How Covid-19 is making changes in Digital Marketing?

We are now aware about the term Covid-19 and we are witnessing the changes occured in the world because of this deadly virus.

No industry is set free from this pandemic and so in the world economy also. Every country is under lock down to fight against Covid-19.

With the increasing spread of viruses, everybody is getting adverse conditions. The global stock market has collapsed and the rate of unemployment is increasing at a rapid rate, causing severe threat to the economy. Many global business meets and sports events have been cancelled.

But with the increase in internet connectivity, many business enterprises are continuing their operations. The Digital Marketing industry is one among such examples that got least affected. 

Let’s discuss different areas of digital marketing that got affected.

Covid-19 and SEO

In the SEO industry, we witnessed a sudden drop in the search volume of several keywords and at the same time many keywords gained strength. People are depending on the ecommerce websites and apps to make their purchase. So the websites that are selling the essentials are getting more traffic than before. Of Course the conversion rate is really high. Also, with the lock down, people are giving more importance to health and so a tremendous increase in traffic is recorded to the health and fitness sites. Keywords related to natural ways to coronavirus, sanitizers, hand washing techniques, immunity capsules, herbal medicines etc. have increased enormously.

 

               [Source: https://neilpatel.com/blog/coronavirus/]

By examining this graph it is clear that some industries are performing well and some got fired. For the travel and study abroad websites a sudden dip in traffic is visible. Because of the restrictions in travel, websites that assist travel and hospitality are facing the minimum traffic ever. Online booking sites are also getting into the tough time without a doubt. As a conclusion, we can understand that a certain category is getting more traffic and the rest of the websites are getting low.

Influence of Covid-19 in Social Media Marketing

As reported by The Economic Times, social media activity in the country increased 50X in early March. Overall business faces a decline in the income and so people are exploring the current situation to showcase their products and services. As a part of social distancing, people get more time to spend on social media platforms like facebook, twitter, linkedin, instagram etc. Keeping the followers engaged within the page should be the ultimate goal of every digital marketing expert. A study made by Social Bakers found that the CPM rate has decreased for most of the industrial categories. CPM is cost per mille; it is the amount of money that an advertiser should pay for showing the advertisement to a thousand online users. Also, the Cost Per Click for online advertisement has declined considerably. 

More and more people are engaged in the digital world, yet the engagement activity graph is in the decreasing order. Usually, engagement is measured with the click parameter. But the Facebook engagement figures increase, they see a weakening ad business in those countries that have taken measures to stop the spread of COVID-19. By analysing this report, it is clear that people prefer more organic search results than paid campaigns run by the brands. Businesses are facing an economic crisis and so they cut down the amount of money that they spend on online advertisements.

According to Social Bakers, there has been a drop in the ad spend by 23.5% for the last couple of months. For a digital marketing professional, it seems to be the worst news. So the tactic that can be applied is the usage of high quality engaging and useful content. It will drive more readers to your site and at the same time, the dwelling time will be high. It will have a positive effect in terms of SEO. Here is the graph, which shows the decline of search ad clicks.

 

 [Source: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2020/03/18/covid-19-google-ads-data]

Influence of COVID-19 on OTT Digital Marketing

Many marketing specialists  believe that the OTT advertising industry will change the whole story of digital marketing soon. OTT is Over the Top, is the super targeted advertisements shown on television that are connected to the internet. The demand  for Video advertisements are increasing day by day and so the brands are focusing on the best videos to treat their customers. By adding the appropriate interactive elements to your video, people can easily relate their needs with the brand products. In this pandemic situation, people are compelled to stay inside and so the usage of OTT can make tremendous changes. Digital marketers can make use of this trend to do campaigns through these digital platforms.

How to adopt effective digital marketing techniques during the pandemic?

The whole world is witnessing mixed approaches to the economic status of business firms. Many are getting better business connections but some are struggling. Let’s discuss the tactics that can be applied to increase the flow of leads to your business.

Cut down the paid promotions

We have already discussed that people have less interest over the paid promotions and add. So you need to reduce the count for paid promotions. Focus more on organic traffic results. It will be stable and gives you regular and consistent users. It is anticipated that around 69% of the brands will decrease ad spend in 2020. At the same time, if your product is of high demand, try the paid promotions as the catalyst.

Continue the SEO Activities

Many websites are facing decline in organic traffic. Resuming the SEO activities in this crucial period won’t make better results. Also, it will adversely affect the  overall SEO performance of your website. Even the SEO activities wont make sudden changes in the result, you need to wait for it. This pandemic situation will move for sure and lets hope for the best. 

Be Supportive and Responsible

The websites that offer essentials are getting higher traffic. Also, the sites that serve medical aid are also performing well. We have seen that many providers increased the price of the essentials without any consideration. If you are one among such essential service providers, then you should be good at your customers. Don’t look at the advantages of money, rather take care of your customers. Don’t exploit this emergency situation, because you may lose your customer forever.

Wrapping Up

This pandemic situation and lock down made life miserable for many people. In the economy and market also, it made severe changes. The disturbing figures on the financial dip will take time to catch up on the pace again. The functions of the companies have been affected severely, that more than 50% of the companies had to deal with stock blockage and raw material shortage. In one of many ways to overcome the financial crisis, companies have cut down the money they spend on online advertisements. The reports from Facebook about the decrease in revenue from sponsored content supports this fact. Many travel, study abroad, hotel, and flight booking websites top the list of affected sectors.

If the situation remains so, it will bring more trouble for many industries that have managed to remain untouched so far. As a responsible individual, adhere to the norms put forward by the officials to fight against this virus. This article, published by WHO, is an information to the public on how to stay protected against the coronavirus. Positively, let's believe that this time too, shall pass pretty quickly.