The COVID-19 pandemic has been catastrophic for businesses, and it has left marketers scrambling to adapt to a completely new landscape. Customers are no longer where they were. Their spending priorities have gone topsy-turvy. And the future has become incredibly difficult to predict.

When you combine all of this with shrinking sales, your marketing budget becomes extremely precious. It’s important not to decrease your marketing spend, but how you spend each dollar could mean the life or death of your firm.

But it’s not all doom and gloom.

While COVID-19 has caused long-lasting damage to the business landscape, it has also created opportunities for marketers to make their money go further than ever before.

We’re going to focus on two of those recent opportunities: paid ads and video content made with stock footage.

There has Never Been a Better Time to Invest in Paid Ads

This is probably the biggest silver lining of the COVID-19 crisis. The price of cost-per-click (CPC) ads has hit rock bottom.

And this makes sense, as the cost of ads is not set by ad agencies but is determined by the market. Ads are essentially auctioned off to the highest bidder. When there are a lot of bidders, the prices go up. But now, the number of bidders is lower than ever.

Why are there so few bidders? Well, many firms don’t want to advertise if they can’t actually sell their product or service. Others have shut down for good. In the US alone, it’s estimated that about 2% of small businesses and 3% of restaurants have permanently closed.

We know what you’re thinking: A drop in CPC ad prices is good and all, but will it make up for a drop in sales?

It’s true that you’re likely going to make fewer sales due to the economic fallout of COVID-19, but the cost of paid ads has gone so low that they are still an amazing investment. According to data gathered by Neil Patel, the ROI of paid ads has increased by over 70% post-COVID.

As soon as COVID-19 restrictions start to ease, the bidding wars will intensify, and paid ad prices will go up again. So, the time to stretch your ad spend is now.

Keep Video Content Flowing with Stock Footage

Stay-at-home orders have caused social media use to skyrocket. This is especially true for sites like YouTube and Instagram, which are entirely image and video based.

We’ll spare you all the video marketing stats, because you should already know how important video is to your success in terms of engagement, visibility, SEO, and pretty much every other metric.

What you need to know now is that video content is even more important than before. Your customers are spending more time online, watching more videos, and interacting more with what they see.

They’re hungry for content, and if you’re not giving it to them, they’re going to get it from someone else.

But marketers are facing a dilemma. Viewers want content because of COVID-19, but COVID-19 is also preventing you from producing content.

That is, unless you know how to use stock footage to your advantage.

Royalty free stock videos are cheap, high-quality, and in large supply. You can find a video of just about anything you can imagine and buy it up for a few dollars. You can even find free stock footage if your budget is super tight.

Once you have the footage, you can edit, crop, add text or music, and filter it to create a unique ad or video. A little bit of money (and a dash of creativity) goes a long way.

The key is to continue to produce content to keep your viewers satisfied.

The advantage is that bigger competitors will not be able to use their sets, camera crews, and special effects while COVID-19 keeps offices closed.

When it comes to video marketing, COVID-19 has evened the playing field in a big way. Don’t miss this opportunity to compete with the big guys and make some videos that shine.

Make Your Marketing Spend Work Harder

COVID-19 has changed everything. So, don’t expect your marketing campaign to chug along as usual. Use the tips above to maximize your marketing spend and to stay competitive on a budget.