Digital Marketing during COVID19, is it effective? How?

Due to the COVID 19 epidemic, businesses are relying more on Digital Marketing Campaigns to keep their business going because traditional marketing campaigns are far from possible in this lockdown scenario. But businesses need to continue to thrive and bring in revenues or the economy will land into a disaster that will take decades to recover completely.
Live-events and conferences have completely disappeared and that leaves businesses with no other option except Digital Marketing. COVID 19 has increased barriers on face-to-face business proceedings and this is a huge challenge that the businesses need to overcome if they wish to survive.

The fact that Digital Marketing is the only and the last resort for businesses to survive is quite clear. But how the businesses use Digital Marketing Strategies to carry out their business processes? The answer to this question is still not quite clear to several small and large businesses and this article will guide you on how you can use Digital Marketing wisely and effectively to keep your business going.

Following have been listed five methods that can help you create a responsible as well as effective Digital Marketing campaign for your business in the wake of COVID-19.

Adjust and customize your digital marketing campaigns and re-examine the scheduled content timelines:
You need to begin with auditing the digital content that you have already stored in your pipeline for the next few months. You need to decide what to put on hold. You will need to push back and postpone brand launch campaigns. This does not imply that you have to entirely cancel your campaign. It only means that you can resume the campaign once the lockdown subsides, because now, there are several campaign elements that are not appropriately available in line. Use a well-devised strategy to map out the Digital Marketing Campaign of your organization in the current times of epidemic. You will need to move a few things up your pipeline for the interim. You will have to come up with ideas to help you disseminate the crisis response plan.
Evaluate the imagery and language of your brand very carefully:
The powers of visual communication are immense especially NOW! Avoid visuals that show crowds. Go for visuals that show, encourage, and promote social distancing. You need to be very careful about the phrases you use. Even call-to-actions like “work hand-in-hand” or “get in touch” may be considered as inappropriate in these times where social-distancing is of prime importance. Audience may misinterpret your messages if you use phrases that are sensitive to the current situation.
Encourage the idea of social distancing and try promoting your campaigns that can bring business benefits without interfering with the precautionary measures being adopted.
Avoid capitalizing on the current crisis:
You need to make sure to not try to benefit from the current market anxieties and the fear that is instilled in the minds of the people. If people see that you are using such adverse situations for your benefit, they may perceive you as insensitive and this will only have a negative impact on your brand image.
To do things right, you need to communicate with stakeholders actively, maintaining sensitivity and responsibility. Inform your audience of proactive measures and display the COVID-19 response plan of your organization promptly.
While keeping your audience informed, you need to remember that you will not want to add to their panic. You have to be very mindful in giving out your brand message and make sure to avoid overly dramatic language.
Show how your organization can stand by them, support them and help them during such times of crisis. That is the only way to make your audience trust you and rely on you.
Ignorance is the last thing you would want on your platter. Maintain Positivity:
People tend to become uncomfortable and uneasy during a health crisis, and that is expected from and normal for all the sections of the society. Feeding into that negativity is the last thing an organization would want to do. Avoid displaying a grim or a harsh tone. The only thing that can keep you going is POSITIVITY.
Use the core values of your brand to guide and direct your digital marketing campaigns. You need to remind yourself, your team, and your audience, about what your brand stands for.
Be HUMAN. Be SENSITIVE. Be RESPONSIBLE. The core principles of your brand must set the tone of the communication that you make with your audience. Sending robotic messages will not help you during health crisis. Offer well wishes and positive vibes while being sensitivity.
Try to connect with your audience and strike conversations where they can understand that you are facing the same adversities that they are, and all you can do is stay positive and stay together mentally and digitally, even if not physically.
Highlight how your organization can help them:
The only purpose of your existence is to offer value to your customers and this you must never forget. Communicate and speak about the benefits you can offer as an organization. Tell stories about how you as an organization are fighting tough times positively to survive and how you can offer help while your consumers are on quarantine.
Show how your brand can share its potential and make efforts by creating informative, positive, and helpful content.
Even if your niche of business does not allow you to directly help your audience during quarantine, the best you can do is to create immersive content that will keep you audience entertained, while educating and inspiring them while they are locked in their homes.

Conclusion:
In a nutshell, the best practices that you, as an organization, can adopt to use digital marketing effectively during quarantine to keep your business going are as follows:

Address the concerns of your customers positively.
Try pivoting towards a solution.
Bring people together digitally while they physically stay apart.
Be sensitive and give out only positivity.
Don’t be selfish and concerned about only your business benefits. Empathize.