Coronavirus literally paused the worldwide economy and changed all predictions related to growth in 2020. Nevertheless, each leader should be ready for such situations in order to become stronger and wiser when the storm finishes. It takes deep thinking and the root changes of the existing strategy of digital presence.
Due to the latest surveys, conducted in the UK and USA among the marketing managers, almost 63% of people (in April) said the budgets for their campaigns are frozen till further notice. The situation has been slowly changing in June, but it still doesn’t mean anything got back to normal.
Digital marketing in the post-COVID19 era will be much different from what we have used to. One the rule related to constant experimenting and testing ads on social media and the internet, in general, will stay the same. Priority of all campaigns, in the near and far future, must be focused on the brand value, enhancing the user experience, and pointing out the brand characteristics that have the real value for its consumers.
To get to the point where digital marketing works for you, it is needed to adjust your strategy, if you already haven’t, and we will offer a few best examples we ran into and tested ourselves.
1. Follow the metric results in real-time
In unpredictable situations such as the COVID19 crisis, it is important to apply the “data-driven” method and follow all data that could be relevant for the new dynamic of your business. It is important to follow what is happening within the company and outside the company.
The key KPI parameters will tell you all, whether it’s about the webshop or social media activities. The best way to keep pace is to follow the metrics. Besides your own metrics, it is important to follow the metrics of your competition in order to find out and follow the position of your brand within the niche.
All this data will help you put all possible scenarios on the paper and to prepare for potential changes and challenges.
2. Sales funnel is EVERYTHING
You’ve probably heard of a sales funnel and wondered if that strategy really works. We can convince you that nothing else works so well as sales funnel. If you want to keep current and attract new clients, it is important to create a dynamic and efficient sales funnel, with exact steps, without any other steps in between that spend the time of your consumers.
As we have already mentioned, the customer approach should have an individual approach to the consumers so they can realize the purpose and value of the purchase.
What are the key tools you should use to reach the goals and enhance customer experience with the purchase of your product?
- Awareness: your consumers should constantly be aware of the presence of your brand on the market. Building a strong brand is imperative, plus the consumers expect to get the value for the completed purchase.
- Consideration: innovative strategies are constantly reminding it is essential that the customers constantly express interest in the product. It is especially important to establish a relationship with the client in the early phase when that potential client is still a marketing lead.
- Conversion: your strategy must be conversion-oriented. To achieve this, you should win the trust of consumers, draw their attention and provide the expected value.
Another additional piece of advice – your content should have 80% of educational character, 20% related to product benefits.
3. Analysis of customer behavior
Probably the most crucial question brands are asking these days is related to customer behavior in a “new era”? Has it already started or we are in a transitional phase and still adapting and getting used to new circumstances.
Many people turn to China as a behavior model. They increased the percentage of luxury goods, which suddenly jumped after the crisis ended. The logic behind this is “one life only”.
And what about us? We are still waiting for the first information. Based on the crowded shopping malls, our citizens are behaving similarly to Chinese people.
Also, based on the available info, they were shopping online too. In other words, all these online companies paid off for sure.
Another info supports the analysis of customer behavior as the most important step in setting the strategy – namely, up to 65% of consumers say they value the way the brands presented themselves and responded to consumers’ needs during the crisis.
4. New messages for new circumstances
Many brands decided the best way to provide value to their consumers is via multiple forms, like blog posts, social media content (educational posts, entertainment videos, concerts). As expected, up to 27% of brands posted fewer photos presenting close social contacts, to promote physical distance.
The audience expects clear messages (but not generic ones) that suggest human warmth and empathy. Used to such content, consumers will still expect their favorite brand to have an understanding for them and to comfort them in a way.
5. Planning the advertising budget
The way the customers’ needs and reactions to crisis change, the communication channels with them go through changes too, as well as the budget.
Based on research, target groups during the crisis and lockdown mostly followed news on their smart TVs (up to 67%), 45% watched the streaming platforms, and 45% followed the social media. In other words – TV, Netflix, IG, or FB. makes sense.
And what about you? Contact us and share this text with your friends and colleagues, and ask them the same question.
6. Strengthening the strategies that cover more channels
Finally, we get to the phase where digital helps the objects and shops that are meant to be opened physically. It happened in our country, in most cases, but there are niches that are still shut down, mostly tourist objects.
What should we take into account? The way the sanitary and protective measures have been applied, the conditions to get into certain objects, etc.
We are aware of the fact the consumers don’t respect all the rules but still, it is important to constantly remind them.
The flexibility of online communication channels comes into the focus in this case, as they can pass the info in real-time and answer all the clients’ inquiries. This is especially important for small businesses and reconnecting the trust between a brand and consumers.
Titan and the new reality
In the past few months, we have been working hard with our clients on transforming their digital strategies. It is very important to us, in these unpredictable circumstances, to let our clients know it is important to adjust the strategy to current circumstances and let the brand stay flexible, just as the content we’re creating for them. If you need a digital and content strategy, contact us to book a meeting.
