In a few short weeks, life as many of us knew it changed. The Covid-19 virus took over the world and shuttered pretty much everything. Businesses closed, schools closed, people were told to stay home. And while a great many of us are still sitting at home, as they say, the show must go on.
With revenue down across the board at many businesses, tough decisions need to be made. Do you continue your marketing plan? Should you decrease your marketing spend? What if you do something else? What’s the answer? I spoke to a number of experts and small business owners and got their opinion about content marketing during Covid. Here is a round-up of their thoughts on the matter.
Provide real-time value with your content
I’m working on addressing current concerns people have while also continuing to build evergreen content that will provide value over time. – Alice Stevens, Best Company
Right now I have not done a ton to adjust my content strategies. I have created a couple YouTube videos that help with brainstorming ideas for making it through. But other than that, I have continued to focus on my existing content plan. – Andrew Travilliian, Aspirfy
Honestly, no content marketing strategy is better the strategy of showing empathy. That’s what it should all be about now. – Khris Steven, Khris Digital
When it comes from companies’ genuine desire to help, then sure, I support such initiatives as much as the next person. But at this point, it seems that content creators are trying to jump on the hype train and don’t bring anything new to the table. So, I don’t think we need another ‘25 gadgets you desperately need when working from home’ piece. – Anastasiia Khlystova, Help Crunch
Do something different for your content marketing during Covid
The first thing you have to understand about content marketing in the age of Covid-19 is that you have to scrap everything that you had pre-written and scheduled before the extent of the Pandemic was clear. Some organizations have clearly tried to continue utilizing content that was written beforehand, and no amount of longer introduction or adjustments to calls-to-action will make it work. You need to face the facts, and put that content off for likely a few months at a time. – Flynn Zaiger, Scottsdale SEO Optimists
Providing status updates in these changing times of Covid-19 can have a beneficial impact on your eCommerce stores. – Marco Baatjes, Bottom Line Cents
Visual materials like infographics, regarding precautions to take to protect yourself from Coronavirus with your brand logo and company name on the visual, can not only help customers to learn safety tips but also can boost your brand name and brand searches. – Rameez Ghayas Usmani, Pure VPN
Focus on brand recognition, not revenue right now
Focus on top of the funnel, not bottom of the funnel. People aren’t buying products today like they were two months ago. Most are just trying to figure out how to get from day to day as we all try to adjust to this new life we’re all living. In many markets the opportunity right now is in audience building, not necessarily in content that converts directly to sales. – Yaniv Masjedi, Nextiva
Decide what’s relevant
The key to managing content outreach during trying times like this is honest assessment and constant reassessment. Is your content relevant to customers right now? Should you be addressing the concerns of the people or continuing business as usual? Is this a good time to get a leg up on competitors that are cutting their content marketing spend? – Jason Lee, Our Best Online Dating Sites
As a video production company, we’ve shifted our social media and blogging strategy to make instructors aware that we’re offering discounted services for creating educational videos. Instructors have been tasked with creating weeks worth of online video content and we want to help where we can. – Hilary Bird, Render Pilots
We have collaborated across our entire software team to create a specific site for Covid-19 including relevant news releases for our Walmart suppliers, an interactive map, and the top five metrics we believe suppliers should be watching. We have also begun a program that offers some of our essential products for free to qualifying suppliers. – Sara White, Supply Pike
We brainstormed content marketing ideas that are are both related to Covid19 and to our industry (i.e. food). Speed to market is super important right now, as things change super fast from one day to another. There’s also a race to produce Covid19-related content, so we cannot stress this enough – don’t strive for perfection, but make sure to get your content out the door as fast as possible. And don’t bother with follow-ups. By the time you’re doing the follow-ups the world has moved on. – Corina Onet, Chef’s Pencil
Just keep going
Our natural reaction is to slam on the brakes when we come across the unknown. I get it. However, while disrupted, the market’s still going, people are buying things and there are still things to be done. Following the first two pieces of advice will show your audience that you really understand them, especially now, and not going away during times of uncertainty reinforces your commitment to them, which will help you in the long run. – Katie Gootenberg, Digitally Enhanced
Content marketers should roll out at least twice their usual content during this pandemic. Most people are locked in their houses, and they typically turn to the internet to entertain themselves. With that said, you’re missing out on a ton of opportunities if you don’t double your content production. – Jeremy Owens, Seriously Smoked
I am still a big fan of Content Marketing and as far as messaging goes, between the pandemic and the possible recession, leaders and brands have an opportunity to further connect with anxious audiences and focus on the true relevance of their products or services. We have to acknowledge that now things are different so we need to communicate in a way that will give our audiences better focus, helping them to create a bridge from today to the future. – Paige Arnof-Fenn, Mavens & Moguls
Show your expertise
The trick is to maximize what you have and leave no stone unturned. Covid-19 will force content marketers and creators to get creative and more cost-effective over the coming year, and producing podcasts is our answer to that problem. – Christopher James Foust, Motus Creative Group
Our goal is the more educated our audience becomes, the quicker they see all the expertise needed to acquire traffic and they decide to hire us. Also, our sales conversations are further along after prospects have read our content because we don’t have to prove we’re credible on the topic, they already know. – Brian Robben, Robben Media
Continuing with your content marketing plan during Covid while making some changes and tweaks is the best advice for dealing with this crisis. If you need help getting your content out there or increasing your output, our writers can help you.
David is the Founder and Director of article-writing.co, the fastest-growing content creation agency in North America. He has transformed companies by offering high-quality content that has impacted their SEO ranking, revitalized websites with engaging and industry-relevant blogs and website copy, and championed successful email campaign copy.
