How to Build an Empathetic Marketing Strategy During the Times of COVID19

1
How to Bring Back your Business
After COVID-19
HOWTOBRINGBACKYOURBUSINESSAFTERCOVID-19
May 14, 2020

2
What You Will Learn
● What’s changing with consumer
behavior
● Channels that are growing and you
can still invest on
● How your content strategy matters
more than ever
● Trends that you can tap into
● Does SEO still matter?
bit.ly/COVID_SEO_Resources

3
Speaker
Mike King
Founder and Managing Director
iPullRank

44
What Happened - COVID-19
COVID-19 cases and deaths have continued to increase at an exponential rate.

55
What Happened - Unemployment Skyrocketed
But the economy has also suffered. Unemployment rates are rising to concerning levels, unseen for generations.

66
What Happened - Unemployment Forecast
The forecast doesn't look much better with some model projecting nearly 40%. Peak unemployment in the Great Depression was
24.9%.

77
What Happened - State Economies are Starting to Reopen
As more state economies begin to open in the USA, there is hope that the economy will recover quickly thanks to increased
technology. So how do you approach marketing in this climate?

8
General Tips to Recover from
COVID-19 Declines

9
Marketing Post COVID-19 Tips
• Market Research is needed for
everyone
• Review what worked and what
did not during the shutdown
• Adapt to the change in
consumer behavior

1010
No one’s personas are accurate.
It’s time to review your market segmentation

1111
Review what’s working.
Take a fresh look at your analytics

1212
Adapt to the changes in consumer behavior.

1313
Marketing Post COVID-19 Tips - Ecommerce grew
Consumers have been moving toward online retail for years but stay-at-home orders have made accelerated these behaviors.

1414
Marketing Post COVID-19 Tips - We need to appreciate Email Marketing
Email Marketing has been a strong channel previously, but has been ignored. The increase in open rates and click rates show that this
shouldn’t be the case moving forward.

1515
Marketing Post COVID-19 Tips - Social Media Ad Cost has dropped
Low social media costs likely won’t stay around after COVID-19, but this channel offers a lot of potential now.

16
Marketing Post COVID-19 Tips
Ecommerce will continue to grow
while brick-and-mortar declines
Remote working will grow
dramatically in popularity
More automation is to come

17
Re-starting your business in the
new normal means adapting to
consumer needs.
Let them know are open for
business and putting their safety
needs for first
What’s Trending Digitally?
Curbside Pickup

18
What’s Trending For
Your Industry
Retail: Promotions, information about
closures, delivery
Restaurants: Push to Delivery
Buttons, Contactless Delivery options
Gyms & Fitness: Go Live,
class-booking buttons
Financial Services: Enhancing
Digital Journeys

19
Content Strategy Matters More Now Than Ever

20
Content Strategy During
COVID-19
We need to adjust our strategies
post-COVID-19
This is not the time to experiment,
now is the time to be a resource
Empathy and messaging that
reﬂects real-time will win

2121
Adjust your Current Strategy to a COVID-19 one
Changes in consumer behavior has forced brands to approach marketing strategies more empathetically.

2222
Don’t be Tone deaf. Be a Resource
Focus on being a resource for users and avoid messaging that consumers cannot connect with at the moment.
https://ipullrank.com/captive-audiences-how-to-pivot-your-content-strategy-during-a-crisis/

23
Empathy and messaging that
reﬂects real-time issues
Now is the time to leverage social listening
and determine how your brands can
connect with users on a human level

2424
Ask yourself:
Have we provided useful resources around our
customers’ speciﬁc needs/concerns?

2525
Entertain your audience
With stay-at-home orders, users are looking for more ways to entertain themselves and their families. Provide resources like this now
to establish trusted brand reputation.

2626
Captivate with Video and Social Media
User attention spans are shorter now, and the Tiger King ﬁlled a void followed by The Last Dance. Tik Tok has ﬁlled both social media and
video needs during the pandemic.

2727
Sell Gently and With Intent
“Calls to action and sales should be qualiﬁed and
tonally should speak to the great beneﬁt that your
product/service offers.”

28
Content Strategy Recap
1. Never stop being
EMPATHETIC to your audience
2. Capitalize on your captive
audience via email and social
media to convey your
messaging instantly
3. Provide VALUE for your
audience in your content/
recommendations

29
Why Search is Still the Most Valuable Channel

3030
“Unlike other marketing channels, Organic Search
allows you to get a sense of consumer intent in
real-time. It’s always best to be proactive when
developing marketing strategies”

3131
Search Needs Have Fallen into
Five Buckets
According to Google’s own research,
behaviors have emerged around these ﬁve
core needs. The key is aligning your
brand’s content with those needs where
relevant.

3232
Search Demand has Shifted Dramatically in Different Verticals
Use AWR’s Search Demand tool to see if it’s everyone or just you that has been affected
https://www.advancedwebranking.com/search-demand/

3333
Shopify Global Traﬃc -
“As we help thousands of businesses to move online, our platform is now handling Black Friday level traffic every day!” - Jean-Michel
Lemieux
https://twitter.com/jmwind/status/1250816681024331777

3434
Opportunity for Lesser Known Brands
Due to breakdowns in supply chains consumers are far more open to ordering from companies they’ve never heard of if they can deliver
on the brand promise. If you’re a smaller business, now is your opportunity to make a mark.

3535
Real Time Analysis - How Search Can Forecast Behavior
Users began preparing for stay-at-home orders before that search started to increase.

3636
Search has been able to forecast user behavior for years and an uptick in one search term can show others will rise soon after..

3737
And Consumer Behavior Changes Quickly

3838
Is what I’m offering offer cognizant of the
global situation?

39
Use Google Search Console to
Uncover Emerging Terms
Using question modiﬁers and limiting your
scope to the last two months will help you
quickly identify what your audience is
looking for and give you the data you need
to react to their emerging needs.

4040
What Search Actions Predict Future Behaviors in Your Space?
There tends to be growth in queries related to grooming before people go out and go on trips. Perform keyword research in your
space to determine what those triggers may be so you can prepare overlapping content and react as a business.

41
Wrapping Up

4242
Final Tips
● Reposition your content strategy
○ Content audits are needed to ensure you’re aligned
● Invest in Market research
○ Personas have been made obsolete
● Real time insights from Organic Search offer opportunity
○ Keyword research can help you react to changes in consumer
behavior
● Paid Search offers a greater short term opportunity
○ Fewer brands are investing in PPC, resulting in lower CPC
prices

4343
Check Out the iPullRank
Resource Center
We’ve prepared an array of resources
including original research and tactics for
doing effective marketing during and after
the COVID-19 pandemic. Have a look for
further materials that can help you through
the process of kickstarting your marketing
efforts.
https://bit.ly/ipr-covid19

44
Q&A

How to Build an Empathetic Marketing Strategy During the Times of COVID19

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