Novel coronavirus has changed the world as we know it. Economies, businesses and jobs have faced adverse effects thanks to the COVID Lockdown. Waiting for things to get better is not the correct move. Right now we have to accept and adapt ourselves to the new order of things. The same holds true for the marketing field too.
During the coronavirus season, the marketing world has seen both brands that adapted to the new way of things by adjusting to the recent drastic changes and brands, who weren’t proactive enough, getting lost in the crowd. As a digital marketer, you must understand what works, implement them accordingly and should avoid the tactics that won’t work, to ensure your brand’s sustainability. This includes one of the major digital marketing practices – Search Engine Optimisation.
Corona and SEO- what is the new status quo?
When it comes to Search Engine Optimisation, marketers usually assume it is all about ranking. But looking at the bigger picture one can understand that SEO ranking is not the end goal but the first step of a profit-oriented digital marketing cycle. The hidden and the main aim of SEO ranking is sales. Without sales, ranking first in search engines will mean nothing. Hence during these testing times, you must follow those SEO practices that not only ranks your site better but also populates your sales funnel.
Here are some trends that you could effectively use to sustain your business during this pandemic.
Upcoming trends and how to use SEO to amplify it.
Trend 1: Shop from home culture
Due to the pandemic, people are scared to leave the confines of their home. As a result “shop from home” culture has become the new norm. People are opting for online shopping even for daily essentials and groceries. Search engines have seen an increase in searches for “toilet paper near me”, “hand sanitizers near me”, “face masks near me” etc.
Main Takeaways for SEO
People are scared. During this time, customers will be cautious and will prefer to buy essentials to survive this pandemic. You should adapt your business to this trend. Update your website, My business page and other digital assets to indicate the status of the availability of your products/service in the near foreseeable future.
Trend 2: Shifting customer behaviors
People are in their survival mode and their priorities have shifted. Consumer and search behaviour have changed drastically. Hence brands should monitor organic search sessions and conversion numbers for the near foreseeable future.
Main take away
Use Google Analytics, Google search console and other tools to report COVID related updates about your business to your customers.
Closely monitor Google trends to understand the pulse of your audience and keep updating your online presence accordingly.
Trend 3: Customers are online
With the entire world under lockdown, customers spend most of their time online. They are searching for content that falls one amongst the following categories
Informative content to equip their skills
Relevant content that is about pandemic
Useful content that helps them
Social conscious content that connects with them.
Main Takeaways
Customers are expecting you to react to their real-time needs. Now is the time you can use SEO as a branding tool. They are searching for content that could help them pass this pandemic easily. Tweak your content to show up in their feed. Use keyword tools effectively and stay connected with your customers.
Conclusion
With the pandemic causing huge losses, it’s time to be smart about your marketing. Due to the existing financial constraints, you don’t have the luxury of being liberal with your SEO and other marketing investments. Right now the best marketing strategy would be the “red, yellow, green” one.
Red- Halt all the marketing measures you took before COVID. Assess the impact COVID and lockdown has on your business.
Yellow- Analyse your customer’s behaviour and expectations. Create content that takes your customer experience to the next level.
Green- Based on the real-time data and customer insights from your analytics tools, create and implement smart SEO marketing strategy that suits your products and customers.
