Adam Binder is the Founder & Creative Director of Creative Click Media, a full-service digital marketing agency headquartered in New Jersey.
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Our society may start returning to some semblance of normalcy in the slow of Covid-19, but something that will not be remedied for potentially years to come is its catastrophic impact on our economy. Long-standing companies may have experienced an economic downturn in the past, but for newer business owners, the fallout from the novel coronavirus is uncharted territory.
Uncertain times call for unprecedented strategies, especially when our struggling economy has affected both your business and your clients in different ways. That being said, it may require creative thinking and innovation to reimagine your skills in a way that adds value to your agency through this economic slump.
Offer Support
In difficult times, your clients and customers need more than just your agency’s services — they need your support. Whether they’ve been displaced from their office, are suffering from lost income or are at risk for ceasing operations for good, a little compassion from your business can go a long way in your efforts to maintain relationships with your client base. Let them know that you are available to hear them out about the hardships they’re facing, and try to be flexible when it comes to adjusting project deadlines and forgiving late fees on payments.
Repurpose Your Skillsets
Budgetary cuts are inevitable in a struggling economy. However, the last thing you want is for your agency to be the extraneous cost that gets cut. Demonstrating value during an economic crisis might mean reimagining how your skills could be valuable. For example, this might include reallocating your client’s marketing budget to integrate live chat functionality on their website while they’re working from home, or even repurposing your company emails as a news resource for struggling small businesses on your subscriber list. Listen to the needs and concerns of your client base, and look for creative ways to use the tools you already have to help them find cost-effective solutions.
Conduct A Competitor Analysis
An economic crisis affects everyone — your business, your clients and your competition. Much like your agency, your competitors will also likely need to shift their marketing strategy in order to at least maintain their customer base, if not grow it. This is where competitor analysis comes in handy.
A competitor analysis is a systematic process of identifying the marketing strategies used by your competitors in order to pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses — which keywords they rank the best for, which markets they’re neglecting, and so on. In the case of a struggling economy, this might also mean identifying where they are doubling down and where they are cutting back on their marketing efforts. Your agency can then use this information to establish gaps or opportunities in your own marketing strategy. For example, if you notice a competitor has started targeting a new set of keywords, your agency may want to pivot in the same direction before they corner the market.
Sharpen Your Keyword Strategy
That being said, modifying your keywords isn’t solely reserved for when your competitors beat you to the punch. You should be updating your keywords periodically as it is, but especially during a nationwide economic crisis that will undoubtedly shift the way consumers utilize the internet for the foreseeable future.
Sharpening your keyword strategy doesn’t mean abandoning the keyword strategy you had in place already, but rather shifting your focus toward how your target audience might be searching for businesses like yours right now. For a doctor in San Diego, this might mean prioritizing keywords like “telehealth in California,” and a mom-and-pop restaurant might make the simple pivot from “Italian food near me” to “Italian food delivery near me.” Be sure to also update your website and Google My Business listing so search engines and your customers both know these services are available.
Rising Up From A Sinking Economy
A struggling economy doesn’t necessarily mean your agency is destined to struggle, too. Business may not process “as usual” for quite some time, but approaching our new normal with compassion and creative thinking at the forefront of your marketing plan moving forward will help you bolster your agency while lessening the burden on your clients. Strike the perfect balance between satisfying the needs of your clients while maintaining your professional integrity, and your agency could be one of the fortunate few who come out on the other side of an economic crisis even more profitable than before.
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