The COVID-19 crisis has been disruptive for marketers and advertisers across nearly every industry and channel. As marketers ourselves, we wanted to help our peers navigate through the current crisis by compiling a list of free digital marketing and advertising resources to capitalize on while social distancing is in effect.
Between grants, ad credits, free training courses and crisis management resources, there are a number of opportunities for marketing professionals and small business owners to take advantage of. We’ve also listed tips to help you manage your search presence and digital properties to reflect any limitations or closures as a result of the virus.
Ad Credits and Free Marketing Platforms:
A handful of digital advertising, marketing and sales platforms are offering temporary grants or free use during the crisis. You can check them out below.
Google Ads Credits for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
Google announced they’re committing more than $800 million in ad grants and investments in response to COVID-19, including $340 million in Google Ad credits for small and medium-sized businesses with active ad accounts. You can find out if your business is eligible here.
Facebook – Small Business Grants Program
Facebook is offering $100 million in cash grants and ad credits to help small businesses during the crisis. You can find out whether your business is eligible on the Facebook for Business website.
Oppty by SEMrush
SEMrush’s Oppty tool is a prospecting tool for marketing agencies and practitioners that provides lists of potential leads based on the amount of paid search advertising traffic for the current month and growth over the last 6 months (usually $7/lead).
Ahrefs Lite Free Month
Ahrefs is offering a free month for any active Lite accounts. Must be enrolled in an Ahrefs Lite plan prior to April 2020 to take advantage of the offer ($99 value).
HubSpot Meetings, Quotes, E-Sign and 1:1 Video Creation
For 90 days, HubSpot is offering some of their paid sales and prospecting services for free for businesses being forced to take their operations online. Free offerings include virtual meetings, digital quote and e-signature services and personalized video creation for sales prospects.
Free Courses and Training Programs:
Got some time to spare while you’re social distancing at home? Brush up your digital marketing, SEO, advertising and content marketing skills with the resources below. We’ve found more than $5,000 worth of digital marketing training programs that are being offered for free during the current crisis.
Ahrefs Academy – Blogging for Business
Dive into Ahrefs’ content marketing tips in their Blogging for Business course. The digital lessons outline how to effectively publish blog content to drive organic traffic and convert visitors into subscribers (usually $799).
Moz Academy
Through May 31, Moz Academy’s SEO courses are being offered for free. There are 14 courses in total that range from SEO fundamentals and principles to pitching clients for SEO work. Use the promo code weggotthis at checkout (usually more than $1,500 for all courses).
LinkedIn Learning Courses
LinkedIn is offering a number of its Learning Courses for free to help professionals cope with the new normals during the COVID-19 crisis. The coursework includes lessons on remote work efficiency, small business support, stress management, sales tips during the crisis and hiring and job-seeking recommendations.
PluralSight
PluralSight is an online training resource and technology skill development platform with more than 7,000 video courses on web development, programming languages, data analysis, IT, cyber security and more. Throughout April, they’re offering their entire video course library for free (usually $30/month).
LinkResearchTools Associate Training
LRT’s Associate Training courses outline efficient backlink-building methods and ways to expand your website’s visibility and backlink portfolio. The course is free until the end of May (usually $445).
Blue Array Academy – SEO Manager Course
Blue Array Academy’s SEO Manager course offers a broad overview of search engine optimization and is designed for beginner to intermediate digital marketers. The courses are free until the end of June with the promo code WeGotYouCovered (usually £997.00 GBP).
Conversion Sciences – Everyday Behavioral Science for Digital Marketers
Conversion Sciences’ training course explores measuring digital conversion rate and optimizing web development, graphic design and copywriting for conversions (usually $345).
MindEdge – Digital Marketing Strategy Course
MindEdge and Skye Learning’s Digital Marketing Strategy coursework is aligned with Online Marketing Certified Professional (OMCP) standards and offers an overview of strategic digital marketing principles and foundations (usually $79).
Do You Even Blog – Crush Your Content
Do You Even Blog’s Crush Your Content course provides tips and strategies for improving the productivity and effectiveness of your blogging and content marketing efforts.
Managing Your Digital Presence in Response to COVID-19
If your company’s availability, hours, offerings or delivery times have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis, check out the following resources to ensure your search and social media presence reflects your current situation.
Facebook Business Resource Hub
Facebook has added a list of resources for managing your business page through the Coronavirus crisis, including updating hours, information or temporary closures. Facebook has also added information about available grants and the SBA Payment Protection Program.
Google My Business – Updating Hours, Closure Information, Services or Delays
Especially for businesses with local target markets, it’s important to ensure your Google My Business listing is up to date with accurate information during the crisis. Google created a checklist to ensure your customers have accurate information and expectations for your company’s availability and capabilities during the crisis.
Google My Business – Creating a COVID-19 Post
You can write a COVID-19 update within Google My Business to explain to customers how your business has been affected by the current situation.
Google – Pausing Your Online Store in Response to COVID-19
Is your business unable to fulfill online orders for the time being? Don’t sacrifice your SEO equity for a temporary closure – Google has published guidelines on how to pause your online business while preserving your search rankings and presence.
Managing Events on Google – Postponing, Canceling or Hosting Online
Will your business have to postpone or cancel an event or shift to an online arrangement in response to the virus? Google has outlined how to update the status of an event on their Webmasters blog.
Search Engine Land – COVID-19 Online Presence Checklist for Businesses
Using information in some of the resources above, Search Engine Land created a checklist that summarizes all of the platforms and digital feeds to consider updating during the crisis.
Tips for Digital Marketing in a Time of Crisis
In addition to the free training courses above, we’ve compiled a list of articles offering tips and strategies specific to marketing and operating through the Coronavirus pandemic.
American Marketing Association – COVID-19 Support for Marketing Professionals
The American Marketing Association has published a list of support materials for marketers, with topics ranging from marketing strategy to remote work productivity to crisis management.
LinkedIn Mindfulness Courses – The Learning Blog
LinkedIn has added six free mindfulness and stress management courses to their Learning Blog to help individuals working from home cope with their new daily routines.
Searchmetrics – Managing SEO in a Time of Crisis
SEO research and content optimization software provider Searchmetrics has compiled a number of blog articles and podcasts discussing how to manage and address your SEO strategy in a time of crisis.
Smart Passive Income – Online Business Toolkit
Smart Passive Income has assembled a collection of articles, podcast discussions, courses and books related to marketing and maintaining your business during the COVID-19 crisis.
Are there any free marketing courses, grants, ad credits or great business resources that we missed in the list above? You can contact us on our website and let us know if you think there’s something we should add.
From all of us at Climb Marketing, we’d like to wish everyone health, safety and success during this difficult time. We’ll make it through this together!