The Marketing World After COVID-19
Observations for marketers on what could be our “new normal” after the pandemic?
Humans are naturally not so good at dealing with uncertainties. When the world was shut down due to our biggest health crisis in the modern history of mankind, the coronavirus, all the questions arose. One of the biggest questions a lot of us asked, including me, was that “when will Coronavirus end?” The answer could vary based on where you are right now.
It was a very difficult-to-answer question a month ago especially here in New York. Time went by and more than a month in the lockdown, we could probably say that we are getting closer to see some light at the end of the tunnel for at least our first wave fighting with the virus. As an example, New York, with the highest number of cases in the world, has reached its peak. “If you look at the past three days, you could argue we are past the plateau and starting to descend,” said Governor Cuomo on Apr 18th.
Being under quarantined for more than a month, we somehow found ourselves adapting to this mostly-indoor-lifestyle. This also means the world and our behavior have changed to a certain degree as we are all inevitably being disrupted. Counting down to the reopening, here we come asking ourselves another question. What’s next? How will the world post-pandemic look like?
5 trends for the marketing world after COVID-19
The world is being disrupted at an accelerating pace. Consumers have been adapting their lives and are shifting to the new normal. Some trends such as toilet paper panic, zoom, delivery or face mask emerged in people’s search interests during the crisis time. How will these things have long-term effects on our everyday life and what marketers can do to captivate on this?
1. E-Commerce market is biggest than ever.
After the stay-at-home policy was announced, consumers and businesses were forced to go online. This results in the highest growth for the e-commerce landscape in both value and volume. According to the e-commerce insight tracking report, it shows revenue up 37% and orders up 54% in early April. The giant e-commerce player, Amazon, was reportedly hit the record highs of its share.
I still remember working on a shoppers trend report last few years. Consumers still had doubts about grocery shopping online as they’d rather go in person, spending time choosing and picking it up themselves. Now online grocery delivery has become our vital option, lifting the category with a huge spike. The New York Times reported that orders for Amazon groceries have been as much as 50 times higher than normal. The number of online shoppers jumping into the market doubled compared to last year. The food delivery service was also labeled as one of the only winners during this outbreak.
What does this mean for marketers and businesses?
The expanded market size and more consumer segments phenomenon will make the business rethink their strategies. The online touchpoint might not be the second priority or just a good-to-have channel but will become the mandatory channel that customers expect businesses to have. And the e-commerce channel deserves a closer look for the businesses to captivate on this expanded whitespace.
2. Video-based content and apps are booming, proved by Tiktok, Zoom and virtual events.
Since the physical connection was cut, we had to connect virtually instead. Apart from the spike in social media usage, we started to see emerging apps like Tiktok and Zoom become more popular as well. Many screenshots of Zoom’s Gallery view were posted on social media whether they are business or pleasure purposes. The video-conference platform said its daily users spiked to 200 million in March, up from 10 million in December. Daily downloads of the Zoom app have increased 30x year-over-year and the app has been the top free app for iPhones in the United States since March 18. According to Music Business Worldwide, Tiktok saw an 18 percent increase in downloads. There were many challenges created on the video app as everybody is at home trying to stay connected or even to get more famous. Live events and performances were held virtually instead, ranging from a club-size comedy show scale to the Global Citizen Festival, an international concert, or even a classic broadway like The Phantom of the Opera.
What does this mean for marketers and businesses?
Consumers are much more comfortable and adapted to connect with each other using video conferences. They are more familiar with consuming and producing video content by themselves using Tiktok or other livestreaming-based platforms. Virtual gatherings are now the alternative for events. These are the new normals that marketers should consider given the shift in consumer trends.
3. It’s okay to be vulnerable.
Because this is the first time we can simply say “we are all in this together”, people have more empathy for each other. Consumers now appreciate seeing more “vulnerable” and “authentic” side of brands or leaders. Governor Andrew Cuomo seemed to have set a good example for all communication practitioners showing his empathy, calmness along with great leadership. And according to Engine Group US, consumers appreciate brands addressing the current situation in their ads and 68% find it helpful when ads show regard of the current scenario.
What does this mean for marketers and businesses?
We are now moving from the perfect picture advertising to more of real, meaningful and approachable messages. Consumers see brands and businesses more now as another human being behind it, not just a product or service propaganda. Brands that show how they truly care for their community will be the ones that survive after this crisis.
4. Big Data and AI are highly utilized along with the balanced use of humans.
The COVID-19 is deadly because we do not have enough information to know how to prevent and cure it yet. Big data, AI and machine learning are brought into the scene in an attempt to find the best way to fight with this health crisis. Reported by the New York Times, Google’s search trend was used to help detect unknown Covid-19 outbreaks, particularly in parts of the world with poor testing infrastructure. Facebook and Google survey data could also help researchers at Carnegie Mellon forecast Covid-19 cases. Apple also is releasing aggregated mobility data from Apple Maps to help public health officials better understand changes in how people are moving in their communities.
What does this mean for marketers and businesses?
We can now see the highly collaborative operations between machines and humans, while technology and tools are being used, the operations are still taken and lead by humans in order to also understand and help humans.
Read Why Should We Appreciate Being Human in the Age of Data?
5. The social media world is going back to basic.
Last few years, we started to see the trend of people disconnecting from their social media platforms. It was when the social world was bombarded by internet trolls, misinformation and disinformation. This may still go on. However, this crisis has put a slow on social media going down the dark path by making people realize why we started using social media in the first place which is to connect. It has brought us closer. We again try to reconnect with each other. “Social media seems to have improved, with more reliable information than might have been expected from a global pandemic,” stated by The New York Times.
What does this mean for marketers and businesses?
Social media will still be around, but in a more meaningful way for humans. Consumers may expect to see more of the good side and better quality of online society. Businesses activating social media will now have an opportunity to continue this movement, taking the lead in stopping the social isolation era.
