While the role of digital marketing in generating sales has not disappeared, it has been heavily influenced by the pandemic. Campaigns that would have typically been run in March and April were delayed until later in the year.
So how has the role of digital marketing changed due to the pandemic? Are we really seeing an end to traditional marketing methods? Let’s have a look.
1. New Data, New Perspectives
The first reason why marketing will survive the recession is that we have so much data. Thanks to tools like Google Analytics, which can track every pixel of a website and the activities of its visitors, marketers have a wealth of information at their fingertips.
Even before the pandemic, marketers knew that they had to change the way they thought about analytics because traditional market share and website traffic measures were no longer enough.
With a growing number of individuals working remotely and businesses closing down, it’s essential that we understand how people are using the digital space as a resource to find the information they need. This data can help us understand our audience and determine what they want, whether news content or product reviews.
The reason why digital marketing will survive the recession is that we have new perspectives. The last few years have opened our minds to new ways of thinking about marketing, and the tools and platforms developed during the pandemic have given us a fresh glimpse at the world.
Thanks to machines that can take complex tasks and automate them, marketers can now test endless variations of marketing messages and compare them against existing content to determine which is most successful. This allows for experimentation on a truly massive scale, which wasn’t practical before the pandemic.
2. Shifting Focus To The ROI Of Digital Marketing
The second reason why digital marketing will survive the recession is that we’re shifting focus to the ROI of digital marketing. In the past, marketing budgets were high, and the focus was on expanding the audience for a brand or group – regardless of whether that meant buying ads on a popular website or buying space in a national magazine.
Thanks to technological advances and the rise of content creators and curators, such as Buzzfeed, Complex, and the New York Times, traditional magazines aren’t as relevant as they used to be. And the audience, for the most part, has moved on to more specialized platforms where they can find the content that interests them.
This trend will continue, and marketers will have to shift their focus from broad, expensive campaigns to more targeted efforts on specific groups or individuals.
For instance, if you’re running a PPC campaign, you’ll want to narrow down the audiences that participate in your program to people in the United States who are interested in mortgage banking or first-time home buying. And, as consumers’ interests change and evolve with the times, your target audience will too.
3. The Growth Of Video And Offline Marketing Mixes
The third reason why digital marketing will survive the recession is that we have the growth of video and offline marketing mixes. With video platforms like YouTube boasting hundreds of millions of users, it’s easy for businesses to see the potential for video content to reach a huge audience.
Thanks to the rise of content creators and platforms like TikTok, where anyone can become a broadcaster, videos can be shared rapidly and effectively – multiplying the reach exponentially. For marketers, this means that a video can potentially go viral and catch on in a way that a typical blog post or ad could not.
However, videos are only part of the equation. As we’ve seen with the success of influencers and content creators, videos can be interesting, informative, or entertaining – but they can’t always be everything to an audience. After all, someone needs to create and package the content for the video – meaning that videos are not a one-stop shop for marketing information.
4. Real-time feedback
During the pandemic’s peak, brands had to quickly adapt their methods and figure out a way to get feedback about their campaigns and whether or not they were successful, frequently and quickly.
This is a significant shift from pre-pandemic days when marketers would wait until the end of the month to see the results of their efforts. Now, they want to see instant results and a way to prove it.
5. Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing emerged as a crucial tool during the pandemic and continues to be relevant today.
This is especially significant for luxury brands and large consumer goods companies that can afford significant marketing budgets.
These companies can afford to pay influencers to promote their products and services, effectively using the influencers to drive marketing activity and measure the impact of campaigns.
What is influencer marketing? It’s when celebrities, famous people, and social media influencers are used to promote brands and products. The influencers may or may not have official permission to use the brand logos and slogans, but they have the social media audiences to inspire and engage people to action.
TikTok and its parent company popularized this form of marketing. In just a few short months, the world’s second most popular social media platform changed how we think about social media marketing.
6. Video content is the priority
During the pandemic, video content emerged as a crucial tool for sharing information rapidly and effectively.
Brands and companies quickly understood the power of video content and saw social media platforms like TikTok as a potential place to increase their online presence.
In a time where people are constantly inundated with information, videos allow users to take a quick break from their busy days to learn more about a product or service, explore new concepts and ideas, and stay entertained.
This is why video content is becoming such a significant part of digital marketing, and this trend will likely continue.
7. Content is more important than ever
In an already digital world, the importance of content has increased.
If you’re not creating content, then you’re losing out on an opportunity to connect with your audience. While we are fortunate that many companies have adopted a content-first approach to marketing and continue to push out substantial amounts of valuable information, the marketing department’s role has changed, too.
They aren’t just producing and distributing content, but they’re also creating it, curating it, and analyzing it, all to improve the content and determine what resonates with the audience.
In addition to content, other important areas of focus during the pandemic include brand voice and consistency.
Marketers are also using AI-powered software to track the success of their campaigns and optimize future activities. With real-time data at their fingertips, they can ensure that their strategies are always pointed in the right direction – and that they’re never wasting precious campaign resources trying to promote a product or service that the audience does not value or appreciate.
These tools make the marketer’s job much easier and more effective, leading to happier customers and a solid bottom line.
8. Voice search is dominant
As we’ve established, video content is crucial during the pandemic due to the fast pace of news and information.
If you want to capture the attention of someone searching for information online, video content is a great way to do it.
Voice search is all the rage right now as people become more accustomed to speaking rather than typing when conducting searches.
While most people may not always realize it, they often search for products or services using their voices. If you haven’t considered the voice search part of your strategy, then it might be worthwhile.
You don’t need to focus solely on voice search; you can use various online tools to track the popularity of keywords and phrases and establish the strength of your voice search traffic. Then, you can align your strategy toward becoming a dominant voice in your industry.
By prioritizing and focusing on SEO and content, you can ensure that your brand’s voice is always represented in the search results and that competitors never drown them out.
9. Email marketing keeps evolving
While online video content is becoming more prominent, so is email marketing.
This is because individuals want to learn more about a product or service and can often do so by simply reading an email with comprehensive information or watching an effective video pitch.
As a result, email marketing keeps evolving to fit the new digital landscape, and it continues to be a popular tool amongst marketers.
The most effective marketers will leverage both online and offline channels to generate leads and customers.
10. Online Marketplaces are the future
If you’re selling goods or services online, then you’re probably aware that marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon play a crucial role in your success.
These platforms make it much easier to find the products and services that you’re looking for, and they also provide the convenience of purchasing the items directly from the source.
With the world shifting towards online shopping, online marketplaces have become indispensable in terms of both product discovery and purchase.
Now, more and more brands and companies are realizing the significance of these marketplaces, and they’re using them to gain exposure, find new customers, and ultimately grow their bottom line.
If you haven’t given much thought to online marketplaces, then you might want to do so. Not only do they provide important marketing benefits, but they can also be crucial tools for driving product awareness, engagement, and sales.
You must be on social media if you want to gain customer trust and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
You might think that your social media accounts are just for fun or to keep in touch with friends, but that’s not the case. Customers expect to see you there in a world where consumers consume content online.
As we’ve established above, people often search for information using their voices. For that reason, having a social media account for your business is important, and it’s usually a good idea to set up multiple accounts.
You don’t need to have an elaborate strategy for your social media accounts; simply create content that encourages others to connect with you on social media and mention your brand whenever possible.
If you want to be seen as a thought leader in your industry, you must be on social media. Doing so can allow you to connect with important stakeholders in your niche, gain credibility, and make a solid impression on customers.
12. Influencers and celebrities are in demand
In the world of celebrity and influencer marketing, companies often need to pay high sums of money to attract the attention of influential people.
While brands have always sought to influence the public’s opinion of their products and services, the tools are now available for marketers to capture the attention of influential people.
Marketers can now design product placements and promotions to look like genuine endorsements, effectively creating an illusion of authenticity. As a result, influential people are often more receptive to a pitch because they believe it to be an endorsement when it is a sponsored message.
Will Digital Marketing Survive The Recession?
The simple answer is that we aren’t just experiencing a recession. We are also in the middle of a technological transformation. In a world gone virtual, where businesses can operate from the comfort of their homes and customers can find what they want online, marketing as we know it has changed. Thanks to the increased purchasing power of the digital generation and the widespread availability of marketing tools, we have seen an explosion of innovation within the industry
