On March 26, we tuned in to watch Jason Spencer, Business Development Director at ITV, conduct an hour-long seminar addressing the business difficulties affecting the nation surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19.

Jason kicked off the first of a four-part series of webinars presented by Social Chain, discussing how one of the UK’s biggest TV networks is tackling the outbreak.

“When times are good you SHOULD advertise, when times are bad, you MUST advertise.”

Breaking TV records since 1966

With TV viewings spiking up to 30% within the past few weeks, there is no better time than now to be advertising your business through TV and online marketing.

On March 23, more than 27 million people tuned in to watch Prime Minster Boris Johnson give his coronavirus announcement where he updated the UK on the current pandemic and put us into a minimum three week lockdown.

boris-locdown-and-world-cup-66

Out of the 27 million views, half came from the BBC, with the announcement ending up as the single biggest live TV moment since the 1966 World Cup Final.

And not only have TV viewings dramatically increased, but extra services like the red button and online TV replay sites, offered by these networks, have also seen a sudden surge of traffic.

How does this apply to my business?

Brands are often judged by their actions, but by offering additional services / products to what you normally provide, consumers will see that you and your business has identified and adapted to help those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Free content, personal advice and showing you support to customers are a few ways your business can generate a trustworthy presence for your customers.

Partnerships are also useful to consider for businesses as they can provide exposure to new markets, which allows you to grow larger customer base and improve business opportunities. Put simply, start new conversations. Pick up the phone, reach out on email, send a LinkedIn connection.

Why user generated content will help you get your foot in the door

The impact of using user generated content to not only retain, but also gain viewership, is extremely beneficial for businesses.

After streaming one of ITV’s most popular TV shows Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, without a live audience last week, ITV saw viewing figures of 11 million people tuning in, resulting in this being their highest viewing numbers since the show began over 15 years ago.

ant-and-dec no audience

Ant and Dec requested their fans to send in videos of them dancing to fill the fact there was no studio audience. This saw a huge response with households up and down the country sending videos of themselves all in the hope to be broadcasted live on the Saturday night.

So, by showing you can amend your usual way of business to fit these exceptional circumstances, it shows determination and fidelity to your customers.

How can you adapt your marketing strategy online?

Even though we’ve been aware of it for much longer, it’s now been a full month since the COVID-19 turned our lives upside down!

Whether it’s social distancing, not being able to see loved ones, getting to grips with a limited life outdoors or literally removing all the skin on your hands from washing them a few hundred times per day. The Coronavirus is something most of us never expected to affect our way of life.

And due to the sizeable impact on the economy, businesses need to adapt. Here are some tips on how you can revise your online marketing strategy to help make the most of the situation:

Help other unselfishly

Like everyone else, Feel hasn’t been immune to the current climate. We’ve lost clients, but we still decided to provide as much advice and information as possible to local businesses and anyone who needs help. It doesn’t matter if this doesn’t lead to any future business, we just want to be able to look back say “we did what we could to help”.

Show that you care.

Cheaper paid ads

If you’ve ever thought about starting a paid ads campaign, now may be the best time as we’re seeing a trend that most paid ads are becoming cheaper. When you think about it, it does make sense. Paid search like Google Ads need small businesses to drive up the cost per click so bigger companies have to spend more. However, if there’s not as many small businesses, there’s not as much competition!

Educational based training is a winner!

Joe Wicks, ever heard of him? He had a million people live stream his PE classes. Admittedly he already had a good platform, but he turned his subsequently cancelled tour of schools promoting fitness and healthy living into being the nation’s PE teacher during lockdown. What could you do?

joe wicks PE

What about a payment plan?

Companies have seen a 12% average increase on conversions when offering a consumer an option to pay for their purchase with instalments. It doesn’t have to be e-commerce, but if you can help ease the financial burden of your customers in the short term, they won’t forget it. A loyal customer is the best kind of customer money can’t buy!

These are just some of the things you can do, but be sure to check out our social channels for more marketing tips to help your business.

Keep up to date by following us on social:
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