The BC economic restart plan is underway. While officials are hopeful for a return to normal by September, we don’t want your business to simply accept a retreat to status quo.
The pent-up demand for a large number of products and services is opening up a world of new opportunity. Look to the travel industry as an analogy. Last year, we predicted unprecedented growth in tourism as destinations reopen to accept visitors. This is happening right now. The much publicized Carmageddon is evidence, with car rental companies not being able to keep up with demand. Prices are skyrocketing as high as $900 per day for SUVs in some places, forcing tourists to rent U-Hauls instead. This behavior will extend to a number of industries where the government has enforced limits or outright lockdowns. If your business was impacted (like most) you have over a year of lost revenue to make up for. So instead of getting ready to return to normal, focus on coming back bigger and better than ever before. In other words, it’s time to update your digital marketing strategy. The good news, is that the online customer acquisition resources you use have taken the last two quarters of 2021 to make updates of their own. To capitalize, you simply need to adapt to these updates and you’re business will be ready to reap the rewards. Let’s review.
Top 3 Updates Your Business Needs to Make to Its Online Marketing Plan to Get Ready for this Summer’s BC Economic Restart Plan
I. Upgrade Your Website for Google’s Page Experience Update
There have been some significant Google updates over the most recent quarter, however, these pale in comparison to what’s to come. Beginning mid-June, Google will begin to roll out its Page Experience update across BC, Canada, the U.S.A. and the rest of the world. We have written extensively about this update, but to summarize, it requires that all businesses take stock of their existing website and make upgrades where needed. Your audit should focus on features and behaviors such as page loading (speed) performance, interactivity, visual stability, smartphone responsiveness, security (HTTPS), and whether or not your site uses pop-ups (ads, contact requests, etc.) and unnecessary use of animation and so forth. If it causes a visitor any sort of frustration, even if you think it’s necessary to convert them into a customer, it may result in a swift drop in Google rank.
The great thing about this update, is that it is consumer-focused. It intends to make online browsing for products and services easier and more appealing to them. It forces you (and other businesses) to provide this platform. So while your motivation for upgrading your website is to avoid a penalty from Google, you’re subsequently providing a better overall experience for your current and prospective customers. It’s a way to update the bulk of your digital marketing strategy in one fell swoop. In the end, it’s a win-win.
Thankfully (for some) the update will occur throughout the summer season. It just begins in June. Some industries will see the impact sooner than others. You have time to act and upgrade your website. Here is a detailed guide of what you need to know and do. Alternatively, you can simply call Strategis Consulting Group right away to receive a FREE website audit.
II. Overhaul Your Facebook Plan to Match Their Updates
Face it, Facebook isn’t going anywhere. Despite your friends, family, and associates all claiming that they’re going to quit Facebook, they won’t. Facebook’s Q2 Earnings Presentation reports that monthly active users (MAU) increased 10 percent year over year, and they have knocked out of the park in terms of 2021 revenue growth. The latter indicates that businesses are flocking to Facebook as a customer acquisition tool. The affordability and ease of demographic targeting is too hard to ignore.
However, like with Google, Facebook demands that you consider the user/consumer experience above all things. This is made evident by their recent 2021 updates. Heading into the summer, they are requiring businesses to be more thoughtful about the articles that they create by asking users to think twice before sharing articles with peers. They are also cracking down on copyright infringement, which demands that businesses create their own original content. Lastly, and most importantly, they have added a new community engagement platform called Neighborhoods, which presents a major opportunity for local BC businesses to attract new customers. View more on all three of these new updates so that your business can adapt its Facebook strategy.
III. Create New Content to Capitalize on Instagram’s Latest Enhancements
Instagram HAS added nearly 74 million users so far in 2021 to cross the one-billion mark for the very first time. Previously, experts predicted that this would not occur until 2024. Instagram is a beast, and is essential to any business’ digital marketing strategy. Like with their big sibling Facebook, Instagram has made a series of updates to set the table for a successful business restart this summer. They are now providing businesses with Insights (metrics, essentially) for their Reels and Live features, tools that encourage brands to create new and improved video content and live broadcasting events. They are also growing their IGTV Ads network, with Canada expected to be included soon. In addition, Messenger (Facebook and Instagram’s communications platform) is now allowing businesses to respond to user communications with photos, graphics, and videos. Instagram is clearly pushing brands to push the boundaries when it comes to video creation.
“By 2021, mobile video will account for 78% of total mobile data traffic.” (Instagram)
View more on all three of these new updates so that your business can adapt its Instagram strategy.
BC’s Economic Restart Plan has already started. That means you should get moving on your digital marketing update strategy too. Contact Strategis Consulting Group today for a FREE audit.