A lot’s changed since we last posted on our digital marketing blog.
In short, the world’s gone mad over the coronavirus and most people’s knee-jerk reaction is to hoard supplies and cut back on as many expenses as possible.
We’re certainly not experts when it comes to explaining the pandemic, nor can we say with any certainty when things will return to “normal”. But what we DO know for sure, as marketing experts, is that online marketing is more important now than ever before.
Here’s why:
When They Zig, You Zag
You don’t succeed in business by being a carbon copy of some other business that already exists. You succeed by being DIFFERENT and offering something unique to the market.
If that’s true, then it follows that if all other businesses are closing up shop and slashing expenses left and right, you should do the OPPOSITE and weather the storm when others are not. When the dust settles and those other businesses are gone, yours will be able to emerge stronger and ready to serve the market.
Act With The Future In Mind
Think about where you want your business to be in a year’s time (at which point the virus storm will have passed, if we’re being optimistic).
Will it be thriving in a year if you hit pause on it now? Absolutely not! If you cease all marketing activities, cut employees’ work hours, or stop strategising, your business will not grow in any way. You’ll be a year behind schedule.
Just imagine how far ahead you could be if you kept going while your competitors stopped during this time. If they stop publishing new content and optimising their website while you carry on with these marketing activities, guess whose website is going to get clicked on when people are ready to start researching, booking, and purchasing again?
If we know Google, then we know it surely won’t be the websites that haven’t been updated in a year (remember: Google’s algorithm favorites websites that constantly publish relevant quality content).
Take Advantage of the Stimulus Packages
With so many businesses suffering, the Australian government has started introducing stimulus packages to help them stay afloat. Most noteworthy is that they’re “providing up to $100,000 to eligible small and medium sized businesses, and not‑for-profits that employ people, with a minimum payment of $20,000.” These payments are tax-free and are set to begin on 28 April.
In addition, the government is increasing the instant asset write-off, making it easier to get approved for loans, and allowing the deferral of PAYG payments for the 2019-2020 tax year.
All of these measures aim to increase cash flow for small to medium businesses in Australia. If you take advantage of it, you CAN stay open for business and afford your usual operating expenses, even when your income is down.
What You Can Do NOW To Get Ahead
We firmly believe that the best thing you can do right now for your business is to stay the course and keep investing in your growth.
Instead of cutting all expenses, remember that this is a TEMPORARY and unusual situation and that financial help is available to you so that you can keep your business running.
We may be biased, but our BEST tip for you right now is to continue optimising and publishing new content on your website. Keep up with your SEO and your copywriting. Invest in that new website you’ve been meaning to launch so that it’s ready for when things get back to normal.
Because while everyone else is running scared and halting their marketing efforts, Google’s trusty algorithm is still at work crawling websites – and it will see yours churning out new content and reward you with higher rankings.
And when the world is ready to buy your products or engage with your services again, people will turn to the businesses who stuck around during this tough time and continued to show up, like yours.