It’s safe to say that the Covid-19 Global Pandemic has certainly thrown us all, Digital Marketers included. Business owners have felt the heat and pressure from this latest societal and economical interruption in a massively significant way. A lot of people have had important decisions to make regarding their Company’s as well as their marketing strategies. 

Most companies are looking for ways to preserve finances, now more than ever, due to the level of uncertainty amidst the market, consumer behaviour as well as the challenges facing both local and world economies. And so, seeing as marketing can cost a significant amount of money, what we have been seeing so far is some people making impulse decisions early on (around the middle of March) eliminating marketing budgets, but for most, then coming back as they’ve seen that cutting budgets was not a sensible business decision (albeit there are some Companies who will sadly never come back now or post Covid-19 (whenever that is).

For some, it may have been necessary to pull marketing spend, for others, who had the means necessary, this crisis was an obstacle to overcome and they decided to adapt and keep the wheels turning. Of course, unfortunately, this is not always an option for all businesses, but those that did manage to keep up and hold tight will certainly be at a strong advantage as we come out of this initial apex of the coronavirus crisis, and will continue to come out stronger for when things eventually return to whatever the new normality will be.

Businesses & Companies that have adapted their marketing strategies to the current climate, are mainly in a strong position and can feel secure knowing that they have not fallen behind their competitors. 

It’s vital to now not drop the ball and to understand that Digital Marketing in the past and present, will not be the same as in the future or for this “post-Covid-19” era that’s ahead of us. 

Marketing is evolving, and certain adaptations need to be made as we re-enter some semblance of “normal” life. Marketers should now be preparing for these adaptations as there will be yet another dominant shift in customer behaviour very soon.

Digital Marketing Considerations To Be Mindful of:

Bidding & Budget Strategies

We all know that setting up a Google Ads / Adwords / Paid Social Campaign and leaving it be is not going to get the desired results. With such strong and ongoing changes in cultural behaviour it is even more important to roll with the punches. 

It does not make sense to leave everything as is as we start to get out from under covid19. Focus on ROI and prioritise bidding strategies that deliver results. 

Constantly Monitor and adapt your automated and manual bidding strategies because another big shift is coming.

Search Trends & Keywords

SEO specialists need to keep up with the ever-changing search trends. It’s vital to know what your target audience is searching for, to recognise changes in search intent, and to regularly strategize based on your findings.

Messaging & Device Strategy

Messaging is going to face another major makeover. Ensure to review all messaging and ad copy and make necessary edits.

Ad copy that is no longer relevant will need to be modified and anything insensitive will need to be revoked. It’s important to stay empathetic about what has gone on and understand that many have suffered great losses. 

Keep an eye on competitors and monitor what their messaging includes, what offers they may be promoting, and how they are performing. 

Understand your buyer personas and adapt them to your current cultural and local climate. 

If you’ve not already done so, It’s time to rethink device strategy, many people may possibly be in a few months commuting to and from work again and so we predict a strong resurgence in mobile use. 

Content

A lot of digital marketing specialists have been performing content audits and creating a higher level of content during this time. It’s important to note the importance and vitality of strong quality content and keep up the good work.

If you have not done so, review your content quality, and improve on it. This means having the best possible websites, landing pages, evergreen content, and continuing to upload relevant and helpful blogs, videos, webinars, etc.

This is not the time to drop the ball!

Remarketing 

If you have been keeping up your Digital Marketing attempts, and engaging with customers as well as working to gain more reach and potential new customers, you’ll find yourself in an ideal situation to benefit from remarketing. We recommend you should have a fresh and targeted audience that will prove effective for remarketing campaigns. Utilise this.

Technicalities

Don’t forget to revert any changes you may have made when the time is right. 

Update your Google My Business page, business opening hours, or contact information. 

All of this can’t be ignored or else your business risks looking sloppy.

Key Takeaways Going Forward

Agile marketing becomes essential for success

What we’ve noticed as we step away from the initial peak of the Covid19 crisis is that agile marketing is the way forward, as well as something all marketers should have been implementing all along. The rapid leaps that were made in strategising for the situation we had all found ourselves in have only highlighted the importance of responsive marketing. This will be the way forward and marketers will need to prioritise ROI as well as quality content and brand image to be successful. The level of content control and awareness that has been reached must continue, with constant reviewing and analysing of customer behaviour and consumer lifestyle. This will provide a localised & personalised consumer experience in terms of any content or ads that are being published, this is the future. Digital marketers must constantly adapt or risk being left behind and risk tarnishing a brand’s image.

Some form of social distancing, and certain restrictions, will most likely remain for the foreseeable future, and consumer behaviour is not likely to return to “normal” for quite a while, it will only continue to shift. This is not news; people change and situations change. This is where Digital Marketers need to stay on top of their game and keep up the agile marketing tactics that have become so dominant throughout this pandemic. 

Thanks for reading this article :)