Impact of Covid on business
Case numbers are rising in countries even where the COVID-19 pandemic was seen fading, declining in areas where massive outbreaks occurred lately, and just starting to grow in previously unaffected areas. Trying to predict the ending of a narrative while the plot is still twisting makes it tough for any company to stay afloat and make money.
As many would anticipate, there has been a surge in online content consumption platforms as a result of this shift in attention toward all things digital. These platforms are always growing to stay up with new competitors and user demand. So far, everything has gone according to plan, but 2020 has thrown us some curveballs that no one could have imagined. The main difference between what we’re witnessing now and what was predicted for the second half of 2019 is in consumer profile and demand.
Why Every Businesses Need a Digital Marketing Strategy—Especially During the Pandemic
Digital marketing should be considered as a feasible and scalable growth engine for your company, even if you don’t sell your products online. This growth engine has multiple chambers, each of which represents a different digital channel. Every channel should ideally be fine-tuned with the others in order to generate the most reliable and efficient result for your business.
Your digital marketing strategy’s goal is to drive visitors to your website or social media pages, engage your target audience, and convert leads and sales.Even the most adamant traditionalists have been forced to embrace digital by the epidemic and lockdown of 2020, simply to stay connected to the outside world.
Digital has evolved into a solution, a way to meet fundamental requirements such as food, as well as interaction with friends and family, entertainment, and the procurement of knowledge, goods, and services that were previously only available in person. The introduction of lockdown, on the other hand, has drastically enlarged the number, availability, and profile of the digital audience, bringing in people who were previously only accessible offline. It has also influenced their actions, expectations, content consumption, and how they expect to be interacted with.
Digital Sales is highly Active in comparison to previous years
- As non-essential businesses closed their doors to halt the spread of Covid-19, unified channels and customer service are more critical than ever in today’s scenario. This meant that both shops and customers had to adapt to an online realm suddenly.
- Growth of digital sales by 18% in Q1 2020 in comparison to Q1 2019
- High traffic growth by 13% in Q1 2020 compared to Q1 2019
- The first one has to do with desktop traffic. Desktop traffic fell by 9% in Q1 2019, but increased by 9% in Q1 2020. There’s a noticeable shift to desktop traffic and sales when consumers are locked indoors and not on the move.
- Another pattern is that social media traffic is rapidly increasing. Social media accounted for 6% of total traffic in the first quarter of 2019. For Q1 2020, this figure increased to 8%.
Massive Social traffic uprise is evident – There are two more unexpected characteristics, in addition to the surge in digital commerce and traffic.
Thinking ahead – how can your brand expand with covid pandemic and effects of lockdown on restriction on movement
COVID-19 is the first significant worldwide issue since the mainstreaming of digital marketing; we’ve never seen a situation like this before, with such easy access to data on how customer behaviour is changing and evolving. Marketers may rearrange and reassess their activity and budget allocation thanks to a massive amount of data that comes in virtually daily from numerous sources. Being well-informed will aid you in making better business judgments.
Marketing technologies will boost efficiency of marketing activities
Companies that adapt to the new reality the fastest and most adaptable will have a significant competitive advantage and will become industry leaders, with others having to follow. In this new competition to be acknowledged as a market leader, digital marketing is crucial. It generates more revenue, attracts more customers, and, most importantly, builds and strengthens customer loyalty to the brand.
Decide which digital channels are ideal for your business
If you’re new to digital marketing, here’s a rundown of the many digital channels available, as classified by Google. Their main goal is to get people to visit your website or buy your items online:
1. Organic Search
When someone types a set of words or speaks a set of voice prompts into a search engine, they are directed to online content. It is termed organic traffic when someone visits that content on your page.Organic traffic requires a significant amount of valuable and relevant content production as well as search engine optimization (SEO) work. It can take months, if not years, for this to happen. As a result, while your clients are on lockdown, organic traffic may not be the best short-term solution.
2. Direct
These are people that have come to your website specifically to see what you have to offer. When I want to buy a computer, for example, I go to dell.com or Microsoft.com. Reaching out to the site directly, this is referred to as straight traffic.Direct traffic is a result of your company’s, products’, or services’ brand building. The development of your website’s brand takes time. It’s never too late to start, especially if you’ve already established a strong brand.
3. Social
Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter are examples of social media platforms. People may see a post about your organisation, product, or service with a Learn More link when they check their social media profiles. It will take them to your website if they click on it. This type of traffic is referred to as social traffic.
Building social traffic is not difficult, but it does necessitate the provision of relevant and compelling material on a regular basis. If your company has a loyal customer base who appreciates your product, you can keep in touch with them on social media by reminding them of its value and engaging them with interesting material or offers.
4. Email
This is the amount of traffic that your outbound email campaigns and interactions produce. Someone, for example, sees a link in an email and clicks it, which sends them to your website. This is referred to as email traffic.
People are more inclined to read their emails now because they are confined to their houses. When done right, email traffic is the least expensive and most successful. During this time of lockdown, make the most of your email list. However, be mindful of the current scenario.
5. Referral
This is traffic from one website to another that has been referenced. It works in a similar way to word-of-mouth marketing, but only amongst websites. Backlinks and citations from other websites that point to your site will drive traffic to it. Link building is one of the most underappreciated digital channels, despite its importance. Backlinks are crucial not just for generating traffic, but also for establishing authority for your website.
You can use your downtime to boost your website’s authority by proactively seeking backlinks from high-authority websites that are relevant to yours. This is the kind of public relations operation that can pay off handsomely both during and after the lockdown.
6. Paid Search
This includes banner ads, PPC ads, social media post boosts, GeoMarketing, and GeoFencing, among other things. They need you to pay for each ad, display, visit, or conversion, unlike organic traffic.
Planning to Indulge in Digital Marketing but no clue, we can assist and guide you reach greater heights
If you are not comfortable forging through a digital transformation of your marketing or creating new digital strategies on your own, Sysres can help you, we shall suggest appropriate digital marketing techniques which suit your business needs. We will help you create a strategy that can turn digital channels into a scalable engine of growth. One that will ideally catapult your organisation out of the devastating coronavirus economic crisis and towards new heights!