For any event, when you are planning everything meticulously, you always need to consider one factor that you can never control. Even when you are managing everything to the T, the weather can be the real bummer. Though it is not a natural calamity, however, the pandemic is wreaking its havoc around the world. And presently, it is the most unpredictable thing that is eventually affecting every life on this planet. Now, it is needless to say, it is also affecting the market too. So, when you are planning to stay afloat even during this global crisis, you will need to have the feeling of some kind ofcontrol over the factors that can be managed by you.
Metrics in the Time of Coronavirus
For content marketing, this is a setup, an already established framework that has been providing everyone with the desired results, even after a bit of change and tweaking up here and there. But, with the outbreak of COVID19, the whole paradigm has shifted. Now, brands and businesses are in dire need of different and new strategies as this is an unprecedented situation. And that is why, now, if you are aiming to have some control over your marketing endeavor, you need to get the metrics in the first place. Right now, it is more important than ever. Pay attention to the all external and internal factors while you are hiring a company for content writing services if you are willing to get the result when the whole world is affected by the pandemic.
So, here in the following points, I am about to share the multi-step idea that will help you get through it smoothly. Take a look at the following points to get enlightened.
Track Down the Old Record
The time in the world is now divided between two zones, pre-COVID 19 and ongoing-COVID19. The world before the outbreak of the pandemic was different undoubtedly. Things were normal. And as a result, the behavior of the consumer was normal too. Now, with the global pandemic and the partial almost complete lockdown all around the world, the situation has changed a lot. But if you are trying to gain some control over your marketing endeavor and wondering how you can do that, then tracking down the old records will be a necessary step. Find out what the scenario was before the global pandemic started wreaking havoc. Pick any date before the COVID19 hit the place your customers are based on, where the routine was normal. You might need to segment your audience as different countries and regions got affected at different times. The date-wise result will give you a clear picture of how things were going with your content marketing strategy.
Go Week by Week
Given the situation all over the world, the external factors are rapidly changing which is affecting the internal necessities of the consumers. Depending on the compulsion of living a life on limited resources, it is becoming imperative that the customer’s behavior changes also. Now, owing to the situation, coming up with a long-term goal for your brand or business will not work at all. This is because external metrics like the number of affected people by novel Coronavirus, the number of deaths, the extension of lockdown date in a particular region, the relaxation of lockdown, everything is changing within weeks. Hence, refrain from strategizing your content marketing endeavor for the long term. Focus on the short term goals, and make strategies according to that. The relevant external factors and the metrics that you need to keep in mind are the date of lockdown in the region your customers are based in, the news, and the dates announced there that are affecting their lives directly.
Competitive Analysis of What Your Audience is Doing
Business Map
Given the example of every year, generally, you have an idea of what your audience is doing and when. For example, brands generally have the idea of the time of the year when the traffic will go down as the consumers will be gone for vacation, or when the sale will be up because of some special event. In any case, when you are thinking of doing the same during this time too, you are headed for failure. So, instead of that, try and dig out the competitive data for analysis about the behavior of your audience. There are three categories that you need to focus on before you hire a copywriter for the content,
- Tactics
- Distribution platforms
- Timing
Find out which tactics are working the best for your target audience. It can be the webinar that they find informative. Or it can be the newsletter that now they have time to open and go through regularly. Find out which distribution platform is helping you get more responses. Are you getting more engagement on Facebook? Or are your emails getting more response? Or maybe the number of subscribers is increasing on your YouTube channel. Also, given the situation of social isolation, everyone is staying at home which gives them plenty of time to stay online. So, the suitable time of posting, sending out emails, and releasing a webinar might change. Keep experimenting and find out which one works for you.
Find Out What Content Your Consumers are Generally Following
With the change of situation, the content consuming habit of your customers is also changing. Previously, brands could pitch for sale easily. However, right now, as a brand, your responsibility should be conveying the message that you are there, in complete support for your customer base. In fact, SEO experts are also of the same opinion that you need to change your tone of content to build trust amongst your audience. Invest in content that can offer you the same while continuing to monitor the general trend to know when to pitch and how you can do it.
Finally, keep on tracking on a regular basis. When you are keeping a note on the metrics, it won’t serve you any good if you are not ready to track the latest developments and accordingly adjust your plans and strategies. So, make sure that you are not setting up any long term goal out of habit. And always discuss what you have in mind with the company before opting for their website content writing services. And as tough as it might seem right now, this too shall pass. Stay home and stay safe.
Author Bio: Mitali Purkait Ghosh is the co-founder of Digital Concepts, an emerging company that offers website content writing services along with 360 degree digital marketing. Here in the blog, she writes on how you need to depend on metrics right now especially during the outbreak of the pandemic. Read her blog before you hire a copywriter.