If challenging times like the 2020 pandemic had happened 30 years ago with this intensity, most of our businesses would have sunk.
In that sense, it’s fortunate that we live in a day when technology allows many of us to run our companies remotely. At the same time, operating remotely poses its challenges, especially if your marketing strategy has relied heavily on brick-and-mortar facilities and in-person connections. How do you continue building your brand when the virtual space is all you have to work with at the moment?
Here’s the good news: Your target market is now online, as well. Most people are staying home more, spending more time on social media, streaming more content, and shopping more online than ever before. You don’t have to wait for them to come to you—you can go to them, from anywhere in the world. You just have to learn where they’re hanging out online and be smart about reaching them. Let’s explore tips for using virtual space more effectively to build your brand.
Make the Most of Social Media
With social media platforms now serving as people’s primary connection to the outside world, you owe it to yourself and your company to leverage this outlet for all its worth. Research which platforms your target demographic uses most, and get to work building a presence there. Target advertising can help, but don’t rely only on ads—focus on engagement, providing helpful information, and building followers. If you can also enlist the help of a few social media influencers, you can expand your reach exponentially.
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Educate and Inspire using Video and Conferencing Platforms
Spending so much time at home, people in your target market likely have more time on their hands these days. You can use this to your advantage by creating helpful content related to your product or service. Setting up a YouTube channel is just one way to accomplish this. Still, you can even utilize video conferencing platforms like Zoom to host workshops, meetups, product demos, and more for a more interactive experience. (These platforms also work very well as a replacement for “in-person” meetings for direct sales and pitches.) These resources are excellent for educating people about what you do and how it can help them, and for giving them actionable information that builds customer loyalty around your brand.
Be Strategic and Hyper-Focused with Digital Advertising
The other side of Internet connectivity is that the Internet is incredibly vast, with tons of competing content, and it’s easy for your message to get lost in the mix. Though they are becoming more user-friendly, spending money on Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc., without any focus or strategy, will likely result in wasted effort. Fortunately, some online tools and strategies help you to “hyper-focus” your ads directly at legitimate prospective customers, and location targeting even lets you narrow it down to zip code, street, and building. Before spending marketing dollars on these outlets, take extra steps to make sure you’re reaching the right people.
Wicked Bionic is highly experienced across all aspects of marketing in the virtual space, and we can help you create a customized strategy for effective brand-building, even in challenging times. Reach out to us to learn more.
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About the Author
Dana C. Arnett, Founder and CEO of Wicked Bionic, spent 30 years in the entertainment business before starting the agency in 2015. The Los Angeles-based multicultural communications and advertising agency works with government and private-sector clients on strategic marketing and engaging media campaigns. Dana has always loved learning from other cultures, and that curiosity became the foundation for how Wicked Bionic approaches culturally responsive marketing – building authentic connections between organizations and the communities they serve.
