Depending on how they choose to utilize it, digital marketing can be an incredibly useful and beneficial tool for companies looking to boost their presence online.
This realization isn’t news: digital marketing efforts have been at the forefront for most companies as they realize how much more profitable online marketing has become than traditional marketing. The online audience (as well as the number of online shoppers) has steadily grown throughout the years. 75% of users visit a company’s website after they see a brand’s post online, and 50% of users look for videos and reviews about a product they’re looking for before they even visit a store.
Thus, companies—mainly startups—that are looking to grow their brand have started to reach out to digital marketing agencies to create that online footprint. From online storefronts to various social media platforms, businesses are creating spaces online, the way they used to make physical storefronts. The need for online content is staggering:
- Digital marketing has ballooned to a 306 billion dollar market in the U.S. as of 2020.
- 51% of B2B marketers prefer to create visual assets to appeal to an online audience.
- And roughly 25%-43% of brands have allocated budgets for content.
However, this momentum got rocked with the arrival of COVID-19. A new reality was rising rapidly: digital marketing services had never been more necessary than in the time of a pandemic. As widespread economic outages take place around a world gripped by COVID-19, businesses can no longer proceed “as usual.” Coronavirus has crippled how people interact with one another in the physical world, with social distancing and quarantines imposed globally. Businesses have shuttered their brick-and-mortar locations and have moved online, where a world trapped indoors has sought refuge in.
Digital marketing in the year 2020 has ultimately transformed into one that caters to a purely online customer base that is unable to leave their homes. And with everyone online and on social media looking for the latest news and updates for everything around the world, businesses are now faced with the new challenge of marketing mindfully. How do you market the business while being aware and conscious of a global pandemic? You turn to the experts.
The Wave: Digital Marketing Helps Companies Stay Afloat through COVID-19
For some experts, companies that are looking to maintain “business as usual” in the best way possible while still keeping the pandemic in mind need to turn to digital marketing services that know how to navigate delicate situations. People aren’t just online now; they also are bombarded with even more information than ever. Whether it’s about COVID-19 news or other significant upheavals highlighted as a result of the pandemic, everyone online is going through an information overload.
Businesses, then, have to stop and reconsider their advertising efforts and whether those strategies are wise or practical. Minimalism becomes the name of the game as it’s essential to catch a potential lead’s attention through the noise without overpowering them.
This delicate balancing act is particularly important for specific industries that have become more important than ever. Healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and the media now have a bigger slice of the pie when it comes to online attention. Businesses in this field are making sure that their digital marketing strategies have a more substantial ad spend or having more content released, particularly if it’s relevant to the ongoing health situation. Furthermore, e-commerce is experiencing a boom. Its impact is affecting everything from supplies to resources, and, most importantly, marketing.
Brick and mortar companies in these industries are still looking to gain a foothold in an online world currently full of noise and to keep business going despite the economic impact of the coronavirus. That’s where digital marketing services can help direct their efforts.
Digital marketing can make all the right adjustments to content and advertising. Digital marketing experts can help analyze data for a company, highlight pain points, and fix them. Who are the people the company is trying to reach? Who are the people who would need their services the most at a time like this? Do priorities need to be adjusted? Is it the right kind of content to draw in those leads? Not only would digital marketing services determine this for them, but they can even help adjust social media ads for the company. The right digital marketing tools can open up a company to a new, receptive audience to what they’re offering.
Slow times or flying off the shelves? Digital marketing experts can pivot the strategy as needed. Businesses impacted by the coronavirus could be experiencing highs and lows. Their products might not sell as well due to people adjusting their priorities, or their products could be in extremely high demand (this applies to cleaning products, protective items, and more).
Whichever the case may be, the right digital marketing strategy can prevent losses. Specialists can redirect business to new markets or services or aid a company in scaling up their business to address the sudden wave of demand. This enables a company to correct their course and adjust their priorities as needed.
Refining content leads to better results and more trust. The unprecedented situation the world has been put in compels business and digital marketing strategies to require some “housekeeping” on content and its distribution methods. The content of any company’s social media page or online storefront needs to be timely. A business would do well to avoid looking unaffected by a major pandemic. Acknowledging it and providing solutions, letting customers know they care can improve the trust of potential leads. More customers are drawn to a company that understands what they need in these troubling times and tries to deliver solutions.
Digital marketing services produce battleplans for online campaigns. Companies that might not have forayed into digital marketing before the pandemic are often unsure of the right steps to take. Digital marketing experts can conduct a thorough study of the company’s target audience, numbers, sales, and other pertinent factors. From there, they will carefully craft various campaigns that are sensitive to the pandemic and will speak to the business’ target and address and respond to their needs.
New doorways are opening: digital marketing can shift business towards new channels. There are inevitable budget changes, changes in media plans, and more. Digital marketing strategists can lead a business toward flexible channels such as digital display ads, online videos, and other areas that can provide long-term growth even after the pandemic is over.
The goal isn’t merely to weather a business through the coronavirus pandemic but also to maintain it, so it continues long after the crisis is over. Optimizing sales channels, e-commerce, and adding new functionalities lead to this growth.
Better statistics, better analytics, and better numbers. As mentioned earlier, digital marketing experts understand the numbers. They can provide companies with a better understanding of who is looking at their content, who is interested in their products, and how to target them. Furthermore, they can gather even more data as needed. The landscape keeps changing as 2020 moves forward with the coronavirus. Having the right data and understanding it allows companies to make better decisions and adjustments. The companies can respond to the customers’ needs and queries.
Opportunity knocks; make the jump to digital marketing. Changing costs also affect digital marketing. Digital marketing’s demand is high, and publishers now provide incredibly attractive deals. Digital media costs are lower now than they have been before, with ad prices decreasing substantially. Digital marketing is far more cost-effective than ever, so smaller companies or companies with a truncated budget due to the pandemic. Businesses need to take the opportunity of having a budget-friendly marketing solution in a time when purse strings have become tighter than ever.
The New Normal: Digital Marketing in the Transformation, Post-COVID-19
Some of the most critical changes that digital marketing introduces to the e-commerce industry following COVID-19 are lower costs and more consumer-targeted marketing. Creative and content production costs have lowered dramatically, making it more accessible for small businesses that look to grow into one of the big players. And in a world of targeting specific consumer bases in specific platforms, both large and small companies, in theory, have equal footing. Everyone is placed on even ground as companies now fight for the attention of consumers by showcasing what they have to offer and what they can do for consumers directly, rather than relying on existing brand names.
Results are more reactive as digital marketing enables more companies to see results of their marketing efforts (and that of their competitors) in real-time, making the market a lot more competitive. There is less need for physical marketing. It’s now more essential to resonate with customers even when they’re not physically looking at a product or present at a store.
Digital marketing won’t just be reshaping things for businesses through the coronavirus pandemic. It can reshape the way companies operate throughout the globe, even after the crisis ends. It’s a new world, and the major changes are here to stay.
