Adapting PPC Strategy to Reduce the Negative Impact of Covid-19 on Businesses

As COVID-19 emerges to be a global pandemic, businesses across all sectors are badly hit – financially and emotionally. Lockdowns and social distancing have gained momentum with the objective to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.

With schools and offices literally brought to a halt, consumers are now spending more time in their homes. Frequent shopping sprees have been cut short; travel plans postponed till eternity!

Even the trend for online shopping is facing a major setback as transportation is disrupted. Amidst this chaos, the question arises – is spending in PPC services worth during COVID-19 outbreak?

The answer is, yes.

Before that let’s understand how consumer behaviour is changing during COVID-19 pandemic worldwide.

 

How Consumer Behaviour is Changing During COVID-19 Outbreak?

 

Discussed here is an overview of fast-evolving consumer behaviour as COVID-19 worsens, which is expected to impact your overall PPC advertising strategy:

 

• Brick-and-mortar stores are witnessing a whopping decline in footfalls (about 90%) and businesses are forced to shut down or cut down their in-store inventory.

• Consumers are showing a steep rise in interests for seven key industries, eventually resulting in increased performance or volumes during COVID-19. These are Medical & Health, Charities & Non-profit Organisations, Finance, Business Management, Beauty & Personal Care, Gifts & Flowers, and On-demand Media.

According to COVID-19 Google Ads data, these industries have been experiencing an increase in search ad conversions since COVID-19 outbreak.

• Since February 2020, the search interest in coronavirus has increased by +260% worldwide, says Google in a blog. At the same time, topics and products related to COVID-19 has also seen a significant surge as a direct response to the outbreak.

• With lockdowns and social distancing prevalent across most countries, people are spending more time-consuming entertainment at home. Keeping movies, DVDs and sports entertainment behind, the trend for on-demand media has skyrocketed amidst this COVID-19 unrest.

Source: WordStream

• A phenomenal rise in online shopping trends is witnessed in the fields of pantry-loading, health and wellness as COVID-19 spreads its wings across the countries. However, consumer interests for online shopping has been affected since mid-March as major ecommerce stores have to temporarily discontinue their delivery services due to lockdowns and restrictions in movement.

How these consumer behaviour trends can have an impact on your business? To be honest, Covid-19 is affecting businesses of all sizes and types.

As customer behaviour is evolving with pandemic-related regulations, it is time to re-evaluate how your business can add value to your target audience right now – what type of products or services you provide?

Is there any way you can render the value through online channel and in a different format?

For small businesses, brick-and-mortar retailers or personalised service providers, it might be the time to go online.

Only the best PPC services can turn this threat into a lucrative opportunity, channelizing sales and business credibility through a strategy that is dedicated to address the impact of coronavirus outbreak.

 

5 Ways to Reduce Risks and Make the Most of Covid-19 Situation with Expert Adwords Services

 

Businesses are planning to re-strategise their marketing plans to address the Covid-19 pandemic situation. PPC Adword paves the way for smart advertising and catering to the “changing” needs of consumers amidst this outbreak.

Discussed here is how adapting pay-per-click advertising can help your business cope with the negative impact of coronavirus.

 

#1: Build a Strong Brand Presence

 

What can be a better time to build up your web presence amidst the coronavirus outbreak – from a point of understanding and empathy for your customers! During economic & financial uncertainty, brand loyalty is likely to decrease.

Pay per click advertising can be a powerful tool to stay on top of the minds of your customers when your competitors are planning to cut short their advertising budget.

 

By creating PPC ads around coronavirus-related topics, products and services, you can show your sense of responsibility and induce loyalty among your customers.

It does not necessarily have to be from marketing point of view; sometimes advertising to build a strong brand presence is also important, especially in crisis situations like this. Only an experienced Google Ad expert can help boost your brand awareness by 80% through paid search advertising.

 

Source: SerpWatch

#2: Fine-tune Your PPC Campaign Optimising it for New Search Terms & Volume

 

Coronavirus dominates new search trends on Google. But it isn’t just “coronavirus” or “Covid-19” that is gaining search interest since the pandemic has hit the world.

The implications of today’s changing world, the uncertainty of the future, etc. are also bringing searchers on Google. The giant search engine is now flooded with questions that we haven’t seen ever before. Below is an example of trending searches that Google is witnessing in U.S:

Source: WordStream

In response to this changing search intent now, you should focus on optimising your existing PPC campaigns or devise new ones. Here are some tips that Google Ads experts suggest:

 

• Regularly Review Search Terms Report

 

As searches related to Covid-19 are changing constantly, it is expected to cause a major disruption on PPC ad campaigns. Nobody knows which trend will hit tomorrow.

Therefore, it is crucial to analyse the traffic your ad campaigns are driving, and add negative keywords related to Covid-19. This will help prevent the ads from getting clicked by irrelevant searchers.

 

• Keep a Tap on Most Trending Covid-19 Search Terms

 

Use powerful tools like Google Trends to determine how people are searching the web during coronavirus outbreak.

Keeping pace with a tremendous surge in Covid-19 related searches, Googlereleased recently catering to these specific set of search trends.

It is important that you review the hub in-depth to understand consumer search interests and priorities to the changing situation.

 

• Discover New Negative Keywords

 

The new keywords can attract irrelevant searches that can increase your CPC and entirely waste the ad budget.

Find new negative keywords using Google Keyword Tool and incorporate them into your PPC ad campaign before unwanted search traffic flocking your ads.

Using these PPC advertising tips will help target the new search terms, drive more clicks, and lower your PCP.

 

#3: Retarget PPC Investments to Align with Changing Consumer Buying Behaviour

 

Consumer buying behaviour shift from brick-and-mortar to online is one of the many changes that Covid-19 crisis is bringing for businesses. So how will brand keep up with this challenging “retail reality?”

A PPC expert can help retarget your paid search advertising investments in a manner to reach where your target audiences are shopping. For this, it is crucial to monitor changes in demand and volume.

Keep a track of where online and in-store purchases balance each other, and adjust the bid to target the right audience set. Regularly analysing the marketplace and its changes will help you make more informed decisions that will help meet changing consumer buying habits.

 

#4: Reach Your Consumers on Other Networks

 

As in-store purchase and Google searches get badly hit due to coronavirus crisis, internet usage has increased by nearly 50%, reports Vodafone. A fall in Google search traffic should not be a matter of worry because it paves the way for cross-platform opportunities.

Google Search partners and Bing Search have continued to be relatively safer, making it an ideal option for marketers to find customers and target their PPC ads. Advertising on these platforms typically have lower CPC rates than Google Search or Google Shopping.

In response to this, PPC expert suggests the following paid search advertising strategies:

 

• Cross-Network PPC Advertising

 

Reach your audiences by advertising across other networks. This will help reduce the vitality of relying only on Google Search, while you can also get new audiences. Cross-network PPC advertising services can also boost your brand’s search interest on Google.

 

• Restrategise your Ad Campaigns for YouTube and Social Media

 

Amidst coronavirus pandemic, more consumers are spending time on the internet, watching videos online or scrolling through their social feeds. This is the best time to shift your focus to other lucrative platforms like YouTube or Facebook.

Through dedicated PPC services designed for these advertising mediums, you can attract new customers as well as remarket to your old customers or website visitors. They are more likely to click your ads and ultimately convert.

 

#5: Intelligently Optimise Your PPC Ad Campaign  

 

As more people are working from home and staying away from in-store or online purchases unless necessary, it is crucial that you optimise your PPC ad campaign likewise.

Make sure your ads are shown to the right people and at the right times. They must have an appropriate call to action, relevant to the current situation. For instance, do not mention “Call Now” if there is nobody to answer the calls.

Review your device preferences with mobile being the top priority. Location targeting can also help generate more clicks, especially for businesses in the sectors of essential items.

Optimise the ad creative to be more empathetic than promotional, matching the consumer’s emotional quotient amidst this crisis situation.

To understand how Covid-19 pandemic can affect your business and productive ways in which Pay Per Click advertising can help address the challenge, hire Adwords consultant today.

Only PPC Adwords specialists can devise the right strategies to reduce the risks and make the most of the current situation.