What The Current State of The World Means for The Digital Marketing Sphere
We are now in the 4th month of 2020 and the state of the world is really not that great but the good news is that mother nature is healing splendidly.
COVID-19 (the coronavirus) has spread globally and uncontrollably. Governments around the world are still trying to control the virus from spreading even further by closing schools, public spaces, and borders. This has affected all businesses – and marketers need to adapt their digital marketing strategy.
Events such as business conferences, sporting events, and concerts and movie premieres have been canceled and the global market has been in a free fall. Many companies are encouraging employees to work from home.
So what does this mean for marketers? How long will these circumstances last or is this change will be permanent?
Before we go into that, let us be clear on what you marketers should NOT do.
Do Not Exploit The Situation
The first thing we see are people trying to exploit fear. This is a bad practice and not ethical.
For example, we have a pandemic going on and supplies are running low around the world. From face masks and toilet paper to hand sanitizers and other basic necessities, we have seen people at the beginning of the pandemic hoarding these and reselling them on many digital platforms like ebay at 10-50 times from the recommended retail price.
This is not a good practice in entrepreneurship and marketing. We highly recommend that you avoid exploiting the Coronavirus situation or any other situation that is going on big right now to make a quick buck.
So now that we got that out of the way, what does COVID-19 mean for marketers?
Different Consumers
People are now stuck indoors and this sudden increase because of the pandemic has led to a change of lifestyle where consumers have shifted to spend more time online than ever before.
Brands that are already catering to the ‘couch-surfers’ have shown to be in the clear and in some cases have even seen an increase in sales. Brands that are generally offline have launched new online products in an effort to adapt to this new and increasing lifestyle.
The most significant factor of the pandemic is clearly the health of the population, but there are far more people affected than merely the sick.
Businesses are feeling the impacts of the virus and companies are announcing cutbacks or reductions one after another. Marketing departments around the globe are noticing the seeing the impacts also. Most marketers are at a junction, pondering which way to take in such an unsure future.
How marketers are responding
61% of marketers are altering their short-term media strategy as seen in recent research datas. However, only 9% are making long-term changes. There is a slight shift from offline media to online, as marketers in the same study made clear that they would take a more online approach.
This budget shift is not surprising considering that digital media is consumed at a higher rate due to the online lifestyle of the post-corona consumer.
Flexible Channels
Marketers seeing a cut in budgets will profit by pushing towards cheaper and more flexible channels, for example, programmatic advertising where consumer presence and available impressions are increasing. Digital display ads, social media, and online video are channels that most likely will increase in the short-term media plan.
Out-of-home advertising, for example, metro billboards will have much lower exposure due to most people staying at home. Event marketing has come to an immediate stop, and we will likely see that marketing budgets cease or shift towards online ads.
Still, not everyone sees marketing budget cuts as the solution.
Long-Term Concern
A current concern is that nobody truly knows when the pandemic will be over and everyone can go back to their regular lives. We are seeing how spend is decreasing in many industries. The travel, retail, or events are scrambling to save costs.
However, a lot of on-demand online services will likely increase advertising spend – especially in online channels. Services like online food delivery services, streaming or online news outlets are profiting from the higher presence online. Brands like these will want to take a larger market share in a larger market and increase spend.
What to Keep in Mind During the Pandemic
The concern for the future is understandable. Nevertheless, this too shall pass. It is imperative to remain focused on the long-term and not shy away from new growth opportunities.
Long-term works best for branding. Cutting the marketing budget by too much when not necessary could adversely affect the brand when the pandemic is over. Marketers should not overlook that amidst a crisis – there could be opportunity.
Snatch The Opportunity
Since many are remaining indoors for more than just a couple months, we are now seeing a new type of online behaviour.
During COVID-19, consumers are online more and more times which marketers may not be used to. Online activity and shopping could shift to mid-day, when activity in normal circumstances is low.
Online activity could likewise be higher since there is a steady stream of breaking news.
Media will be less expensive as marketing budgets in certain industries are cut. If there is a chance, capitalising on this could have clear positive effects on share-of-voice.
With many affected companies decreasing their digital marketing budgets, we are seeing a drop of up to 47% in CPM (Cost per thousand impressions) and CPC (Cost per click) prices. This is an ideal opportunity for some marketers to acquire new customers at a lower cost than previously.
Consumers spend more time and energy perusing or viewing the news than ever before. Marketers currently have the chance to catch more eye-balls by advertising on these popular websites, at a lower cost than the pre-corona period.
Adapt to new customers
For a brand, an online presence has never been as important as today. Attempt to regard your every day work as business as usual, but keep it digital. Find your target audience and how their lifestyle has changed and map out how you should be targeting them.
What is your target audience’s emotional context? What do they want to hear? How should you be communicating with them? Don’t underestimate how COVID-19 has changed your consumers and how it has influenced their demands.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that COVID-19 has left its mark in history. The question is rather how much things will change and in what capacity will the world look when everything is over. We have now observed the consequences for various businesses and advertising endeavors, yet in what manner will advertisers alter?
More digital solutions need to be considered for all industries. Webinars or online classes, digital entertainment and virtual doctor visits are examples of solutions to come when social distancing is required during these times.
During periods that feel like a descending despairing road – there could be opportunities available to be seized.