemic. In previous posts, I discussed how this trend might apply to search engine optimization and to a company’s social media interactions. But those posts generally focused on companies that are able to make it through the current situation by simply scaling back or pausing their normal operations.
There is another discussion to be had about those who need to make drastic changes in order to remain solvent while most person-to-person commerce is shut down. The specifics of that discussion may vary among different web service providers and their clients. But they can generally be expected to result in entirely new online marketing strategies, to match entirely new business operations.
If you’ve been following the news or receiving a lot of commercial emails, you probably already have some idea of what this change looks like. Before the pandemic, many companies’ business models were almost entirely dedicated to in-person services like teaching, styling, personal training, and so on. Now, these activities either violate statewide stay-at-home orders or are in such low demand that they cannot sustain a business on their own.
Many of the companies in question have had to get creative in order to adapt. And of course, their online marketing strategies have had to adapt right alongside the business itself. Fitness companies and studios for arts and crafts are now finding ways to provide comparable services online. Musicians whose livelihoods depend on concert revenue are now organizing online performances while either selling access to soliciting donations.
Meanwhile, providers of consumer goods have had to make far-reaching changes, as well. In many cases, the change is as simple as providing curbside pickup. But of course online marketing strategies need to promote this effectively so that both new and returning companies know how to engage with the business.
In other cases, the pandemic has created opportunities for manufacturers to help out by shifting the focus of their operations. A number of distilleries have begun making hand sanitizer, while artisan clothing makers have created masks that bring together fashion and microbial safety. In these cases, there are opportunities for new online marketing strategies to help get the new products into the right hands, as well as to get a bit of a public relations boost along the way.
If any of these examples give you ideas about how you can change your company’s operations to be more viable during the pandemic, feel free to let us know in the comments. And if you have any questions about how to design online marketing strategies for those new operations, feel free to contact us to discuss it directly.