Your Guide to Paid Marketing During COVID-19
Useful strategies for paid advertising campaigns
If you’re wondering how COVID-19 is affecting paid advertising campaign strategies, you’re not alone! And the answer is: both negatively and positively.
For one thing, people are more at home and do practically everything online. But many people are reducing what they spend because they have lost their job or are trying to save some money to help their family emerge from the pandemic.
And while some businesses are experiencing increased traffic during this time, others with products or services that are not in demand are experiencing a discouraging traffic trickle or have to pause or stop their campaigns altogether. Influencer Marketing Hub reports that 69% of the 237 brands surveyed expect to decrease ad spend in 2020.
I previously talked about how pivoting is essential to meet the needs and wants of your target audience. This means taking a closer look at what you can offer people during the COVID-19 crisis, both as a small business owner and as a member of the community.
This time, I share some tips on how to manage CFP during the coronavirus. PPC stands for pay-per-click advertising, also known as non-organic traffic. (Organic traffic comes from unpaid SEO techniques.)
Depending on your small business, you can run paid ads on:
- Google Ads / display ads on the Google Display Network
- YouTube (and video ad placements)
3 Steps to Get Started with Paid Marketing During COVID-19
Even if you are currently running an ad campaign, it is important to analyze your keywords and ad text. Are they as effective as they can be?
Just because people practice social distancing doesn’t mean they aren’t actively searching and shopping online. However, the ad copy you used earlier may not resonate and may even offend your target audience now.
1. Research your keywords.
Researching your keywords is always essential, and especially now! You want to observe the purchasing behavior of your target audience related to COVID-19.
You might be surprised to learn that there is a new niche keyword you could fall back on, or that your customers are using a different search term than expected.
Also, look for keyword opportunities within your business around topics such as:
- Work / study from home
- Streaming services
- Health Products / Services
- Communication tools
There are a number of keyword research tools available, or you can hire a professional SEO / SEM company to handle everything from keyword research to reporting on data.
2. Review your value propositions.
Many entrepreneurs are updating their value propositions to better serve their customers.
You can increase the appeal of your ads and encourage more people to click with relevant value propositions, whether it’s free shipping, home delivery options, or a limited-time discount; just make sure you don’t use anxiety or fear around the pandemic to sell. .
3. Check your negative keywords.
You can use negative keywords when you want to make sure your ad doesn’t show for a certain keyword. This saves you money on wasted clicks and keeps your ads more relevant, increasing your Quality Score (reducing your cost per click).
You may want to set certain keywords related to in-person services as negative now so that you are not paying for clicks related to things that you are not offering to your customers right now.
You can also limit where your ad appears. For example, you may not want your ad to appear alongside COVID-19 related content during this sensitive time.
However, because there is SO MUCH COVID-19 stuff out there, you can drastically limit your brand’s visibility by doing that. And according to a recent report by Integral Ad Science, 78% of people surveyed would not see general ads near coronavirus content as a bad thing.
Therefore, you will have to use your judgment for this, based on what you sell and how you position your ads.
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READ: “4 Marketing Strategies for the COVID-19 Crisis” on our website:
From connecting our relationships to running our small businesses, COVID-19 has transformed the way we live, work and socialize. I feel lucky that my family and I are healthy and safe, and I am trying to find positive opportunities in all of this.
As we continue to isolate ourselves to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, I wanted to share 4 marketing strategies to consider to help you run your business smoothly and successfully.
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Why You Need Short Term and Long Term Paid Ad Campaign Strategies
Of course, you need to focus on the present and the best way to move your small business forward now. But as you navigate paid marketing during COVID-19, don’t forget about your future!
Use what you are learning now to make decisions. Look at your keyword data – what’s resonating with your customers? What is not getting traffic?
You may find that you can continue with similar paid advertising campaign strategies after COVID-19 ends, and / or you may find that you need to drastically adjust your candles.
It’s a good idea to think about how your small business will emerge from this pandemic, however far it may seem. Create an advertising plan now so that you don’t stay fighting along the way.
Sure, it can change and you may have to rotate again, but at least you’ll have a marketing foundation to build on.
While advertising during the coronavirus can be anything but “business as usual,” it is critical that you have the tools to face this new challenge head-on. The entrepreneurs who will be successful when this is all over are the ones who embraced the unknown and moved on!
I hope all my resources on coronavirus, including these tips for advertising during COVID-19, have helped you. I will continue to post relevant content in the coming weeks. Beware!
