covid-19 special report€¦ · 10 powerful online marketing strategies in a new normal covid-19...

10 Powerful Online Marketing Strategies in a New Normal Special Report COVID-19

The Seaplace Group LLC

Lakewood Ranch, Florida 34202 941-806-5610 [email protected] https://SeaplaceGroup.com

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Disclaimer

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DISCLAIMER

This Special Report, 10 Powerful Online Marketing Strategies in a New Normal, cannot be reproduced or transmitted electronically or mechanically in any form; nor can it be photocopied, recorded, or stored in any retrieval system. If a reviewer wishes to quote brief passages from this Method and reproduce them in a magazine, newspaper, or on the Web, the reviewer must obtain written permission from the publisher. Disclaimer and/or Legal Notices: The information presented in this Method represents the view of the author as of the publication date. However, since circumstances may change over time, the author reserves the right to alter and/or update his opinion piece. This Special Report, 10 Powerful Online Marketing Strategies, cannot be reproduced or transmitted electronically or mechanically in any form; nor can it be photocopied, recorded, or stored in any retrieval system. If a reviewer wishes to quote brief passages from this Special Report and reproduce them in a magazine, newspaper, or on the Web, the reviewer must obtain written permission from the publisher. Every attempt was made to verify the information provided in this Report; however, neither the author or the publisher, nor his affiliates / partners assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, or omissions. Any slights to people or organizations are unintentional. If the reader needs advice concerning legal or other related matters, then the reader should seek the services of a fully qualified professional. No Liability: This product is supplied “as is” and without warranties. All warranties, express or implied, are hereby disclaimed. Use of this product constitutes acceptance of the “No Liability” policy. If you do not agree with this policy, you are not permitted to use or distribute this product. Live links to web addresses within this publication are active / live at the time of publication, without a guarantee of future activity. Such external web addresses contain information created, published, maintained, or otherwise posted by institutions or organizations independent of The Seaplace Group, LLC. The Seaplace Group, LLC. does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, efficacy, timeliness, or correct sequencing of information located at such addresses. Use of any information obtained from such address is voluntary, and reliance on it should only be undertaken after an independent review of its accuracy, completeness, efficacy, and timeliness. References to software or products are specific suggestions only and do not necessarily constitute or imply an endorsement by The Seaplace Group, LLC. This Special Report, 10 Powerful Online Marketing Strategies is not regarded as a source for legal and/or medical advice. The reader should be aware of any laws, which govern business transactions or other business and medical practices in his country and state. Reference to any person (living or dead), or any business -- is purely coincidental.

COVID 19

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Tel: 941-806-5610 | Email: [email protected]

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Preface.............................................................................................. 4

Let’s Get Started ............................................................................ 6

1 A Good, Mobile-Optimized Website .................................. 9

2 Search Engine Optimization ............................................. 11

3 Blogging ................................................................................ 13

4 Email Marketing .................................................................. 15

5 Social Media ......................................................................... 17

6 Contests, Giveaways and Challenges ............................. 19

7 Webinars, Teleseminars, Videos, and Podcasts ............ 21

8 Guest Appearances .............................................................. 23

9 Mobile Marketing & Apps ................................................. 25

10 Online Advertising ............................................................. 26

Summary ........................................................................................ 27

About the Seaplace Group LLC ................................................ 28

Table of Contents




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Preface Due to the recent outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), more and more people are being forced to work from home. While for some employees working from home is a dream that came true; for some others, working from home represents an increase of anxiety, stress, and depression.

BACKGROUND: Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a new strain that was discovered in 2019 and has not been previously identified in humans. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, and cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death. Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.




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ADJUSTING TO A NEW NORMAL RIGHT NOW: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to rethink everything we do and how we do it. It’s not business as usual anymore. The workplace has changed, and new models will emerge. While many marketers might instinctively shy away from the spotlight during COVID-19, the current circumstances provide an opportunity to showcase the best side of your brand. The ability to adapt to change is what separates the great businesses from the average ones. And in the wake of COVID-19 and the effect it’s having on business relations, you’ll need to adapt to the changing culture. And you need to do so quickly. You can’t just throw your name online and expect business to carry on as usual. Without digital marketing tactics geared towards your specific industry, you may end up wasting a lot of time — and money. To accommodate your customer base, think outside the box and come up with some digital marketing tactics that will appeal to the people you’ve grown accustomed to working with. In the process, you can keep customers happy, generate revenue, and hopefully avoid the uncomfortable situation of having to lay off employees.




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If your business isn't already including online marketing as part of your strategy, what are you waiting for? While marketing your business on the internet is only one way to get customers, it’s an essential for any type of business today. That’s because: Your customers are looking for content, products, and services online, so you need to be wherever your

customers are.

Online marketing works. It's a highly effective way to learn about your customers and meet their needs.

It's cheap and easy. Businesses that add internet strategies to their marketing mix are always surprised at the savings in terms of both financial cost and time.

You can do things technologically online that you can't do offline, and the online marketplace is open 24/7/365.

Finally, one more reason that digital marketing is important is that your competitors are investing in it. If you aren’t using the same tactics, you’ll lose access to the huge number of prospective customers who they’re already courting.




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In this report, we’re going to give you a high-level overview of the most powerful strategies marketers are using online. You’ll discover the most popular tactics and best practices, so that you can choose which might work for your business. Then you’ll be armed with the information you need to delve deeper and explore the details involved in implementing your chosen strategies. Ready to ged on your journey to online marketing for your business? First, before you even begin exploring the possibilities, consider your business and marketing goals. As you learn about each strategy, think about which one will help you get closer to achieving those goals.




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1 A good, Mobile-Optimized Website

2 Search Engine Optimization

3 Blogging

4 Email Marketing

5 Social Media

6 Contests, Giveaways and Challenges

7 Webinars, Teleseminars, Videos, and Podcasts

8 Guest Appearance

9 Mobile Marketing & Apps

10 Online Advertising

Your 10 most powerful online marketing strategies are:




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Every business, no matter what its goal, needs a good website that is up-to-date. "Up-to-date" means that it uses design features and technology that are current. It is optimized for mobile devices, as people increasingly use their mobiles for surfing the web and shopping. It should also be easy to navigate. Let's look at each of the important elements:

Your website needs to be designed around a targeted visitor profile. In other words, you need to identify your ideal visitor. This is the potential lead or customer who is looking for what your business offers. It is the type of person who will see your site and take

1 A good, Mobile-Optimized Website




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the action you want them to take (sign up for your list, buy your products, follow you on social media, etc.). If you haven't already, give this some thought and create a targeted visitor profile.

The content of your site needs to be both well-written and search engine optimized. If your budget allows, hire a copywriter to write the key parts of your site, if not everything. To make it search engine optimized, choose relevant keywords that your targeted visitor might be searching, and use them in titles, subtitles, and text wherever natural.

Design must be modern and visually relevant, but so must navigation. Your site should be designed to provide a good user experience. What this means is that it's intuitive for visitors to explore. The navigation should be clear so that people can find whatever they're looking for easily.

As people are increasingly using their mobile devices to find what they're looking for online, you need to make your site mobile-optimized. It has to look good and function well on any type of mobile device your particular audience uses.

Almost all businesses need a website. It's your "home on the web." You can create a Facebook business page or other social media platform to serve as your website, but it's much better to have your own, which you have complete control over.




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Search engine optimization, or SEO, means tweaking your website or web page in order to attract search engine traffic, mainly from Google, which is currently the most popular search engine. This involves modifying your content so that it's likely to appear prominently in search engine results, preferably near the top of the first page. The main way this is done is through keywords. Keywords are words or phrases related to your website that potential visitors would be entering in search engines. You need to use these keywords in a natural way throughout your website's content.

2 Search Engine Optimization




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The best keywords are those that have a high search volume but low competition. What this means is that not many websites are already using the term, and thus your site is more likely to be found. You can analyze keywords using an SEO software program. You can also choose words and phrases that you think are related and use them. Employ SEO tactics for any content that you put online, not just your website. Anything you want to be found by search engines, such as a social media profile or press release, should be optimized. To determine whether or not you need an SEO boost, take a look at your current web traffic. If you want to attract more new visitors, think about overhauling your SEO. If you're unsure about doing it yourself, hire an SEO consultant or firm to take care of it for you.




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A blog is a "weblog." Unlike a static website, it presents fresh content on a regular basis. The blogger writes regular articles, which are called "posts" in the blog world. Blogs attract customers in a number of ways. First, a blog added to your website with consistent, quality content attracts search engines. The search engines favor sites with regularly updated content, so blogging offers SEO benefits.

3 Blogging




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Blogging gives you a chance to communicate to your audience, which helps to build your relationship with them and also gives you authority. You write about topics related to your business and this helps to establish you as an expert. A blog also helps to keep people on your site by giving them something to read and explore. If you want more traffic and a better relationship with your site visitors, you should consider blogging. However, keep in mind that it requires a time commitment. Some companies hire a ghostwriter from outside or assign the task of blogging to a team member who enjoys writing. In addition to posting, you also have to moderate comments and communicate with readers.




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Email marketing involves sending out regular email newsletters and announcements to your subscribers. These are usually informational but may also present offers and deals to encourage purchases periodically. Some email lists only exist to build relationships and do no selling at all. To build your email list, you need to gather subscribers. The most common way to do this is to create a landing page and offer an incentive to sign up. This incentive or ‘lead magnet’ is often a free digital product, but could also be a discount, free membership, a free trial, short training, free consultation call, and so on. What's important is to offer something of value to your sign-ups that is also relevant to your products and services. Aside from a dedicated

4 Email Marketing




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landing page, put your sign-up form on your website home page, blog posts, social media profiles, and other marketing materials. Once you have subscribers, send emails using a software program called an autoresponder, which manages and schedules your emails for you. Through your emails, focus on nurturing your relationship with your subscribers and occasionally sell to them. Just be sure to provide value and information most of the time and sell more rarely and tastefully. Email marketing is good for businesses that want to pull leads into their sales funnel and qualify those leads automatically. It builds relationships since you're sending your messages right into the subscriber's email inbox. However, like blogging, it requires fresh content on a regular basis.




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Like a website, a social media presence is generally considered to be a must for any business. However, you shouldn't use social media unless you have a clearly defined goal, since this will guide your social media activities. First, decide which social media sites you'll use. Choose the ones that your target market is already using. The most popular social media sites at the time of writing are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. Which are popular depends on region and audience, so research your customers and find out which social media site they use most.

5 Social Media




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Most social media platforms offer a variety of ways to reach your audience, either through a regular profile, direct messages, or a page or group. Facebook Pages, to take just one example, allows special features a personal profile doesn't, such as monitoring and tracking. There are also groups you can join or start in order to communicate more privately with your audience. Facebook is one platform that offers a wide variety of groups. Users generally don't like promotion on social media, although people are increasingly using social media to shop online. For your purposes, provide a place for people to talk, create relevant content for them, and get your audience engaged. The bulk of your efforts should be done with the purpose of deepening your relationship and not selling directly. If your audience is using social media, you should be there too. Set up profiles on the social media sites your target market engages with regularly. Social media doesn't require creating a great deal of content, but it is something you have to do daily in order to develop meaningful relationships with customers.




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Contests, giveaways, and challenges are extremely popular ways to engage with your target audience online. You can run them through your website, social media profiles, email marketing, dedicated landing pages, apps or blog. For a contest, you give your audience a certain task to perform and the one or ones who do it best win. A giveaway, which is also called a sweepstakes, is similar, but the winner is determined by chance rather than through skill. Challenges are like contests but there is no prize. Entrants perform them for fun, to motivate themselves to achieve a goal, or for a chance to be creative.

6 Contests, Giveaways and Challenges




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Like the lead magnet incentive for your email marketing campaign, the prize can be something that doesn't cost you much or anything at all. It could be a digital product, a discount, free membership, sample product, private consultation, exclusive access, etc. The winner of a creative contest or challenge could have their work displayed on your website or social media profile. The key is to make your prize directly relevant to your products/services and the customer needs that it meets – similar to a lead magnet. Online contests, giveaways and challenges can be used to attract customers, get their email addresses for your list, promote or sell a specific product, build buzz or relationships, and so on.




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These multimedia strategies are all slightly different but they work in largely the same way. Webinars and teleseminars are presentations given to groups over the internet, one visual and one only audio. They allow you to transmit information and interact with a wide audience in a live setting. You can also use videos to share information visually, which you produce and put on video sites like YouTube or in your own web pages. Podcasts are another option, which are audio files like radio shows that your audience can stream online or download to listen to.

7 Webinars, Teleseminars, Videos, and Podcasts




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Webinars and teleseminars are usually used to deepen the relationships that you already have with your audience or to jumpstart a relationship with prospects. They work best when live and interactive, giving your attendees a chance to get involved. This makes the webinars and teleseminars more interesting and engaging. Even better, it gives you an opportunity to communicate directly with your audience, find out about their biggest concerns, and answer any questions they have. All these multimedia options work in a similar way. Through your broadcasts, your audience gets to know you better. You create a more personal relationship with them since they can hear and see you. You can become something of a celebrity to your audience, who eagerly await each new content release. There are many things you can do for your multimedia content. For example, survey your clients to find out their most common challenges. Then create short videos giving tips and advice. You can also interview guest experts to provide even more solutions. Posting your episodes online, such as to podcast directories or video sharing sites, can bring new people to your online presence. Like blogging and social media, it takes commitment to do webinars, teleseminars, videos, and podcasts. You need to keep the content coming. You also need the technological capabilities and know-how, although the technology is much easier in recent years and you can always hire a virtual assistant to manage everything for you.




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A guest appearance is where you appear on other people's blogs, podcasts, websites, webinars, and so on. This is a great way to gain exposure and you get to share your expertise to a whole new audience. If done successfully, you can then bring your new prospects to your online presence. Appearing as a guest also builds authority, especially if you land a spot with someone who has a large following related to your market. One type of guest appearance is the guest blog. This is where you write a blog post and it's published on someone else's blog. The key is that in your bio or somewhere in the post, there's a link leading back to your own website or blog. This way, the reader can click to find out more about you.

8 Guest Appearance




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Try contacting blog owners who have the same target audience as yours and whose readership or viewer base is a little larger than yours. Explain to them the unique angle you can give your topic or how you can help their audience. One idea is to reciprocate. You can have them appear on your blog or podcast in exchange. Guest appearances are great for businesses that want to expand and reach out to new audience members while networking with similar business owners who can help each other.




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People are increasingly using mobile devices to interact with businesses, and there are a number of mobile marketing tactics you can use to take advantage of this trend. One is to tap into existing mobile features and sites like Foursquare. You can create a listing for your business there, offer promotions, create content, and so on. Another way to leverage mobile devices is to create your own apps. Think of something your target audience could use and hire a developer to turn your idea into reality. You can make money through the app by offering premium upgrades, or even better, you can simply put your name on the app to get users to your website. You can also offer content and promotions through apps. Through mobile devices, you can also use SMS text marketing. This is similar to email marketing but uses a mobile device's text messaging feature instead. Mobile marketing and apps are ideal for businesses whose target audience consists of heavy mobile users.

9 Mobile Marketing & Apps




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There are a number of different online advertising options. The most popular are to advertise through search engines or social media. They have advertising programs where you sign up and create your ads, and then determine who sees them. Like traditional advertising, you can also buy space on websites that accept ads. These can be ads on the side of the page, banner ads, or pop-up ads. Although it costs money, online advertising offers a great deal of flexibility. Plus, social media sites like Facebook allow you to highly target your audience. The more you can narrow in on who sees your ads, the more cost-effective your advertising will be. Online advertising is good for businesses willing to spend some money to get new leads, raise awareness, and reach a new audience much more quickly than with other content methods.

10 Online Advertising




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Summary All of the above strategies can be highly effective but they're not for everyone. You need a clear goal and strategy for each or else it will be wasted time, money, and effort. Start with understanding who your customers are and where they are online. This should be the foundation of everything you do online. If you find that your target audience members are heavy Twitter users and they use mobile devices, you should consider social media and mobile marketing. If they prefer email or direct text messages, target them there. Keep your ears open for new strategies and methods, such as new social media sites or new features on your current ones. And keep an eye on what your competitors are doing. You can't always tell what's working or what isn't for them, but you can get some ideas. If your competitors are using a certain strategy consistently and you see their audience engaging with them, this is a good sign that the strategy is working for them. Finally, once you start employing one of the strategies above, monitor and track your results so that you know whether it's working or not. If one strategy isn’t getting the results you want, this is an indication that it's time to try something else.




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About the Seaplace Group, LLC

The Seaplace Group is a Sarasota, Florida based organization of talent-laden, senior business

executives with a vast degree of experience in the small business sector who advise, coach,

consult, mentor, train, and support aspiring entrepreneurs, ambitious business owners, driven

business executives, and professional service providers both domestically and internationally.

The Group not only provide small business clients with information and guidance in order for them

to survive and grow in the entrepreneurial world but The Group also provides practical assistance

in the form of consulting, publishing, and training.

We Have More Than 40+ Years Practical Business Experience

Seaplace CONSULTING

During our four plus decades of diverse experiences in corporate, as well as, entrepreneurial

roles. We have earned the reputation both domestically and internationally for providing skillful and

practical guidance in a variety of business environments.

Known as critical thinkers and “out-of-the-box” strategists with extensive “hands on” experience in

spearheading start-ups, leading turnarounds, and executing major expansion initiatives in a variety

of entrepreneurial and market-making businesses, we have gained a keen understanding of the

issues and forces affecting today’s business owner

The Seaplace consulting approach is a systematic process of getting you, our client, from Point A

to Point B. Point A, being where your business is today, the current situation – and Point B, referring

to your goal, your vision of where you want your business will be at some point in the future, the

future.




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Seaplace PUBLISHING

Provides a comprehensive suite of quality educational media -- Articles, Assessments, eBooks, How to Guides, Interactive Workbooks, Special Reports, Training Workshops that focus on the world of entrepreneurship. Each Seaplace Publication aims to provide actionable solutions to help entrepreneurs excel in all ventures they take on. Whether starting and operating a business, leading people or companies, building a brand, engaging customers, or investing for the future, the educational media published by Seaplace Publishing help individuals achieve success both in business and in life.

Seaplace TRAINING

Delivers quality-off-the-shelf training courses and programs that provide continuity from one learning activity to another and ties together the learning from separate activities into a cohesive whole. Our training is behavior based. Through interactive approaches we provide solid how-to’s which learners can implement on the job immediately. Seaplace training improves the performance and self-fulfillment of entrepreneurs and their employees through a variety of educational methods and programs. We utilize a number of training delivery methods which include seminars, webinars, workshops, online courses, case studies, role playing, simulations, video presentations, programmed instruction, and special study. Seaplace training is delivered online through our training and development portal Business Training Global.com.

Whether it’s Consulting, Publishing, and/or Training… that’s how we ensure your success!

Visit us at… www.SeaplaceGroup.com and www.BusinessTrainingGlobal.com

http://www.seaplacegroup.com/

http://www.businesstrainingglobal.com/

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