Have you halted all your online marketing efforts? You are doing a huge mistake, but it’s not too late to restore your online presence.
Imagine a family of 4 sitting down at dinner. The younger kid says that he would like to go to his favorite ice cream shop for the dessert. His elder sister is thinking about the violin she would like to buy. Dad doesn’t know if he should change is car or keep the old one and mum is asking where everyone would like to for their next holiday destination.
It’s an ordinary family, thinking about their needs and wishes.
Do you think that this behavior has changed because of the Covid-19 outbreak? Absolutely not!
How many times have you thought about what you would like to do when this is over? Haven’t you been looking for information on the internet about a product that you would like to buy or a service that you might need?
If you did – and I think you did – have you noticed how other brands are keeping their online presence?
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you are ready to buy a new car or to book your next holiday but that doesn’t stop you to look for information, especially on the internet. The main source of information we have.
With so much of time at home, it is a fact that most of us spend a lot of time online. Some of us read, others play and others again day dream about what would they do when this situation will be over.
So the questions is: “if people is spending more time on the web, why would you lock down your online presence?” Your brand has not been quarantined.
Yes, we are going through tough times, there are less buyers hence less cashflow… but that doesn’t mean that you have to kill your brand completely.
Maybe you are one of those convinced that the right time to promote your business online is when everything is over. If you are thinking that, here’s some food for thoughts…
3 Businesses, same product, different approaches
Let’s say that you are thinking to buy a new coffee machine for your home and there are 3 main companies: A, B & C. All of then offer the same machine, same quality, same price, same warranty. Literally no differences between the two products.
Company A is still very active online. It offers many information about the machine, features, provides tips on how to make the best coffee at home in their blog. You often see their Facebook or Instagram posts, maybe you even watched a video on YouTube showing how to make a cappuccino with the coffee.
Company B instead has decided to cut down most of its online marketing investment. No more paid ads, no more website improvements. However they do use a bit of social media but instead of publishing content related to the coffee machine, they are talking about the Virus, about how their company has been in business for over 20 years, how they are good in selecting products. You have seen some of their social media posts but nothing about the coffee machine that you are thinking to buy.
Company C thinks that online presence is not necessary at all. No one is going to buy anything from them now, so it’s pointless to invest time or money in creating content and publish it. They want to wait until the Covid-19 has been contained and things are “back to normal”.
The economy kick-starts again
A few months later everything gets back to normal. Everyone is back to work, including yourself, and now you are finally ready to buy the coffee machine that you have been looking to get for a while.
The question is, who will you be buying from?
Company A – you know already quite a lot about the company and the machine. You know exactly what are the features, the warranty, you have collected some knowledge about how to make awesome coffees with that machine.
Company B – you know they sell coffee machines but so far you haven’t got any information about the machine you want to buy. They do have the same machine as the previous company but not you have no clue. The only things you know is that they have been in the business for a certain amount years, maybe their location and you saw a picture of their staff.
Company C – you don’t even know they exist and all of a sudden you get to know that there is a third company selling coffee machines but have no clue of what they offer, if they have the same machine as the first two, if they offer the same warranty, etc..
Which company do you think will have more chances to sell you the product?
It is a pretty obvious answer: Company A
You are already familiar with them, you might have even had a chat or two with their sales rep and started to build a relationship.
Why would you buy from someone who is only talking about themselves (Company B) and failed to let you know anything about the product? No one cares if a business is new or old, if they have 5 or 500 employees, that doesn’t say anything about what you need.
Even worst, why would you buy from someone that you have never heard of at all (Company C)? You have already spent quite some time to gather information from a company and you really want to solve your problem and get the machine. Would you restart the process?
While it is possible that for some reasons you would not buy from Company A, it’s quite obvious that the first has much higher chances to make the sale. They have already been in your head for a while and when you are ready to buy, there you go, you have all the information you need to complete your purchase.
What’s the take of the story? Don’t wait! Start building your relationship with potential buyers now and get ahead of your competition before it’s too late!
As Warren Buffett said:
“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
Don’t stop at what’s going on today, get ready for tomorrow.
On the next blog I will share with you 3 Online Marketing ideas to boost your online presence, immediately actionable and at zero cost.
It’s your turn now. If you disagree and have objections, I would love to hear them! Leave a comment and let’s talk about it.
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