The recent quarantines for COVID-19 have had a massive impact on how businesses gain new clients, and communicate with existing clients. For businesses that rely heavily on trade shows, in-person networking, events, cold-calling, and in-person sales, it has made it difficult or impossible to gain new business with these sales methods. Many of these companies are having to shift more time and budget to online marketing, such as PPC advertising on Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Banner ads, and other pay per click advertising methods for fast lead generation to replace their previous methods.
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Online Advertising Growth or Decline
Depending on the industry, some businesses are down in revenue, while others have seen a significant spike from the quarantines. For example, online shopping, including online grocery services has increased substantially. According to an article from AdAge.com, “Nearly 40 percent of current online grocery shoppers made a first online grocery purchase in March, according to a study by SmartCommerce”
While some businesses are able to shift to online strategies, other industries have had to reduce or pause advertising on Facebook and Google until the Coronavirus pandemic settles. According to a recent article from MarketWatch.com “About 30% of Facebook’s ad revenue comes from travel and films, while many of its advertisers are small businesses likely to slice spending.”
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Shifting to Online
Most of the companies that used more traditional, in-person, sales methods previously had a small budget for online marketing, or no budget for online marketing at all. The coronavirus quarantines have made these businesses strongly consider PPC management services when they would probably not have in the past. The question they are asking now is how to use pay per click advertising for online lead generation. After implementing new online advertising strategies, these companies may consider keeping them in place long-term, even after the country settles and the quarantines are fully lifted.
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SBA Help for Businesses
In addition, many businesses are turning to government aid for grants or loans to help them stay in business. Whether the money is used for payroll, generating new business, or keeping standard operations going, there are many options available for financial aid. More details are listed on
https://www.sba.gov/ about obtaining financial assistance for businesses impacted by COVID-19. These include Paycheck Protection Program, EIDL Loan Advance, SBA Express Bridge Loans, SBA Debt Relief, and more. Please review the official SBA.gov website for accurate information on how your business may be able to get help.
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Conducting Current Business Online
Beyond advertising, businesses are having to shift to conducting current business remotely, rather than in person. For example, attorneys are shifting to phone and online consultations rather than in-person, doctors have been using telemedicine to see patients remotely, and In-person events have been forced to shift over to online events and webinars. This is causing an increase in online meeting solutions like Zoom.com, GoToMeeting.com, or IssuerDirect.com. Even though many employees also have to work from home, they can still book sales calls, give presentations, and conduct meetings using this type of software. It is certainly a major shift from the norm, but necessary to keep business going as much as possible.
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Shift to Online Wherever Possible
It is uncertain how things will play out in the next few weeks, or months, but businesses and consumers have seen more activity online during the COVID-19 quarantines. If businesses are able to shift to conducting more business remotely and shift to online marketing rather than in-person, it may help them continue to bring in revenue during these difficult times.
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