Like most businesses, we’re working through the ups and downs of the current situation. We’re doing everything we can to support our clients through these challenging times. For some it’s been a case of battening down the hatches, for others there has been a need to refocus their digital campaigns to include new messaging or to promote different online services.
Here are just a few observations from the past few weeks which might be helpful when thinking about your own digital campaigns or those of your clients:
1. Stay visible.
It’s really important to keep your brand out there, stay top of mind and continue to build your remarketing lists for the future. Concentrate on brand awareness messaging and upper funnel engagements if conversions are slow. Remember that competitors may be pulling back on their ad spend too. There may be opportunities to increase your impression share and visibility, without commiting additional budget.
2. People are people.
Overall search volumes and desktop impressions have risen significantly as people are working from home and have more time on their hands. Even if people are not quite clicking that Buy Now button, they are still researching, accessing content and bookmarking products and sites for the future. We’ve seen the direct impact of the Covid-19 events on most of our client campaigns. However, in many accounts, we’ve been surprised how quickly impressions and clicks have bounced back following key government announcements.
3. Accept that sales cycles may be longer.
If you are seeing a slow down in conversions, consider how to add more touchpoints into your customer journeys to ensure you stay top of mind. Review how you are using your remarketing audiences to ensure that you are showing new and relevant creative to people. Try to focus on the things people care about right now and give them more reasons to stay engaged with your brand.
If you’ve not tried them before, Facebook and Instagram ads are an inexpensive way to reach new audiences online. People are spending longer on these platforms and they are great for promoting new services, products and offers. For retail and food businesses who are offering new delivery or takeout services, geo targeting can be done at a hyper local level – in drive time radius from your location or even down to specific postcodes.
4. Check your ad copy.
Make sure you are including relevant messages in your ads that will help to inform and reassure potential customers. Free Delivery, Free Returns, No Cancellation Fee, Online shop open for business, Safe Distance Delivery service etc. If you have video available, use it and if you don’t have video, create some. Forget hollywood production values – anything goes right now, the important thing is to get your message out there.
5. Keep an eye on the data.
Many smaller retailers and restaurants are already responding to the rise in demand for online ordering and home delivery services for a wide range of products, including food, DIY and garden products. Google Trends is a brilliant free tool that will tell you what people are searching for, the world over. Simply choose a country and enter a search term to view its popularity (rated between 1 and 100) over your chosen time frame.
If you are already running PPC campaigns, don’t forget to regularly review your search term report for more insights. This might spark new ideas for new content. Help to answer search queries or perhaps shift the focus of your business to better meet their needs.
The more helpful brands can be, the better they’ll fare now — and even more importantly, in the long run.