A few weeks ago, we wrote a
blog post about signage ideas to help Alexandria and Arlington restaurants through the COVID-19 pandemic. While those ideas were specifically tailored to restaurants, with a few minor tweaks, they could help out any business that’s fortunate enough to still be open during this time period.
But what about marketing?
Many businesses throughout the country have drastically slashed their marketing budgets in an attempt to save money. This is one of the worst things you can do during an economic downturn—if you completely stop your marketing, you run the very real risk of losing what little business you still have.
One of the first things you can do is re-evaluate your marketing plan. Focus your efforts solely on those who are continuing to patronize your business. This will help ensure that you are nurturing the relationship, and this will allow them to make a greater connection with your business.
Here are four marketing ideas that you can engage in to help hold on to the clients or customers who are keeping you afloat during this unprecedented time period.
Direct Mail
A properly designed and executed
direct mail campaign will help keep your brand at the forefront of the minds of your customers. It’s a tangible, physical item that is much more persuasive than a carefully crafted marketing email.
You can reaffirm your thanks for their patronage and provide reassurance that you’re here to help service their needs. You can also run a promotional campaign that offers coupons or loyalty discounts to your most valued customers.
The best way to get started is to look at your customer lists and segment those who are still patronizing your business or have a need for your products or services. Then determine which type of mailer will work best. Some ideas are:
If you’re not sure where to begin, or this is your first time engaging in a direct mail campaign, the friendly and knowledgeable marketing experts at
AlphaGraphics of Alexandria and Arlington can help with ideas, design, execution, and tracking the results.
Email Marketing
Are you currently running an
email marketing campaign and tracking the results? If not, you’re missing out on an excellent opportunity to make an authentic connection with your customers to reassure them that you’re here to help.
A successful email marketing campaign consists of a professional templated design, concise and persuasive copywriting, and targeted lists. Tracking and reporting will allow you to refine your efforts further and ultimately increase sales.
But what if you don’t have a targeted list to market to?
List Acquisition
If your business is still open, there are countless people out there who need your products or services. While it’s important to target current clients and customers, you can also divert some of your marketing budget to acquiring new leads and business.
The best way to do so is through
email list acquisition. At AlphaGraphics of Alexandria and Arlington, we can help your business generate a list of names and email addresses of those people who are most likely to need the products or services that you offer.
We’ll help make sure that your marketing campaigns reach the right people. We have several sources of lists, including your very own website!
If you’re in the B2B segment, we can install technology on your website that will identify seemingly anonymous visitors. We do this through highly reputable Software-as-a-Service companies with a proven track record of generating new leads.
Website Design and Development
Is your current website up to date and adheres to current standards? Is it mobile-friendly and able to rank in the organic search results? There’s no better time than now to touch up or completely overhaul your company site.
Professional website design and development can help increase the number of leads you generate and eliminate many of the on-site SEO issues that older business websites suffer from.
This can help improve search engine rankings and will serve to update your brand image in the eyes of your customers. Your website should generate leads on its own—if you’re not taking full advantage of the power of your company site, you’re missing out on a lot of new business.
COVID-19 Marketing Help in Alexandria and Arlington
At AlphaGraphics of Alexandria and Arlington, we’re not only a sign shop but marketing experts as well. We can help your business generate new leads and drive new traffic through our suite of professional marketing services.
By focusing your marketing budget on those who are most likely to make a purchase, you’ll be able to continue to remain afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you’d like to speak to a marketing expert about your business, give us a call at (703) 549-2432 or
contact us on our website.