When times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise.
It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on economies around the world. It has made it difficult for many businesses to stay afloat and has forced them to come up with innovative marketing ideas to keep their sales figures intact.
Let’s check out some numbers:
- Percentage of marketing campaigns that are running as scheduled – 14%
- Percentage of businesses that are reviewing their marketing budget – 90%
- CPM rates stand at $0.81 in May 2020. It was $1.88 back in Nov. 2019.
- Email open rates have shot up while website visits are down.
Adverse Effects of COVID-19 on Digital Marketing
The pandemic has affected online marketing in a range of ways. Firstly, it has created doubts in and around ad-spend. Many marketers are now clueless when it comes to forecasting their ad-spend as their previous data and analytics (in many cases) feels irrelevant. This is mainly due to a reduction in the availability of goods, services and a dramatic change in customer demand. The decrease in demand for many products and services during the pandemic has made advertisers pause their ad campaigns completely.
Secondly, all major marketing events/conferences have either been canceled or postponed. All digital marketing around such events has to be shut. Event managers that have successfully convinced audiences to attend virtual events have had to curate their online marketing campaigns to perfection.
Thirdly, there has been a strong shift towards eCommerce as more and more people are working from home and consuming significantly more screen time. Consumers are looking out for ways to get essentials without having to step outside, thus, eCommerce businesses have doubled down on their digital marketing campaigns.
Lastly, the pandemic has created opportunities for SaaS (Software as a Service) companies to make most of the surge in Internet usage around the world. People are consuming online content more than they ever have and thus it has opened doors for SaaS businesses to market their products.
How Have Online Marketers Geared Up For The Crisis?
Well, they have got some tricks up their sleeves. Digital marketers began implementing more short-term campaigns unlike earlier when they used to create long-term online marketing strategies. This tactic is used to ensure advertisers don’t end up spending all their budget on one campaign when commercial landscapes are shifting and changing rapidly.
They have begun using flexible online marketing channels to target their audience on platforms that have shown a massive surge in usage. Marketers are manipulating the messages they are sending across on these platforms as well to ensure better brand recall. For many businesses, conversions are a bonus during these tough times, for others, conversion rates have sky-rocketed.
The lack of certainty around COVID-19 has played a major role in making such changes. Businesses across the globe have been forced to make online transitions rapidly, promoting home-delivery services that they otherwise had not considered or yet implemented.
So What Can You Do?
In uncertain times like these, it’s important that you really consider exactly what you want from a short term and long term digital marketing strategy. You need to be paying close attention to the commercial landscape in your industry, as well as what your competitors are doing. Times like these can be a big setback for a lot of businesses but for others, it can be a whole new opportunity for growth.
If you’re interested in discussing the future of your digital marketing strategy, book a FREE online strategy session with us!
