The Covid-19 Health Emergency has severely impacted many businesses around the world. The professional services industry, among others, may probably be one of the hardest hit by this invisible enemy.
With lockdowns here and there, it can be a worrying time for people belonging to an industry that operates mainly via human-to-human interaction. Stringent calls to practice social distancing have also meant the cancellation of important meetings and fewer opportunities to close deals. These things raise huge challenges regarding how professional service providers will cope in reaching their customers as weeks turn into months.
Many clients are also now shifting their priorities, canceling or postponing projects, and are most likely cutting their costs to survive.
These are uncertain times, but there is always an opportunity to adjust. And, no, your business is not closing down. You just have to make sure that your business still excels in a world where a health crisis has changed the standard way of doing business.
Here are 5 digital marketing strategies you need to consider to keep your business thriving during this pandemic.
1. Connect Through Social Media
You may still be stuck at home, but so are many of your clients. That means that you have a great opportunity to reach them on social media, stand out during a difficult time, and build your following. Most of your prospective clients are browsing for updates and might be looking for the exact service you are offering.
Reach the right audiences with the right messages on social media. Build your brand by showing them the human side of your business. If you are inclined to do your part to help others that might be suffering, donate your time, talent, and treasure to causes such as food banks and other pandemic related endeavors. While it shouldn’t be your main reason for doing so, don’t ignore the benefits of sharing your commitment to such causes via social media marketing. This might help you to connect with your audience in a new way that resonates with them.
2. Make Sure You Are Found Online
Search traffic has spiked significantly over the previous months, and this can only be expected to keep rising until everyone's allowed to go back to their normal lives. Most of us are glued to our screens searching for information about the pandemic and other things they deem necessary. For many, that includes looking for professional service providers like you.
There's a significant increase in online consumption of basically anything under the sun, so now is not exactly the time to go low-key. You should be implementing SEO strategies that help your website rank towards the top of Google results so your business can easily be found. Doing so increases the chances of cultivating strangers into an audience.
3. Invest in Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
More people online mean more chances of getting seen in the digital world. Using PPC marketing, your business can gain a great advantage over your competitors. This surge of online consumption also gives you a chance to lessen costs for your digital marketing efforts. Cost-per-clicks have decreased across almost all industries, making your investment a bit more palatable. You might be able able to spend less but convert more with Google Ads. This gives you an opportunity to reach a wider audience, but it also allows you to capture a greater market share from your competitors who might be pulling back during this time.
4. Boost Local SEO
With restrictions on the number of places that people can go, everyone is now looking for nearby service providers to attend to their needs. This is why you should be implementing local SEO strategies so your website is optimized to appear on "near me" searches. When you are easy to find, people will be more likely to turn to you first.
Apart from offering the convenience of being nearby, you would also want your target clients to trust you as their service provider. Adding positive reviews to your website can greatly help with this. In an uncertain time where people rely on online communities for recommendations, testimonials play a huge role in making people decide to hire you.
5. Nail Your Digital To-Do List
Now that meetings are postponed, and you're making fewer trips to the office … well, fewer trips to anywhere for that matter … you likely have a bit more free time. This is a good chance for you to revisit those marketing strategies that you might have overlooked or haven't followed through on in the past.
Maybe your website needs rebranding, or your content needs some updating. Perhaps your SEO could use some auditing so your website can be more effective in guiding visitors through your sales cycle. No matter what items are listed on your digital to-do list, now's the time to act on them.
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If you would like to learn more about how Vimagery helps entreprofessionals like you to navigate these challenges, click here to see if you qualify for a Vimagery StrategySession. Together, we can help you to gain an unfair advantage regarding your efforts to cultivate, convert, and close new clients in the weeks and months ahead.
