Getting Off The Island

7 Projects To Consider During Quaran-time.

Over the past three weeks, we’ve learned a lot about our team and even more about what our clients need to succeed during unprecedented uncertainty. We’ve shifted focus, reprioritized projects and developed new strategies to align with what their audiences are looking for today. Because it ain’t what it was yesterday, that’s for sure.

Listen, I’m not going to be the 17th person you know to share the Kellogg article about advertising through the Great Depression. Google it if you want. It’s a good one.

This post is not so much about keeping your foot on the gas (marketing-wise), it’s about taking a different route to arrive at a new and improved destination. The interstate just closed on you. You can sit in traffic for God knows how long, or take the back roads. Hell, they’re more scenic anyhow.

Here are the 7 projects (not including making a radio out of coconuts) our clients are prioritizing for winning marketshare post-quarantine.

1. Brand Messaging

   It’s likely every savvy marketing director is going to be taking a long look at their company’s brand positioning and messaging during the pandemic. They’ll ask themselves, “Is what we were saying before still relevant after?”. And, “Will our audience change?”. Our guess is, probably not and youbetcha. Updated Strategic Positioning may be a big factor in not coming across tone-deaf to existing customers and winning over new ones.

2. Website Refresh

   Whether you’ve been putting it off or have had other marketing initiatives in the way, now might be the time to take a good long look at your brand’s website. Is the photography up to date? Is it responsive for mobile devices and tablets? Does it produce leads? What’s your traffic like? Strategically re-launching your website with new messaging, content and design to coincide with a rebounding economy might have your competition scrambling to keep up.

3. Search Engine Optimization

   This is something you can (and probably should) be doing already. Your company solves a particular problem. When customers are searching for the solution, you need to be there. The first step is starting with a Technical Audit of your site. In order to rank organically, your site needs to be crawl-able for search engines. You’ll want to scan for any issues and correct any changes as well as implement changes to improve page speed and mobile-friendly. Then, do some Keyword Research – what you’re currently ranking for, what your customers are searching for, and where you should be ranking. From there, On-Page Optimization. Using keyword research, you can optimize current content on the website to reflect what users are searching for. This include updating title tags, meta descriptions, H1 and H2 headers, and more. Finally, Local Search Optimization Recommendations. When people are searching for services, they are usually looking for local businesses – and search engines know this. Make sure your Google My Business listing is up to date and look for other listing sites to get on. You’ll definitely want to make sure there isn’t any incorrect information out there.

4. Content Marketing

   Did you share someone else’s really smart article on LinkedIn recently? Wouldn’t you rather that have been an article that you wrote? Struggle to figure out what to post to your social channels this week? Most do. That’s content marketing. We love it because is a programmatic approach to staying in front of your audience. Think about it. Consistent publishing of informational, educational or entertaining posts will give you the content needed to populate your blog, email newsletter and social media channels. One great listicle (that’s what this is) creates several cross-platform publishing opportunities. All in all, Content Marketing is about three things.

   1. Establishing You As The Expert. Sharing your expertise with current and potential clients is a great way to solidify yourself as the authority in your field, the go-to professional they'll seek out when they need help.

   2. Staying Top Of Mind. Having a steady output of communication is key in keeping top of mind among your audience and gives you a huge advantage over your competition if they are failing to do so.

   3. Developing Familiarity With Your Business. Having a steady output of communication is key in keeping top of mind among your audience and gives you a huge advantage over your competition if they are failing to do so. No more, "I didn't know you guys did that."

   And most importantly, if you're not doing it, someone else is talking to your potential customers or clients. That's no good. Oh, and if you don’t have the time to write your own articles, don’t worry. Nobody does. You can always hire an industry expert to help co-write the content for you.

5. Animated Video

   There’s no way around it. You can’t produce video with live talent AND social distance at the same time. That’s why animated video is super-appropriate to produce during the quarantine. Maybe something like this?

6. Visual Identity

   Similar to brand messaging, it’s an interesting time to take a look at your brand’s visual identity. Was it a little dated before this pandemic situation? If so, it certainly will be afterwards. If your logo and collateral aren’t updated for a social and digital-first, post-rona world, you should consider making it a priority. Who doesn’t appreciate a good old fashioned Baphometic Fire Baptism?

7. Morale Boosters

   We’ll all trying to figure out ways to keep our clients engaged. Our advice, don’t forget about your employees and team members. Like us, your company may be thrust into a 100% distributed team scenario. That’s fancy talk for everybody’s working from home. Do the things to keep them engaged and on the same page. We love the idea of drop-shipping some branded swag to their homes. Just look at this awesome brand box we recently produced for Fortera Credit Union’s 300 employees.

Remember, when it comes to getting off the island, try thinking a little more The Professor and a little less Gilligan.