When web 1.0 evolved in the 1990s, digital marketing also started in its infancy stages. As the web evolved, so did digital marketing. With .com bust in 2000, a lot of people written off digital marketing as a thing of the past. However, digital marketing not only survived but became more essential with each downturn and recession that came along.
The current COVID-19 situation is completely different. This is a once-in-a-generation pandemic that has put the whole world on high alert. People are losing their jobs with many businesses have paused (some even ceased) their operations globally. Companies slashing marketing and sales budgets, projecting far lesser sales for the year 2020.
According to the survey conducted by Morningstar.com, “US GDP will fall 3.9% and global GDP will fall 2.4% this year.” In these current circumstances, many marketing leaders will be re-assessing their digital marketing budgets for the year 2020 and beyond.
Marketing Channels During the COVID-19 Pandemic
One of the best marketing channels is the events/conferences, where you get to meet your prospect in person and try to close the deal. Starting from March 2020, many events moved online/cancelled, including Adobe Summit, Salesforce Connections, Facebook’s F8 Developer Conference, and Rakuten’s Advertising Marketing Deal Maker Event. Here is a list of marketing conferences impacted thus far – with very few are planning to go ahead with their plans.
While in-person event cancellations at this scale mean you losing valuable leads or delayed new business. With all in-person meetings are being replaced with online meetings, offline marketing will be far less impactful for the rest of the year. Because more and more people are staying indoors, and spending time on their phones, and computers more than ever, brands have opportunities to connect with their audience thru digital channels.
Impact of COVID-19 on eCommerce Industry
Widespread concern of virus spreading thru air, surfaces caused people to stay home mostly, and impacted the day-to-day habits of consumers all over the world. People not only avoiding their workplace but restaurants, malls, supermarkets, fashion stores, and other public places as well. With all the social distancing rules in place, people are spending more online, it translated into increased eCommerce orders, from local groceries to pure eCommerce players. Companies like Instacart reported 40% increase in orders since the pandemic fears started.
This presents a great opportunity for many companies to expedite their eCommerce plans, or revitalize them. Check out NextRow’s Magento Commerce services.
Where Should Marketers Put their Marketing Dollars?
As more people are staying online, social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram have reported a significant increase in content sharing. Netflix witnessed a significant jump in their content consumption during the Q1 2020.
As online browsing has become a new normal for people, as a marketing leader, it won’t be difficult for you to decide on where to invest your marketing dollars.
How to Create a Right Marketing Message During these Tough Times?
One simple answer: Empathy marketing. People make buying decisions based on emotions. No matter how superior your product/service is, if the customer doesn’t connect with your brand, the chances of buying your product/service is lesser.
Forrester Consulting found, “65 percent of marketers struggle to employ emotional marketing as they turn to automation to improve customer engagement.”
Show empathy towards others in your marketing message. Put yourselves into their shoes and assess if the message would resonate with you.
What’s the Takeaway for Marketers?
There is no right or wrong way of marketing. It’s all about emotions. It’s all about empathy. Your ability to connect with your audience with the right message is the key to your campaign success.
Analyze each campaign and see what connected the most/least with your audience. Polish and fine tune your campaigns to get the best results.
How NextRow Digital can Help You to Succeed with Digital Marketing in the Current COVID-19 Situation and Beyond?
NextRow Digital has been an Adobe partner for more than a decade and has experience with Marketo since 2015. Our marketing specialists can help you create and execute dynamic campaigns that your audience deserves. It is not just about email marketing. You need to get your audience attention at every step of the way through ABM, web personalization, and more.
We have built strategies for winning campaigns. We help you succeed in nurturing your lead and converting them into customers and help with the right marketing message to keep them as a loyal customer. If you would like to discuss more, please reach out to sales@nextrow.com or simply call +1-(888)-578-6558
