“The sudden, jarring shift to an audience more frequently online will leave behind many lasting effects on how businesses reach their target audience.”

“The sudden, jarring shift to an audience more frequently online will leave behind many lasting effects on how businesses reach their target audience.”  While the pandemic definitely wasn’t the impetus for an influx of chatter around digital marketing, it definitely will bring on and even stronger focus going forward.  Following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, 56% of business leaders have reported utilizing digital tools, whether its SEO, PPC, etc.”  On one hand, given the fact that we are currently in a recession that many report as being as bad as the Great Depression, businesses are hoping to decrease spend.  On the other, “40-59% of large national brands intend to increase their ad spends across digital channels.” That said, it’s important that the budget is spent in the most promising way moving forward, and that doesn’t mean you need to have a “dedicated agency or a large advertising budget to make your mark on the digital realm.” 

There are a few marketing tactics that businesses can not only take care of internally, without hiring an outside or specific marketing team, but that also won’t break the bank.  These also reportedly provide the most benefit, regardless of the businesses size: 

1) Update your google my business listing: while this seems minute, it can have drastically beneficial aspects.  If you, as an internal person within the business, must maintain this listing to ensure you aren’t reliant solely on the general public. 

2) Bolster your presence on social media on the “correct platform:” depending on where your clientele is focused, use that channel to increase potential viewings.  “For example, a Main Street clothing boutique might find little use for a LinkedIn profile, while a steel bar fabricator might feel out of place on Pinterest.”  Also, businesses should be conscious of the age group they are targeting, thus allowing them to focus on the appropriate channels. 

3) Respond to reviews appropriately: something that potentially may not be as intuitive is the importance of responding immediately to positive reviews, while waiting a bit longer to respond to negative reviews.  “Do not incentivize” positive reviews as many platforms tend to penalize businesses for that.  For the negative reviews, it’s important to ensure the reviewer believes that their feedback has been taken into account.   

 https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2020/10/12/digital-marketing-tactics-all-businesses-should-use/#1c8b8fd2f7ef