The Impact of a Global Pandemic on Online Business and Marketing

The 2020 crisis came into its own, and many were not ready for it. You will no longer find a business on the market that has not been affected by the coronavirus, negatively or even positively. One way or another, clients had to abandon offline promotion and go online or increase their presence in digital. In an economic downturn, entrepreneurs cut costs through marketing and advertising, and here they are wrong because experience shows that those businesses that survive are those who strengthen their promotion in the market. Consumers continue to buy, their behaviour is changing, giving rise to new hotbeds of demand, the only question is whether the business is ready to quickly adapt to new realities.

Why is digital marketing good in a crisis? Rather, it is irreplaceable.

Firstly, it is fast, relatively economical, flexible, that is, it adapts faster than other types of marketing to rapidly changing market conditions.

Secondly, its performance is easy to monitor and analyse by changing the campaign in real-time. Plus, you can run multiple test campaigns in parallel and get customers from all sources.

Thirdly, all the numbers are always at hand. Digital marketing shows at the moment: purchases, applications, registrations, conversion rate, bounce rate, cost per lead and customer life cycle. That is, you can track everything down to the smallest detail. If e-mail campaigns do not bring results, you simply turn them off and invest a resource, for example, in a site that provides more traffic.

Fourth, you see how the client behaves and can influence his actions. You analyse what content is responding to the audience, which posts are successful, which blocks and sections of the site attract more attention, which CTA buttons and capture forms are triggered more often, which offers are more effective than others.

Where to start: the basics of digital marketing in a crisis

The good thing about Internet marketing is that it is most accessible right now, during the period of self-isolation, and you can develop it without leaving your home.

Start with PPC search advertising, which has long been proven effective. A quick jump into digital marketing also gives you social media targeting, depending on where your target audience is located, for example, Instagram or Facebook.

Analyse. Finally, there is time to conduct analytics. During a pandemic, audience demand is constantly changing, and it is important to study the behavioural scenario of your consumer and change your sales funnels to suit him.

The most popular buying motive right now is safety. If you can associate your products with protection, health and lack of risks, you will definitely find your consumer who is already tired of depressing anxiety and panic and needs a reliable friend. Become that friend.

While the market is calm and the demand in your niche has fallen, implement and test CRM, IP telephony services and the Call-tracking system. If you don't have these tools yet, implement and give it a try. Update the site and watch the audience's reaction. It's time to experiment so that by the time the crisis is over and demand rises, you are ready.

Online business

In large-scale force majeure, small business is the first to suffer. Especially the one that is used to traditional offline sales channels. Shopping malls, markets and fairs are closing, and Instagram store showrooms are going underground. There is only one way out - to transfer sales to the Internet.

Option for little ones. Social networks

If you do not yet have selling accounts on Instagram or Facebook, it's time to start developing them. Staying at home, people spend more and more time on social networks and unite in communities of interest. On the Internet, you can find a lot of free courses on SMM marketing, and you only need a phone camera and your own creative ideas.

But just social networks are not enough. Create an online store. Keep it as simple as possible, on a shareware platform like Tilda, Wix and others. You will put beauty on social networks, and the site will be responsible for the ability to place and pay for an order online. You will need to connect acquiring, an online cashier and pay for the services of a fiscal data operator. All this can be done independently or entrusted to companies that provide technical support and set up online sales.

Don’t forget about the offline segment of your work. It is very important that your product or service is delivered to your costumers properly. If you cannot handle all the import and export formalities on your own, make sure to find a professional freight company, that will help you out.

Access to marketplaces. You produce and others sell

Large online platforms are not so afraid of the crisis. And now is the time to stand under the protection of the strongest in order to survive the difficult times. Marketplaces are one of the most modern and convenient sales channels for entrepreneurs. Yes, they take a commission, but in return, you will get a million audience and delivery of your goods throughout the country. In self-isolation mode, for many people, online hypermarkets will become the only way to purchase the necessary goods.

Conclusion

Make sure that all your business processes are online, try different technical solutions, look for new partners and sales markets, and the pandemic period will become an additional stage of development for you.