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March 2020

Resources for helping businesses get through these challenging times

Leave a Comment / Marketing Basics /

I have been monitoring what is going on to see how things are progressing with how businesses may have to pivot their business to survive the Covid 19 crisis. I have gathered for you a number of resources I have found that can help. There are many companies making great offers right now to help other companies. It is inspiring that despite what is going on that so many companies are willing to help by giving access and providing free access to products to help out during this crisis.

  • Facebook is offering a business resource hub and grants to help businesses.
  • The Small Business Association is offering disaster relief loans. You can apply online.
  • GoFundMe, the social fundraising platform, launched the Small Business Relief Initiative, It joined with Yelp to give small-business owners grants and resources. GoFundMe and Yelp have each donated $500,000 to the Small Business Relief Fund. It is open for anyone to make a donation. There will also be $500 matching grants to qualifying businesses that raise at least $500 on GoFundMe.
  • Support.com is offering free tech support for those working or studying from home right now.
  • Workable: Free use of their new video interviewing software for all of their customers, and access to a library of COVID-19 response content that can be used by HR professionals and business leaders.
  • Google G-suite is offering to its users, free access to It’s advanced Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities including:
  1. For larger meetings for up to 250 participants per call
  2. It Has Live streaming for up to 100K viewers within your domain
  3. You can Record meetings to Google Drive to share with those who can’t attend

These features (typically only available in the Enterprise edition of G Suite) will be available to all customers until July 1, 2020.

  • Comcast: Free Xfinity WiFi for anyyone. Their hotspots are available to all. This includes non-Xfinity subscribers. To access this service, you can look for the “xfinitywifi” network name in a list of hotspots.
  • DNSFilter while they’re working from home, DNSFilter is offering its advanced DNS security service free for businesses through July 1.
  • Microsoft is offering Free six-month Office 365 E1 Trial, that includes Microsoft Teams.
  • Slashtop  is offering a Free 60-day license to its Business Access remote access software.
  • WeTransfer, is a file transfer service, It has opened its collaborative presentation tool Paste Pro for three months for free for new teams that join the platform.
  • Jamm, a voice and video collaboration tool for remote teams, is offering its service free to any team for four months.

There are also some offers that are only available to certain types of businesses. Here are some of these options.

  • LogMeIn: Free site-wide licensing for 3 months of its videoconferencing solution, GoToMeeting, only for eligible organizations (health care providers, educational institutions, municipalities and non-profits).
  • Zoom: is offering Free videoconferencing tools for K-through-12 schools.
  • Loom: is giving Free video recording and sharing service for teachers and students at K-through-12 schools, universities and educational institutions. They have removed the recording limit on their free plans and have cut the price for Loom Pro in half.
  • EZTexting: Free emergency text alert services to schools. Receive 100,000 free outgoing text messages for six months, access to a set of coronavirus message templates, and one-on-one consulting.
  • Amazon: Free online access to online sponsored computer science courses in the United States. That are for learners in grades 6 through 12, and teachers who are remotely teaching for this age group. Parents can also access this curriculum.
  • Smartsheet: Free templates that can be used by organizations to build their own coronavirus preparedness dashboard, rich with CDC documentation and other resources, and related sheets and forms.
  • James Beard Foundation has launched the Food and Beverage Industry Relief Fund, which draw support from corporate, foundation, and individual donors to offer micro-grants to restaurants, bars, and other independent businesses in the industry.
  • Yelp, to help local restaurants and bars, announced $25 million in relief in the form of waived advertising fees, free advertising, and products and services.
  • Rally for Restaurants, is a grass-roots movement that supports restaurants through Covid-19, has made it easier than ever to buy gift cards to restaurants and encourage others to do the same. If you’re a restaurant owner, you can add your business to the list.

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Things to consider with marketing during a crisis

Leave a Comment / Marketing Basics /

I have heard many marketers wondering how to handle marketing during the coronavirus pandemic, or weather or not they should run ads at all. I do think there are a lot of things to consider or changes you may want to make in light of this.

I don’t think that it is necessarily a good idea to stop altogether unless your business is something that is directly related to the crisis. Perhaps reconsidering your ads in light of what is going on or even running ads updating your customers on changes in how you are doing business can be a good way to keep you in the minds of your customers while at the same time showing understanding for their concerns.

Things you may want to keep in mind;

  • You might not want to focus completely on the crisis but acknowledge it in some way.
  • You may want to watch your performance closely and monitor reactions.
  • Avoid looking like you are insensitive to or trying to profit from the situation.
  • consider trying to be positive about the crisis instead of adding to the fear.
  • try to help your audience to understand how best to connect with your business under the circumstances.
  • Consider what your audience may think about your product in light of the current situation.

On the more technical side of things, you should keep in mind that things may change rapidly with the different platforms and with Google during this time and you may have to change things around to keep up. Here are some things to consider with this.

  • You may want to set up an automated reporting dashboard in order to review traffic and spending at a glance.
  • Pay close attention to your ad-spend, Facebook ads prices have dropped currently but they may fluctuate during the crisis.
  • Add “coronavirus,” “virus” and “Covid-19” as phrase-match negatives to your accounts. Google is blocking ads relating to caronavirus, so the negative keywords shouldn’t be necessary but are a safeguard nonetheless.
  • You may want to consider applying negative bid modifiers to heavily affected geographies, depending on your businesses product or service availability.

People may change their buying habits during the crisis so depending on the type of business you have there are different options you can offer your customers. You may want to consider for instance if you are running a fitness gym or other business that people may not choose to go to in person to offer an online alternative class or if you have a restaurant to offer an option for a delivery service. You may just have to be a bit clever and come up with something that helps showcase your product and offer a message of hope at the same time.

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