Useful Paid Advertising Campaign Strategies
If you’re wondering how COVID-19 is affecting paid advertising campaign strategies, you’re not alone! And the answer is: both negatively and positively.
On the one hand, people are more at home and doing practically everything online. But many people are cutting back on spending because they’ve lost their job or are trying to save some money to help their families get through the pandemic.
And while some businesses are seeing increased traffic during this time, others with products or services that are not in demand are seeing a woeful drop in traffic or having to pause or stop their campaigns entirely. Influencer Marketing Hub reports that 69% of the 237 brands they surveyed expect to reduce ad spend in 2020.
Earlier I talked about how it’s essential to pivot to meet the needs and wants of your target audience. This means taking a closer look at what you can offer people during the COVID-19 crisis, both as a small business owner and as a member of the community.
This time, I am sharing some tips on how to manage PPC during the coronavirus. PPC stands for pay per click advertising, also known as non-organic traffic. (Organic traffic comes from unpaid SEO techniques.)
Depending on your small business, you can post paid ads on:
- Google Ads/image ads on the Google Display Network
- YouTube (and video ad placements)
3 Steps to Get Started with Paid Marketing During COVID-19
Even if you currently run an ad campaign, it’s important to take a look at your keywords and ad text. Are they as effective as they can be?
Just because people are practicing social distancing doesn’t mean they aren’t actively searching and buying online. However, the ad copy you used before may not resonate with your target audience now, and may even offend them.
1. Research your keywords.
Researching your keywords is always essential, and especially now! You want to observe the buying behavior of your target audience related to COVID-19.
You might be surprised to learn that there’s a new niche keyword you could be searching for, or that your customers are using a different search term than you expected.
Also, look for keyword opportunities within your business around topics like:
- work/study from home
- streaming services
- Health products/services
- Communication tools
There are several keyword research tools out there, or you can hire a professional SEO/SEM company to handle everything from keyword research to reporting on the data.
2. Review your value propositions.
Many entrepreneurs are updating their value propositions to better serve their customers.
You can increase the appeal of your ads and encourage more people to click with relevant value propositions—whether it’s free shipping, delivery options, or a limited-time discount—just make sure you’re not using anxiety or fear around the pandemic to sell.
3. Review your negative keywords.
You can use negative keywords when you want to make sure your ad won’t show for a certain keyword. This saves you money on wasted clicks and keeps your ads more relevant, which increases your Quality Score (which lowers your cost per click).
You might want to set certain keywords related to in-person services to negative now, so you’re not paying for clicks related to things you don’t offer to your customers right now.
You can also limit where your ad appears. For example, you may not want your ad to appear alongside COVID-19 related content during this sensitive time.
However, because there is a LOT of COVID-19 going on, you can drastically limit your brand visibility by doing that. And according to a recent report from Integral Ad Science, 78% of people surveyed would not view general ads around coronavirus content as a bad thing.
So you’ll need to use your judgment for this, based on what you sell and how you position your ads.
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READ: “4 Marketing Strategies for the COVID-19 Crisis” on our website:
From connecting in our relationships to running our small businesses, COVID-19 has transformed the way we live, work, and socialize. I feel lucky that my family and I are healthy and safe, and I am trying to find positive opportunities in all of this.
As we continue to self-isolate to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, I wanted to share 4 marketing strategies to consider to help keep your business running smoothly and successfully.
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Why you need short-term and long-term paid ad campaign strategies
Of course, you need to focus on the present and how you can best move your small business forward now. But as you navigate paid marketing during COVID-19, don’t forget about your future!
Use what you are learning now to drive your decisions. Look at your keyword data – what is resonating with your customers? What is not getting traffic?
You may find that you can continue similar paid ad campaign strategies after COVID-19 ends, and/or you may find that you need to drastically adjust your sails.
It’s a good idea to think about how your small business will get out of this pandemic, however far it may seem. Create an advertising plan now so you don’t stay struggling along the way.
Sure, it can change, and you may have to pivot again, but at least you’ll have a marketing foundation to build on.
While advertising during coronavirus can be anything but “business as usual,” it’s critical that you have the tools to meet this new challenge head-on. The entrepreneurs who are going to succeed when this is all over are the ones who embraced the unknown and kept going!
I hope all of my coronavirus resources, including these tips for advertising during COVID-19, have helped you. I will continue to post relevant content in the coming weeks. Take care!
