FIVE Most Important Things to Know Before Creating Digital Marketing Strategy Under COVID-19 Situation

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 in 2020, the impact on digital marketing was huge. I will list the five most important things that I would want a potential client to know before I create a digital marketing strategy for them by taking into account the current COVID-19 situation.

Social Media

2020 was marked by the coronavirus pandemic and has changed everyday life in various ways, one of which is, without a doubt, the way people use the internet. People used social media platforms more often to keep in touch with their friends and colleagues and share their daily lives on the platforms with people they don’t know. The reason is one of the main impacts of COVID-19 that people all over the world were required to stay home and limit their contact with others.

Social media usage grew to a new level and became extremely prominent among all age groups. Data from Statista showed that the annual TikTok user growth rate in the U.S. in 2020 was 85.3%. It was a huge increase in new users registration. Due to the pandemic, there was a significant increase in the average time U.S. users spent on social media in 2020: 65 minutes daily, compared to 54 minutes and 56 minutes the years before. Therefore, social media became a place for businesses to remain connected with customers and get customers engaged with the brand.

E-commerce Sales Growth

Online sales were up by 32.4% in 2020 and continued to increase in the first quarter of 2021. Because of the pandemic, people tended to shop online more than ever to try their best to keep their distance from others. Online shopping became their best choice under this situation.
To increase online sales, product details would be important for companies to focus on working to provide customers with a better user experience. Either on the official website or other retailer websites, people prefer detailed information about products to have a better idea of which product to choose.

Customization on SEO

The digital market has become more concentrated with more and more users starting to choose online shopping, also known as a side effect of COVID-19. This means that users are even more exposed to marketing than ever before, and have learned how to filter out ads and marketing campaigns that don’t appeal to them. Personalized marketing becomes an opportunity for companies to improve customers’ online shopping experience. According to the research, 84% of consumers would like for search engines to perfectly identify their needs and narrow results down. In addition, 70% of consumers would consider using digital assistants to make online purchasing simpler. SEO would be considered to improve to cater to customers’ needs for online shopping. The purpose is to deliver the right message, to the right person, at the right time.

Mobile App

During the pandemic period, people relied more on phones. People spend more time on phones browsing websites, texting, and shopping. A well-designed app would bring more consumers to the brand and retain existing customers. Creating an App for a brand made it more convenient for customers to access the brand and make a purchase. Mobile App would be a potentially important channel for companies to utilize.

Marketing Budget

In a March 2020 survey of marketing professionals in the United States, it was found that COVID-19 has already influenced their budget decisions. According to the research, 44 % of respondents their content marketing budget would decrease in the near future, 42 % said the same about investments in print and 72 % indicated spending less on physical events. At the same time, 31% said their video and pad digital ad budgets would grow this year. Companies found that paid digital ads and video were more effective channels than others to attract and retain customers. In addition, paid digital ads, video, and social media were the least influenced in advertising revenue.

COVID-19 influenced the marketplace a lot. For digital marketing, the pandemic had less impact rather than common marketing. A better knowledge of the marketing trend would help develop a digital marketing strategy.