Intuitive Websites recently co-hosted a webinar for business leaders focusing on one question: how do I optimize my digital marketing during the COVID-19 crisis? Below, is a summary of what was discussed in the webinar. If you’ve been with us for a while, some of it will be a refresh; so we bolded all the changes the virus has prompted.
OPENING THOUGHTS
– People who are doing well communicating digitally right now are going to do better when we recover.
– Process is everything. Here’s Intuitive Website’s Four-Step Process:
STEP ONE: DIGITAL STRATEGY
Translate what you do well—virtually.
On your home page, create clear, simple messaging that lets your customers know how your business is changing as a result of the crisis. Do this in a tone that your target will resonate with.
It is no longer acceptable to not:
- Understand digital marketing fundamentals
- Update the digital marketing plan with targets
- Review the digital marketing team
- Get digital stats in regular meetings
- Understand traffic sources.
STEP TWO: STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION
There are five elements:
- Messaging and Content – Understand what your customers are going through, be empathetic to what they’re going through, and convey this to them.
- Graphic Design
- Usability
- Video – If you went into quarantine without usable video content, contact video production houses or use YouTube to learn how to film yourself with your smartphone.
- Technology Platforms
STEP THREE: INBOUND MARKETING
There are four laws:
- Customers research and find you.
Tool: Google Search Console - Build a loyal following with empathetic, value-adding content.
Tools: HubSpot, MailChimp - Simplicity is power.
Your tagline and content should be concrete and easy-to-understand. - Content must be mobile-ready.
Methods of inbound marketing:
As a business leader, it’s time to get acquainted with the idea of yourself as a thought leader. Take that point of view into the development of content calendars and scheduling as your company tackles the various methods of inbound marketing.
- Search Engines:
Work with your SEO firm to make sure you understand and are following best practices. - Email Marketing:
Make sure you have content that is valuable and needed right now. Do not flood your audience with messaging that isn’t relevant during a crisis. - Content Marketing:
Hire a content writer if you don’t have one already—we see 5x more traffic for websites with blogs and even more for companies with 1000 + published pages. - Social Media:
Is best used to tell visual-forward stories about your company. - Influencer Marketing:
You will get the best ROI from influencers if you develop a personal relationship with them.
Not only do you want to make sure your company’s content is readily available when we recover, you want it to be readily available now. There are thousands of people who might usually be stuck in meetings, traffic or errands that are at home and receptive to solutions your business is offering.
The best digital marketing funnel:
- Website Visit
- Social Media Interaction
- Email Newsletter Subscribe
- eBook or Gated Content
- Webinar or Virtual Event Registration
- Web Form Submission
- Call and Virtual Meeting with Salesperson
STEP FOUR: PERFORMANCE & ROI
Everything that happens in digital is tracked and becomes the scorecard for how well you’re doing with your marketing. Just by having regular meetings to look at your scorecard, you’ll start to move in the right direction with your results.
Three disciplines have to come together to make digital marketing work: Marketing, technology and design. Because these disciplines are so different, project management is the key to success in digital marketing.
The hats people wear:
- Digital Marketing Decision Maker (Internal)
- Project Manager (Internal)
- Digital Marketing Manager for Traffic Generation (Internal)
- Data and Research Manager for Stats and Usability (Internal)
- Content Writer for Digital (External)
- Photo/Video/Audio and other Media (External)
- Graphic Design (External)
- Technology and Development (External)
Immediate Action Steps:
- Increase communications with your customers and prospects
- Website homepage updates to mention what your company is doing with COVID-19
- Email, blogs and social media must be planned and current
- Marketing automation to reach more people with less effort and follow-up
- Virtual meetings and events while we work at home
- Webinars and virtual workshops for your prospects and customers
- Design graphics and PDFs for virtual meetings as a part of your branding
- Create videos for social media as many people don’t read content online
- Website landing pages for key messaging during the crisis
