Keeping Afloat in the Digital Marketing World Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

It is undeniable that almost everyone has felt the strain from the on-going COVID-19 Pandemic regardless of industries. The Digital Marketing Industry is no exception, but here are some steps you could take to try and keep afloat during these trying times.

Know Who’s Ahead

Take a look at the industries and platforms that are excelling during this period. Identify which platforms have had a spike in users and craft your messaging and media spend towards them.

#Tip 1: The Gaming Industry has seen a 25% increase in media spend. (Source: singular.net)

(Image Source: singular.net)

#Tip 2: Search Traffic has increased for… (Source: SEMrush)

● Remote Working Platforms

● Home Fitness Platforms

● Streaming Platforms

● Food Delivery Companies

● Online Grocery Delivery

#Tip 3: Total messaging has increased by more than 50% over the last two months.

● Voice and video calls have more than doubled on Messenger and Whatsapp. (Source: Facebook)

(Image Source: Facebook)

#Tip 4: News and information companies jumped over 11X from early January to the second week of March. (Source: singular.net)

Re-evaluate Your Bidding Strategy

With many areas across the globe implementing lockdowns that result in an increase in working from home and a reduction in online shopping for certain industries, being on top of these will ensure you’re adapting your campaigns to meet your audience’s changing behavior.

#Tip 1: Switch Back to manual bidding.

Businesses that use Smart Bidding should think of using Manual Bidding instead for the time being considering the fluidity in conversion rates and CPRs. You should be more hands-on with your media spend and monitor the changes.

#Tip 2: Review device preferences.

While there are no longer in need for users to commute to work due to the lockdown, it’s probably best to re-evaluate your preferred devices when buying ads.

#Tip 3: Review location data.

Like the above (Tip #2), as users travel less to work or working from an office, you might want to review if it’s still necessary to target customers living in the city. Take note as the location data may shift during this time.

#Tip 4: Relook into Electronic Direct Mail (EDM) Marketing.

Take this time to re-explore EDM Marketing, a cheap and effective method to reassure your customers that you are still around. Take this opportunity to also build and strengthen the on-going relationship you have with your customers with EDM instead of relying on social media platforms.

#Tip 5: Take a step back.

If your business is in an industry that is declining, you might want to slow down on your media spend. Take the opportunity to release PSA type content instead until the situation improves.

Re-evaluate Your Marketing Messaging

Your messaging now, should come from a place of empathy towards the current situation and not appear to be profiteering and fear-mongering. Show the world that you care, and structure your messages like you are educating, more than advertising. Here are some examples from esteemed brands:

(Image Source: Adidas)

(Image Source: Apple)

People are also looking to trusted brands to provide them with safety and security in testing times. They want to be assured that the brands they choose are in control of their supply chains, transparent and trustworthy.

(Image Source: Texas Chicken)

(Image Source: Shopee)

The content that you produce should also be action-oriented. Have people do something after viewing your content, like Dalgona Coffee, Challenges, etc. Also, remember to be relevant to the times and include hashtags that are currently trending. (#StayAtHome, #FlattenTheCurve)

(Image Source: V Soy Malaysia)

Plan the path to recovery

Start planning for the success of your business post-COVID-19. Just like anything in life, the crisis will eventually come to an end. Start making provisions and develop a comprehensive marketing strategy to roll out once the crisis is over.

#Tip 1: Enhance digital marketing capabilities.

Prepare to enhance digital marketing capabilities for effective outreach; utilize social marketing & effective CRM to stay engaged. Plan ahead “bounce-back consumer consumption” campaigns. Shift resources to digital/ O2O/ eComm channel and enhance capabilities in channel operations

#Tip 2: Closely monitor consumer trends & emergence of new demand spaces/occasions.

Build stronger relationships with ecosystem partners for better data-sharing. From there, look out for opportunities on joint marketing campaigns. It could be rolling out packaging updates catering to new needs, i.e. occasion-based stock-up bundles.

Conclusion

To sum it up, now is not the time to stop marketing efforts but to strategically implement them. At times like this, we should be looking out for each other. We hope these few tips help you one way or another. Stay safe and stay positive! We’ll get through this together.