As our economy continues to gradually reopen, your clients may need advice on how and where to restart advertising. They may have pulled back on advertising completely during the last two months. Or they may have advertised sporadically. There are plenty of companies that need advertising help in the midst of the pandemic. They shouldn’t risk letting their competitors get ahead of them as consumers come back into the marketplace.

Communicate How and When They Are Open for Business

Consumers may be a little leery about venturing out after restrictions are lifted. They want reassurance that the shopping environments they’re entering will be safe. And they want information about what to expect. If your clients operate in an area where face masks will be mandatory for the next several months, they should announce in their advertising that they can’t welcome shoppers without one. Some establishments will track how many people can be present at one time. These companies will also need advertising help. Marketing messages should clearly communicate where the lines will form and whether shoppers will be protected from inclement weather during those times. If your clients are still operating with reduced hours, they should make that detail clear in their advertising.

Track Online Search Activity

In a recent Wordstream article, Ceillie Clark-​Keane reviews the importance of your clients’ paid search advertising strategy. Activity on Google and Bing shows that paid search conversions started to increase by mid-​April after their significant drop in March.

While operators in some verticals, like travel, pulled back on search spending, they should consider the longer term implications of their actions. With fewer competitors for popular keywords, the cost for a paid search campaign could be less expensive than it was before the pandemic broke. If your client wants to “own more of the SERP” now and get ahead of their competitors, they should consider starting up paid search immediately. The experts suggest looking at Google's Auction Insights to review activity in specific verticals. When it comes to search, many companies need advertising help.

Where to Restart Advertising — the Media Mix

Paid search campaigns aren’t enough to drive sales for most businesses. They can drive traffic to their sites and physical locations by using social media. As many consumers have been checking in regularly on Facebook and their other favorite social sites during the pandemic, they will be exposed to your client’s messages. Lower cost, upper funnel campaigns on social sites don’t cost as much as targeted messaging. And they may be an effective way to introduce your clients to new audiences.

To get a better sense of how specific audiences respond to digital marketing and on how to advise your client, run a Digital Audit on them. The tool is available at AdMall from SalesFuel and provide data points for companies that need advertising help.