The pandemic has left marketers in a quandary. To market or not to market?
On the one hand, this feels like the wrong time to sell too aggressively, when so many are grief-stricken and struggling to make ends meet.
On the other hand, you have to do what you can to support your business through this crisis, right?
You’ve heard me say it before: this is the wrong time to put an end to your marketing efforts. If you do, the damage the pandemic has inflicted on your company will be compounded by reduced brand awareness.
But while you can’t stop marketing. you do need to market differently. Some of your old tactics don’t make sense right now. What does? Content marketing. That’s because the benefits that content marketing delivers under normal circumstances are all the more relevant during a crisis like this one.
In this post, I’ll examine all the ways in which creating content now can help you maximize profits today and position you well for recovery tomorrow.
Maximizing Profits Today
1
Grow your audience and generate leads
Under normal circumstances, creating quality content helps you attract new visitors to your site in a number of ways:
- Optimize it for search engines so that it can be found on Google.
- Share it on social media.
- Earn links and referral traffic from other websites.
But during the crisis, content marketing is particularly helpful for reaching and engaging with prospects. Here’s why:
- Many of our usual options for reaching and interacting with prospects are closed to us. (Think conferences, in-person presentations, and even client lunches, to name a few.)
- The people we want to reach are at home and on their devices. In fact, a recent survey revealed that 70 percent of internet users worldwide are using their mobile phones more as a direct result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Content marketing gives us the opportunity to reach people where they are already spending their time.
2
Drive revenue
If your business is struggling financially, you’re not alone. You’re all for creating content to help your community but you need to ask yourself a pragmatic question: will it help you move the needle on sales?
The answer is yes. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 75% of successful content marketers have generated sales ftom their content efforts.
These days, stakeholders at businesses that are struggling to survive don’t need your hard sell. For them, you’ll need a gentler, more thoughtful approach to sales. Here are a few quick tips for creating content that sells:
- Write for your ideal customer and the problems they face.
- Create content that answers the questions they have on their path to purchase.
- Produce content that addresses the sales objections you often face with prospects.
- Invite and share user-generated content about your brand, which instills trust and reduces your burden of content creation.
And of course, creating content is only one part of the equation, you’ll also want to promote your content and optimize it for conversion. For more detailed information, check out my article, “How to Use Content Marketing to Drive Sales”.
3
Increase your ROI
Content marketing, in addition to helping to drive sales, is cost-effective. That’s why it generates a higher ROI than many of your other traditional marketing options.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, 84% of the most successful content marketers rate their ability to demonstrate ROI from content marketing as very good or excellent.
At a time when we all need to manage our expenses, ROI matters all the more. That’s why companies are slashing their experimental marketing budgets and relying on proven tactics like content marketing, which deliver a higher ROI.
4
Market to existing customers
It’s both easier and more profitable to sell to existing customers than to new ones. Studies confirm it but it also just makes good sense: your current customers already trust you and are more likely to buy again.
That’s true under normal circumstances, and even more so at a time when prospects might be a little skittish about investing in an unknown quantity. Consider deepening your relationships with existing customers, instead. Creating the right content can help you do just that.
In fact, studies have shown that 84% of the most successful B2B content marketers have used content to build loyalty with existing customers.
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Positioning Yourself for Recovery
We’ve covered many ways in which creating content can help you be more profitable during the pandemic. But what if your business is closed through the pandemic? Or if your sales efforts are seriously compromised? At the very least, producing content can help you prepare for a speedier recovery when the worst is behind us.
5
Maintain brand awareness
Even under normal circumstances, creating quality content is an effective way to stay top of mind.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, 86% of B2B marketers have successfully used content marketing to create brand awareness.
And maintaining your brand presence is all the more important now, during this chaotic time.
According to Chris Brogan, CEO of Owner Media Group:
Maintaining your visibility now has an added advantage: It gives you the opportunity to stand out against competitors who may be cutting back on their marketing efforts. Just take it from Kellogg’s who, by doubling down on their marketing during the Great Depression, became and remained the industry’s dominant player.
6
Build trust
Under normal circumstances, publishing quality content can help position you as an authority and boost the credibility of your brand. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 75% of B2B marketers have successfully used content marketing to build credibility and trust.
During the pandemic, continuing to produce helpful content while others are being less consistent can project stability and position you as a reassuring presence in your industry.
7
Create an emotional connection
Studies have shown that we make decisions (including purchasing decisions) based on our emotions. That’s why using emotional storytelling in your content creation can be one of your biggest B2B marketing superpowers, even under normal circumstances.
But this crisis is making people feel more vulnerable, and intensifying the need for comfort and emotional connection:
- A recent study of Canadian adults showed that 37 percent of respondents feel lonely as a result of the coronavirus and 75% feel anxious about what is happening.
- Other studies cite boredom, frustration, isolation, and fear as factors that can cause distress and even long-lasting effects.
Now is the time to produce content that provides comfort and support to your community.
In his article about how to market during a downturn, John Quelch, Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, tells us that “reassuring messages that reinforce an emotional connection with the brand and demonstrate empathy are vital.”
And here’s Mark Schaefer’s take on the importance of dispensing hope, in the whiteboard video we produced for him during the early days of the pandemic:
8
Give your efforts time to bear fruit
Content marketing is effective but it can take time to yield results.
If you publish a blog post today, the benefits of incoming links, rankings, and referral traffic will multiply over time.
Create a lead magnet today, and it will slowly help you grow your email list, so that you can slowly nurture your relationship with subscribers until they’re ready to buy.
All these tactics can make a huge difference for your business, but they also take time.
Put in the effort now, and you will continue to reap the rewards long after the crisis is behind us.
Over to you
If you’re already content marketing, I hope this post has convinced you that the time you’re putting into creating content is worthwhile. Or if you’re not there yet, I hope you’re ready to get started! (Here are some tips to help you with that.)
And if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed about the effort and time involved in creating and promoting quality content, Exaltus can help with award-winning whiteboard animated videos that are evidence backed by an independent study. Please check out some of our recent whiteboard animation examples, or get in touch for a free consultation.
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