Affordable COVID-19 Marketing for Businesses!

The outbreak of COVID-19 is nothing we have ever seen before, affecting all types of  businesses across all different industries. We understand that right now businesses are cutting costs and marketing is usually the first thing to go. However, it’s times like these that low cost marketing strategies is ever so important to continue to keep you brand front of mind and accessible. Something to remember, according to the popular adage: “When times are good you should advertise, when times are bad you MUST advertise”.

This virus has caused a massive scale disruption for businesses – forcing them to take unprecedented actions which includes pulling promotions, putting a full stop on reviews, and the biggest mistake, suspending certain advertising. This is the time that the marketers have to make the important move that will either take the edge off the downside risks or apprehend all that probability of the upsides. 

Below are some low cost marketing strategies that your business can implement now to keep your business front of mind.

Stay Consistent with the Base of your Customers:

Uh, it is true. If you go slightly out of sight, you’ll be left without the sight as well. And this is something that no business would like to experience. Make sure you’re well connected with your customers by engaging with your customers on social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, are useful tools to help grow brand awareness and reach a wider audience and rocket-boom your success. 

Cross Marketing with Other Businesses:

Even business owners who are time-pressed or have a strict marketing budget can make the most of their business with the help of cross-marketing. Cross-marketing is a useful tactic for two or more businesses to jointly promote their products or services. It is not only quick to implement but can get your brand in front of tens of thousands of eyeballs, without having your pockets drained. If you cross promote with a reputable brand your brand can be seen as more trustworthy and legitimate. 

Keep it Up with Email Marketing:

When we talk about the most effective marketing strategies, then email marketing falls into the list of the most essentials. Email marketing provides a reliable form of communication between your brand and your customers. It’s a low cost marketing strategy you can implement to reach customers where they visit every day — their inbox. Email marketing allows you to keep in touch with your target market on a consistent basis, just make sure that you are providing value in your emails. The more value you provide to your target market, the more they’ll look forward to hearing from you. When that happens, it’s easier to get them to engage with your call-to-action.

Make sure that your Video Content Game is Strong:

The creation of videos is without any doubt, an essential part of every marketing strategy. However, in this era, you don’t need to have any expensive equipment for making an eye-catching, worthy video. There are heaps of online video creators that are at your disposal and all you have to do is combine some stunning animation with photos, texts, etc. that are relevant to your business, and way to go! You’re sure to catch more customers with this strategy during the recession. 

Recycle your Content:

An effective way of producing new content for your audience without even thinking about new ideas is “recycling your content.” As we know, resources and budgets are cut, and recycling content will not only save your time but your money as well. There are three basic steps to  follow when recycling content:

1. Identify the content you wish to recycle.
2. Update the content to make sure it has a current spin on it.
3. Publish and promote the content once it is updated and make sure to promote it on your social media channels.

Go Ahead and Apply for Business Awards:

Marketing is probably the most effective thing that you can do for your business’s success. But, during a crisis what is another strategy that you can use to further your business? By nominating your business for an award, there are a number of advantages that your business can benefit from such as sales, PR exposure, attracting talent, and helping land investors or stakeholders. There is a common misconception that awards are for lonely larger companies. However, award ceremonies are calendar events for every industry and those that don’t put themselves forward will miss out on a number of advantages that can move your business to the next level.

There is a common misconception that business awards are only for large companies with massive pulling power. However, award ceremonies are calendar fixtures in every industry and those that don’t put themselves or their employees forward stand to miss out on a number of advantages.

Offer Deals:

We can nudge new visitors and strengthen our bonds with our pre-existing customers by offering them deals or discounts. If your offer/discount is only good for a certain amount of days,  make sure you mention that when you advertise the special. Customers are more likely to rush online and look around if they know they only have a few days to do so. Another option is to offer discounts to certain groups of people – such as the elderly or those frontline health workers. When a business gives discounts to people who are in difficult situations, that business shows it is making an effort to help people and will improve your business reputation within the community.

Radio Marketing:

It may be seen as an old marketing strategy, however radio marketing has a reach of more than 16 million Australians every week. According to Radio Advertising facts, Australians spend 17 hours a week listening to the radio. The main benefits of radio marketing are:

• Selective targeting – Radio station target specific demographics and segments
• Increased frequency – Exposing your ad to your audience repeatedly to gain awareness.
• Memorable- Sound is more effectively stored in a person’s memory such as a catchy jingle.

This type of marketing has significantly less costs of other media such as Television and all you need is a push button and your message will be delivered to the listener’s ear.

Newspaper Marketing:

When you wish to promote your business with a low-cost marketing strategy then nothing could be better than opting for newspaper marketing. Although it is considered an old marketing strategy, still, it can do wonders by attracting your desired audience towards your product/services.

Website Marketing:

The ultimate strategy that can bring you the desired results is for sure, website marketing. By promoting your website, you can get more traffic, which will ultimately generate leads and sales. Examples of website marketing are SEO, Pay Per Click Campaigns (Google Ads), Content Marketing and Social Media Marketing. With these strategies you can reach customers where they’re browsing online and develop relationships that lead to purchases/enquiries via your website.

Influencer Marketing:

Influencers have a large, loyal following. Whatever they do or say, their fans follow. They know the art of describing a particular service or product that will convert their followers to your customers. But, make sure that you’re choosing relevant influencers to work with that align with your brand.

Create Informative Articles:

You can write informative and interesting articles for your audience and post them on your website blog or different sites by utilising keywords and attaching links to them. In this way, you will not only be able to attract new customers, but you can also engage your pre-existing audience with your content. You can also use these articles for social media channels. Make sure you add the article link in the social media post to direct the traffic to your website and have a call to action within the article to capture those who are interested in purchasing your products/services now.

Utilise Zoho Remotely:

Keeping the current scenario of coronavirus in mind, we know most of the cities are locked down or have strict social distancing rules in regards to working from home. How can you meet online with your staff and communicate effectively and work collaboratively? With Zoho Remotely. Zoho Remotely will enable you to take your work remotely by offering a complete suite of web and mobile apps that will help you communicate, collaborate and be productive. There’s one thing good about it, it is free until July 1st, 2020. So, now is the perfect time to make use of it and maintain a close-knit and productive working environment, no matter where your team is based.

Wrapping Up:

These are the top, low-cost marketing strategies that you can follow during this hard time. We already have faced a lot of loss, now we can’t afford to bear more by letting our businesses slip the minds of our consumers. It is not always like this, “the more you give, the more you get.” Sometimes, you have to work smartly. So, try these marketing strategies during covid-19 and see the results on your own. This will not only help you to keep your business front of mind and accessible but also help you grow. So work smart and always be ready for handling all sorts of challenges, just like COVID-19!

Download now for FREE your Low Cost/No Cost Marketing Strategies Guide!! Fill out the form below.

With over 38 years’ experience in Print Media, Sales and Marketing, Online Services & Marketing plus Financial Service industries. John brings a wealth of knowledge to Visual Marketing Australia. As a Certified Google Partner, his Digital Marketing knowledge includes: Web Design & Development, SEO, Mobile App. Development, Online Marketing, Online Video Marketing and Email Marketing Solutions. With 8 years experience of using Zoho CRM it is a natural progression to become and Authorised Consulting Partner so we can now ad Sales and Marketing Automation to the list.