Stopping your Digital Marketing because of COVID-19 might not be a great idea

“We are living in a digital world but seems like we are going back to the older ages”

Note: This is just a point of view, always listen to what your government has suggested and always stay vigilant, keep clean and be smart!

If your business needs any information or support please check the Coronavirus info and support for businesses government website.

With the Corona outbreak, people and business owners have gone into panic mode due to guidance of the government and media which is understandable. This has cost many companies to face unprecedented losses. To make up for the lost sales, many sectors are holding back on their marketing budget, believing that since people are not buying, there is no point left in marketing for their products or services. However, this can be a misjudgment on the business owners side.

Coronavirus is now a global pandemic, and the panic it has sprouted is changing people’s buying patterns. The critical trend that companies are missing is that people are not going out of their homes as much, but they are spending more time online, a lot more! And that is more reason to continue to push digital marketing efforts.

If businesses owners stop all their marketing and start firing their loyal workers they cannot expect business as usual once this is over

They will be nearly back at square one, trying to implement their marketing strategies again, make up for all their lost Google rankings and trying to get staff on board (that is if they can find the right staff since the others would have moved on). While they are doing this they will be losing sales opportunities and money, money that would have been coming into the business if they didn’t stop everything and get rid of staff. We do understand that this cannot apply to everyone and we say this with a heavy heart as we have all felt the impacts of this and we can understand a business owners decision to start making cuts.

The drop in sales means inadequate marketing recollection. That is, since people are not purchasing enough, businesses are assuming that their marketing tactics are not achieving the intended targets; hence there is insufficient marketing recollection. However, the current dip in sales is not the harbinger of the same trend in the future. When people stay home for longer durations, they are bound to go online which makes them a lot easier to market to. Having sharp digital marketing strategies in such a time is not just beneficial for the small run but also for the long term. Once the frenzy due to the Coronavirus dies down, people will pick up where they left off and do things they couldn’t before due to self-quarantining.  And that’s when they will look for your business as they saw online during self-imposed house arrest and social distancing. The companies who use this fearful time to their benefit will reap sales benefits in the future.

Ecommerce businesses have a better grasp of the current economic trends; therefore, it is smart to go even more aggressive on their digital marketing efforts. While many ecommerce websites and some service-based businesses are using this time of isolation for their benefit, many remain skeptical and hence, not reaping the benefits of active digital marketing as they should be. The main advantage with businesses who have an Ecommerce store is that they are easily able to sell their products online. Most customers we work with who have retail stores say they much prefer they make all their sales online than have to service customers at their store front. If you have a Ecommerce store let your website do all the work for you, or if you are selling items but do not have an Ecommerce set up then this is something that you need to invest in asap so you are not missing out on sales opportunities!

Digital marketing right now will have more recall value later, which will result in higher sales. What corporations need to realise is that the asymptomatic Coronavirus is not an eternal occurrence. Like many others in the past, this will also be over. Pulling back on marketing budgets now will have grave ramifications on sales and SEO for businesses in the long run, even if it seems like the right thing to do for the short term, well we hope this will be a short term thing! With businesses shutting down in various regions across the world, there is more space now in the digital arena for other businesses to create a place for themselves. Whether your business is suffering on the sales front currently or not, you should not cut down your marketing budget as a reactive strategy as you may regret once the market starts to pick up again and you are nowhere to be found!

Once again, we would like to stress that this is a point of view piece. We understand it is a sensitive topic and an event that should not be taken lightly. Listen to your government as they are working hard to de-escalate this as much as possible.