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History has shown that companies who strategically invest in marketing during recessionary periods tend to come out on top. Now is the time to take full advantage; profit from doubling-down on marketing investments during economic slides.
Every business feels the effects of the coronavirus outbreak and has had to shift their digital marketing plans during these unprecedented times.
Yes! People will still require your products or services, even if they are self-quarantined for fourteen days at home. Social activity continues to decrease, and there is likely to continue to be a surge in online activity. With more people at home, their time spent online may be longer than usual, meaning they are even more likely to see your online marketing efforts.
There has been an increase in panic buying in many different countries out of fears of supplies running out during quarantine. When goods are scarce on the shelves, consumers are likely to start searching for them online. Additionally, more people either work from home or are not working at all. Consumers heavily rely on the internet for goods and services. This means businesses still require digital marketing to keep up with this higher demand.
Even if do not offer the exact products or services which consumers are looking for, by appearing in the search results, through search engine optimization your business can be the recipient of a windfall!
By assessing the need and rank for specific items, you can build campaigns around alternatives for products or services that are hard to find.
Currently, investing in digital marketing could be frightening. You might be experiencing a budget crunch, so it would make sense to move your marketing efforts to engage consumers with a more immediate intent to buy. Double your market research and data analysis research. Google, Facebook and Yelp are all offering support and aid to build your digital presence and do just that.
The current mood of consumers in this difficult time is one we haven’t experienced before. The data gathered is essential to evaluate your buyer’s behavior and pivot your marketing efforts based on reliable, relevant, more focused, and more accurate data.
Google, Facebook and Yelp have all made announcements to contribute $800,000,000, $100,000,000 and $25,000,000, respectively, for small to mid-sized businesses. Varied aid from Ad Credits to Waived Advertising are offers for those effected by the pandemic.
Businesses of all kinds are reeling during this unusual COVID-19 situation across the globe. Most countries have ordered quarantines and some strict lockdowns. and maintain social distancing to control the spread of the virus, the effects have started to show on Google too! Therefore, a new set of guidelines were introduced for how Google My Business’ Support Team would work during these hard times.
Yelp’s aim is to support local businesses that are the most impacted by COVID-19 and specifically focused on the independent local restaurants and nightlife related businesses. They announced a Relief Program of $25,000,000 worth of free services in the form of waived advertising fees, and free advertising, products and services during this time of pandemic.
There is different support offered for the many different ways the restaurants and nightlife businesses are offering products and services to their consumers. Communication in timely information is critical.
Restaurants and nightlife businesses staying open receive:
Restaurants also receive three months of free access to:
For restaurant clients that are offering delivery and/or takeout, Yelp provides $100 in free search advertising. In addition, they are also offering support for independent local advertisers in other categories that are struggling to pay their bills during this difficult time.
Restaurants and nightlife businesses that remain open during this time will receive free access to Yelp page upgrades. The idea is to allow these businesses to quickly and effectively communicate important information to their customers through Business Highlights, Call to Action and Connect. It has also been decided that the restaurants will be given free access to Yelp Reservations and Waitlist for 3 months.
This is not just limited to businesses with an active Yelp advertising account.
If your business falls into any of the above categories, the best thing for you to do is to see if you qualify for this program and see whether you are eligible. It’s quite clear that Yelp wants to help the businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19; take full advantage!
As the world goes through times of testing and change right now, Google is doing a great job with their temporary changes as they restrict users from leaving negative reviews due to closure, cancellations, etc.
Temporary product changes made by Google:
High priority will be on reviews for edits critical to health-related businesses. Also, reviews will be prioritized for special hours, temporary closure, and business description.
All new listings, claims, and verifications will be manually reviewed by a support team for critical health-related businesses.
IMPORTANT TO NOTE – Due to the priority given to critical services, there will be a delay in publishing new listings, claims, and verifications on Google Search and Maps for other businesses.
New reviews, replies, and Q&A will not be available during this time.
Google added a new feature to their system that is being used all over the world. You are now able to mark your business as ‘temporarily closed’. Google has stated that changing your status to this new setting will have NO negative impact on your listing.
Google has gone above and beyond to back the business community in response to COVID-19. They understand the necessity to stay in touch with their customers during this challenging time and has committed over $800 million in Ads Grant Money.
This is an amazing opportunity that you absolutely do NOT want to miss out on. These grants can help alleviate marketing costs that currently can be intimidating, especially if your business was affected strongly by the coronavirus pandemic.
The support in Google Ads Grants is broken up into Google Ads Credits, Ad Grants, Cash Grants, Google Cloud Credits, Support for NGOS and financial institutions, and Direct Financial Support. Since their support is so large and diverse it is important to understand if and how you are eligible. Do not wait until your business is suffering considerably to apply.
$340 million in Google Ads Credits to all small and mid-sized businesses with active accounts
$250 million in Ad Grants for the World Health Organization (WHO) and government agencies.
$200 million in Support for NGOs and financial institutions.
$15 million in Cash Grants for Non-Profit Organizations from Google.org
$20 million in Google Cloud Credits for academic institutions and researchers
Additional Direct Financial Support is available for manufacturers of products and services that are critical during this time.
Facebook announced their promise of $100 million in Cash Grants to 30,000 businesses across the world:
“Facebook is offering $100M in cash grants and ad credits for up to 30,000 eligible small businesses in over 30 countries where we operate. We’ll share more details as they become available.”
Facebooking Ads are one of the top and easiest ways to digital market your business (as a business owner, you should already know this!). Don’t miss out on an opportunity to keep your online presence strong and continually in the forefront of consumer’s minds!
Visit Facebook’s Small Business Grants Program page for information on the grant process and to fill out the application.
With all this money and support being offered, ALL businesses need to understand the critical digital marketing tactic during this time of crisis:
Agile marketing becomes the new normal
The first thing all brands and businesses have learned from COVID-19 was the need to change the messaging and content quickly. Whether the change came from a virus, competition, or consumer behavior the previous one-size-fits all messaging simply did NOT work any longer!
Many brands took weeks to change their advertising messages, and by the time their new content was created…the information and restrictions for how to live, work, and operate a business had ALREADY CHANGED!
The response for COVID-19 was so unusual in that the messaging had to be different depending on where in the world (or even within a country!) the brand was being advertised. Some marketing tactics were talking about empathy for areas where people had moved past the initial crisis or were trying to direct people to stores that were already closed or the infection was still peaking.
Yes, businesses are going to struggle for a while during this chaotic, global pandemic. But the reality of it is – businesses CAN thrive in downtimes. The businesses that are going to come out of this successfully are the ones who choose to invest in digital marketing.
There is help and support out there from Google, Facebook and Yelp, and most likely many other avenues if you take the time and search it out.
For more information contact Norman Farrar at profit@normanfarrar.com.
Norman Farrar is a serial entrepreneur who provides online marketing and managed eCommerce solutions for brands. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies such as Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz and 20th Century Fox. Since the early 1990s, Norman has focused on helping entrepreneurs optimize their operations and unlock their business’s potential.
