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In Less Than Two Months Inbound Marketing and Content Strategy Became More Important Than Ever
The first case of a new form of Coronavirus was reported in late 2019 in Wuhan, China. The first known case in the U.S. was reported January 20, 2020. By February 11th the World Health Organization announced the name as COVID-19, and by March 11th it had been declared a pandemic.
[Source:NewScientist.com]
In less than two months the country went from it's first reported case to a State of Emergency.
Around the week of March 16th financial institutions started shutting their doors and closing lobby services to protect themselves and their customers. True in-person service was gone. All the value that had been placed in face-to-face interactions has been put on hold until when?... we don't know for certain.
Wow. So now what?
While at the present time many drive-thru windows continue to operate, providing a limited range of services, and some institutions scramble to put video conferencing and other virtual service channels in place, how do these institutions continue to get their message out and grow business? Yes, continue to grow business.
Inbound Marketing
Traditional ad placement isn't as effective at this time. People aren't out-and-about seeing your billboards and other in-person ads. They aren't as attentive to social media ads boasting great rates, terms, and images of overly happy people with dogs driving their new convertible into the sunset after getting your amazing auto loan.
What people are doing is using the internet more than ever. Internet use has increased 70% and streaming has jumped by at least 12% since COVID-19 hit.
[Source: Forbes]
SEVENTY PERCENT??!! It almost seems impossible there was even room for 70% more usage in our already busy, internet-dependent, schedules. With 70% more traffic online there are two things we can conclude with certainty:
- Most of that traffic is likely people looking for news updates, working remotely, gaming, or socializing, and the majority are not necessarily looking for financial product and services. We know that.
- However, health and the economy are top-of-mind for most people, so somewhere within that 70% surge lies incredible opportunity for your institution!
For those who have been vigilant with their content creation, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and overall online strategies, many have noticed their organic search volume has stayed consistent.
This chart shows one of our clients' organic search traffic from February 11, when the virus was first given a name, through March 26, one week after closing their lobby services:
The dips on the weekends are normal behavior for organic search traffic. What we're looking at is the level of normalcy that has remained on weekdays throughout the last several months, even during an incredible time of uncertainty in the world. This consistent organic traffic is the result of a strong content creation strategy and strong SEO value on the financial institution's website.
It shows us that while people can't get into your lobbies, and can't see you face-to-face, they are still continuing to look for financial products and services as solutions. They're simply looking via the only channel they have left to search for these solutions, search engines. You need to be here! This is where the audience is now!
If your growth strategy has relied on traditional means of marketing, advertising, in-person service, and then needing to seal the deal with an in-person handshake, it's time to pivot. And you better do it fast!
It's going to take time for your content to get indexed and start showing, but the time to do it has never been better or more essential to your institution's success.
It's time to get your inbound strategy off the ground, or in-check. While this pandemic will pass, and we will open our lobbies again someday (hopefully soon), the value of this organic traffic will always be there.
The following resources can help you get started and if you have any questions please contact us.
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