Why are small businesses migrating to digital marketing in COVID-19 times

The global coronavirus outbreak has put several businesses with mounting challenges. For some businesses, establishing a digital presence was not a key priority. However, to address the challenges, business owners are forced to make quick changes to their operations and strategies. 

The public health scare has brought businesses across the world to a grinding halt. While we wait for factories to reopen their business operations, shops to start selling, and schools to start their routine learning modes, we continue to devise efficient methods to overhaul business strategies – in other words, taking businesses online.

The necessity of web presence

For those businesses that were operating completely through the offline mode are now attempting to develop their web presence. In today’s digital world, a website is the most important base for a consumer to gather information about a company and its products. Essentially, it is an online representation of the firm and can fulfill several roles — right from informing the user about what the company does to selling its products and providing customer care. Hence, it is important to ensure that a business must create the best possible experience for its users when they visit its website. One such industry that operated through the offline mode and is now migrating online is the education sector such as schools, professional coaching institutes, and higher education universities. These institutions have teamed up with digital learning platforms to prevent learning gaps among students. Most industry experts feel that for the edtech sector, the lockdown has proved to be an opportunity in disguise to take recourse to digital learning platforms like never before. Most students whose competitive exams have been deferred are now taking special classes online to resolve their queries, taking assessments, and revising high difficulty level topics. This period has seen a high demand for online coaching platforms that are not only user friendly but also interactive like offline tuition centers.

New methods of engagement

A time like this has entailed all events and knowledge forums to postpone and cancel their schedules. The stakeholders of such events have resorted to hosting webinars and using tools such as Facebook Live and Instagram Live to help businesses transition events from in-person to digital. Musicians and orchestras are streaming free concerts to audiences affected by COVID-19 worldwide, fitness studios are scheduling classes on live channels so people can work out without leaving home and educators are hosting lessons online for students who have experienced school closures. Businesses can use Facebook Live and Instagram Live to help creatively engage, entertain, or inspire their communities.

The emergence of more online marketplaces

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed people to choose online methods of shopping and avoid going to public markets to reduce the chances of contamination. Even traditional shoppers who believed in the look and feel of the objects before making a purchase decision are now adapting themselves to the new norm of buying products online to preserve their health. 

Revamping business model

Luxury business brands are re-evaluating their brick and mortar business model and implementing the omnichannel approach with an enhanced digital strategy to boost sales. Though several such brands are relatively nascent, these are witnessing an enormous push from both digital players who see this as an opportunity and large-scale brands who see this as a necessary supplement to their brick and mortar model.

The need of the hour calls for immediate transition to online mode through existing tools and resources. Having an internet presence, transacting online, and staying engaged with customers are the top three priorities for business to survive these trying and testing times.

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