How to handle COVID-19 (Coronavirus) from a marketing perspective

COVID-19 (coronavirus) has affected almost every industry to this point including your small business (brick and mortar or online). Here is a step by step guide on how we would handle this pandemic from a small business owners perspective.

Things we will cover:

• What to say to your clients

• How to increase your chances of thriving through these hard times

• How we plan to manage moving forward

• Additional super powerful points

First off:

Is Marketing & Advertising worth it right now?

Short answer - Yes.

Long answer - We believe digital marketing/advertising is necessary during hard times. People now are tightening up their budget and preparing for the worst. Marketing and advertising should be the first place your money should go after paying your employees (of course) & other major expenses. Growing your revenue is hard when people aren’t spending so how should you do it? Use advertising! Marketing and advertising is an investment, not an expense, especially in hard times.

Things to note:

• People, more than ever, are on their phones, computer, and any other mobile devices seeing ads.

• They are bored at home and looking to entertain themselves. This is the best time to place your brand and product right in front of them.

• Your ad will go further than normal since some companies are pausing their ads since they are closed. Less supply, lower prices.

As we near April 2020, the pandemic of COVID-19 is upon us and doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Restaurants are closing, people are working from home, businesses are scaling back hours - now is the time to INNOVATE!

1. Address the elephant in the room

Everybody has an idea of what’s going on; don’t avoid it. Address it and then move on. Now that that is done how can you thrive during this pandemic?

You need to be INNOVATIVE in your business. Think of how you can get your product or service into your customers hands with the least amount of resistance.

Some examples we have come up with for our customers:

• Restaurant owners / distilleries think about only doing curbside and/or delivery

  • People need food! Make it easy for them to get it

  • Less employees = less overhead

  • Offer a free roll of toilet paper with their purchase (haha)

  • Offer ordering online (we can get this up and running for you in 2-3 days - no setup fee)

• Service based businesses (dentists, chiropractors, roofers, electricians, plumbers)

  • Call your appointments ahead of time and confirm they are still available

  • Remove cancellation fees, rescheduling fees or unnecessary charges

• Online retailers - set up an online store/ e-commerce (obviously) - we can help with this (e-mail me caleb@conversionstream.com if you need help)

  • Run deals for people who purchase during this time - you can call it a “corona deal”

2. Keep your customers informed

You need a business plan on how you will get past this crisis. If you don’t have one we can help you create this. Reach out to us at caleb@conversionstream.com for how we can help you.

Additionally, here is an email template we have sent on behalf of our customers to inform their customers of what’s going on. Don’t copy and paste this, just use it as a template.

Email template:

Hey {first name},

In this time of uncertainty and crisis related to the COVID-19 we are wanting to extend our marketing assistance to all of our customers in any way possible.  At this time we believe that we need to lock arms, come together and ensure we are providing the best service.

Since every customer runs their business differently we want to make sure we are keeping your customers informed with how their lives could be affected by your business.

With that being said we would like to offer an additional email sent on your behalf to your customers (free of charge).

Our goal is to help you in whatever way you need.  Please reply to this email if you are interested with the details you want to express in that email.

Example details include:

• Office hours

• How to cancel appointments

• How to reschedule appointments

• Sanitization/cleanliness in the office

• Best place to find out about future updates (social media, email, website, etc)

We support you and stay safe.

Thanks, {your name}

3. Cleaning (brick and mortar stores)

Ensure your customers you are cleaning and sanitizing with video & images. A great way to show them is via social media, website and email blast.

Boom, done, moving on.

Remember: No matter what you’re creating or selling, it’s all about solving a problem. What does your service solve for the customer and how can you get it in their hands easily?

And if your organization needs help with social media marketing or google advertising, it’s best to find a qualified service provider who understands the specific nuances of the different channels and what works best on each.

If you are a business affected by COVID-19 reach out today -> Click here

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