In our highly uncertain times, business owners and leaders may wonder how to future-proof your business. Though strong sales and growth outcomes are never guaranteed, there are several ways you can get ahead of the uncertainty curve in your business.
There’s good news for business sprinkled throughout the recent doom and gloom in your news and social feeds. Many companies are thriving despite repeated global crises. Join us as we detail several simple (online) ways you can future-proof your business now and in the long haul.
Romain Berg is a well-respected, comprehensive digital marketing agency serving businesses everywhere. We deliver results, not hype. Contact us today to begin crafting a customized digital marketing strategy that increases traffic and converts users to buyers reliably.
First, the Bad News
The Search Engine Journal reports some sobering statistics:
- 35% of marketing professionals fear a steep reduction in their budgets this year
- 58% of responders predict that continued recession will “tighten the belts” of marketing departments
- 86% of the survey field know they face steep challenges in reaching their marketing objectives
- 63% of digital marketers see SEO as essential to surviving and thriving as a business in the current climate
Though this news is grim on many fronts, challenging times force new solutions and tenacious effort. Overall, this helps digital marketing evolve for the better. Deploying creative and innovative digital marketing strategies now and as the pandemic proceeds it remains crucial for online visibility.
Here’s how to do that, starting now.
1. Create Blended, Relevant Content
It’s okay to talk about where we are right now as a culture, even when it’s not all sunshine and flowers. Your viewers will appreciate honesty and understanding most of all during tumultuous times.
You can and should also include content to showcase your products, services, and how they help life feel better during upheaval, uncertainty, and crises. Yes, you should watch your tone and delivery.
Sharing relatable stories, expressing a desire to be a valuable part of your community, and clear calls to action will make your content shine. Coming across as too “salesy” or self-serving will not fly with your audience right now, or any time.
2. Do Your Audience Research
When culture, politics, climate, and the economy change drastically, so does what your audience desires. A recent prime example is desks. In 2020, they’ve sold out at most retailers, and in parent circles, might be as valuable as gold bullion, it seems.
Why this peculiar retail product bubble? Enter distance learning in a record number of family homes in 2020. Parents’ search engine queries for desks rose exponentially through spring, summer, and fall in preparation for the start of school.
Add to that bubble people who have been forced to work from home, and you have even more online searches for desks.
When thinking of your products and services, which of them are most likely to assist, comfort, or entertain your ideal customers during current times? Get as detailed as you can in your audience’s pain points so that you can create online product descriptions and content to speak precisely to them.
3. Get Educational
Though it’s not provocative or “trendy,” customer relationships remain paramount in digital marketing now and always. When you educate your audience base, they become more likely to purchase.
Though your keywords and marketing campaigns may shift and change, your company’s trustworthiness and authority shouldn’t. Keep your messaging clear, knowledgeable, and useful.
4. Cultivate More Backlinks (the right way)
Partnering with other local businesses or non-competitive companies in related sectors can boost your collective search rank. Backlinking is crucial to a sound SEO strategy. But, you must build your links ethically.
Mentioning your collaborators’ content, websites, and product pages on your site with relevance and timeliness help boost everyone’s “know, like, and trust” factors.
Since Google measures trust by how many other reputable sources mention you and your organization, you should leverage your link-building.
Beware of “stuffing” your channels with links to elevate your rank. Google’s frequent algorithm updates (like Penguin) make these types of black-hat SEO harder and harder. Plus, Google may penalize you directly for such digital infractions.
Build your links ethically to benefit everyone involved, and you’ll all win bigger with search rank in the end.
5. SEO, SEO, SEO
In case it’s not obvious, future-proofing your business means getting seen. Especially when people remain stuck in their homes for months, displaced, or emotionally and professionally upended. The only way to do this is to uplevel your SEO.
Elevating your position in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) means careful research and keywords use. Your audience research helps you nail this keyword use.
When you know what your users look up in the search engines, you can use those same words and phrases on your website and other channels to improve your search result standings.
You can get incredibly precise with your long-tail keywords and come out strong in the SERPs. The point is to get extremely accurate with predicting the questions your customers are most likely to ask in the search bar.
Remember that SEO takes time to show results. Starting or outsourcing a new SEO strategy now will NOT deliver immediate improvements in your search results.
Staying the course, keeping track of your analytics, and making small shifts in content and implementation will help you win more digital visibility in the long run.
6. Outsource Your SEO
Trying to pivot your SEO with changing trends when you’re not an expert can yield disastrous results. If you’re not ready to outsource your SEO, keep your approach simple and upfront.
Deliver excellent content, do keyword research, and keep connecting as best you can with your audience.
Outsourcing your SEO can radically increase your visibility online and result in impressive traffic and conversion results. It pays to make this investment as quickly as possible and stick with it over time.
Romain Berg specialized in leading-edge SEO and comprehensive digital marketing. Our customized strategies deliver results, not hype. Contact us today to discover what’s possible for your business.
