How to benefit from digital marketing in a post-coronavirus era?

How will companies be able to benefit from working online?

As countries across the globe are faced with recession and recovery from the loss that the pandemic brought about, businesses need to find ways to survive the post-coronavirus recovery process. And digital marketing is one of the means to make that happen, by shining a light on online consumers and relying on online work to make up for the lack of real-time results. Unlike those that benefited greatly from this crisis such as supermarkets, online retailers, fast-food delivery companies, online course providers – other niches were forced to adapt and overcome, or go under.

The differentiating factor was the fact of whether or not certain companies need to rely on their staff being in the same room as consumers or not. For companies that managed to establish an online working environment, the crisis period was much less impactful. And the benefit of digital marketing in a post-coronavirus era is that it can help you bridge that gap that the past several months left. Companies will be able to recover much faster if they refocus their efforts on online advertising tactics and consumers.

How did remote working during the COVID-19 crisis benefit companies:

• Maintained business continuity when work premises are out of use or cannot be accessed for any reason.
• Provided flexibility for staff who may need to be at home one day, such as waiting on delivery or having an appointment.
• Enabled staff who have any sort of illness (not just Coronavirus) can work in isolation from their colleagues and not pass their bugs on to them.
• Brought about environmental benefits due to the lack of travel.

The only potential downside here was for businesses with less IT-literate employees, which were unable to maintain their usual efficiency and productivity because of it.

3 ways digital marketing will transform after COVID-19

Despite the mess that the coronavirus crisis created for businesses worldwide as well as individuals, not all industries suffered at the hands of it. The implementation of digital marketing strategies and opting for brand development tactics will be crucial for helping companies survive the after-effects of the pandemic. After all, events such as this are life-altering. And as such – they affect not only individuals and businesses but entire populations and cultures. That means that consumerism will need to evolve past the consequences that COVID-19 has brought about.

History has taught us the impact that globally-recognized events can have on social mentality, quality of life, job opportunities, and industry trends. And with the overall dynamic nature that digital marketing goes through constantly, it doesn’t take a pandemic to realize how it will definitely change after something like that. By taking into consideration SEO trends and other marketing changes, we can conclude that companies will need to adapt in order to survive. But the question arises – can companies benefit from digital marketing in a post-coronavirus era and how?

Here are a few considerations for digital marketers while planning for a post-coronavirus future:

Cost savings from creative and content production

Traditional marketing requires significant resources and manpower to create and distribute content across televised and printed formats. And companies ended up investing a lot into all of it as a direct result of that. The digitalization of the creative production of copy for companies has introduced a much simpler and more automatized way of advertising your brand through online channels. And while some companies were still slacking off in implementing modern digital marketing solutions, the global crisis showed just how fundamental online advertising strategies can be. As a result, companies that relied on traditional offline marketing were affected more by the pandemic and quarantine, as exposure to physical ads was more limited.

Direct 1:1 consumer marketing becomes an imperative

Just like the previously discussed reliance on traditional marketing, many B2C companies are still focusing their brick-and-mortar distribution for product placement on retailers. And as a result, most Commerce companies lack strong, long-term relationships with their consumers. Instead, they rely on traditional retail distribution networks to handle the heavy lifting of the sales process.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 and the quarantine it brought about during the #stayathome phase shut down retail sales almost entirely. And this gave a huge opening for eCommerce platforms and direct-to-consumer marketing strategies to skyrocket. And since the crisis itself has crippled the traditional shopping process, companies will be looking to switch over to eCommerce sales funnels through the implementation of digital marketing strategies. This is where the use of web design to influence conversion rates will come in handy. Consumers will be looking for online means to make their buying process simpler and time-efficient.

And with more and more competitive companies opting for the online sales approach, you will need to ensure that your own website exceeds all expectations, both in terms of:

• Web Development
• Web Design

The example of the fast-food industry

1:1 personalized marketing is becoming the only means to battle the gaping hole that COVID-19 has left in its wake. And the example of the fast-food industry is the perfect example of that. With the majority of customers have had to rely on home delivery or cooking, fast-food chains had to re-focus their marketing efforts to online orders and at-home deliveries. For brands such as McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King, etc. – this was a major transition from their everyday marketing activities.

Even with the quarantine coming to an end, the majority of consumers will still be reluctant to return to quick-service restaurants and retail stores. Businesses in this industry can benefit from digital marketing in a post-coronavirus era so long as they start re-focusing their objectives to online sales. Additionally, a lot of consumers were forced to break their habit of visiting fast-food restaurants during the quarantine. This will bring about a behavioral change in terms of how simpler and more time-efficient it is to order food rather than go into the actual restaurant. And so, implementing a more direct 1:1 personalized advertising approach with consumers will be detrimental for the survival of businesses that used to rely on in-person consumerism.

The result

The crisis affected the typical behavior of consumers, shifting their focus from visiting stores and restaurants to making online orders and purchases from the comforts of their home. Focusing on direct 1:1 consumer marketing tactics that are both personalized and responsive for mobile device users will help boost your organic growth in a post-crisis period.

Flexible marketing tactics are becoming the new gold standard

Having an adaptable marketing strategy is one of the core values for ensuring the survival of a brand on a local, national, or global scale. Whether we are looking at a pandemic, competitive changes, marketing trends, or the evolution of consumer behavior, adapting your advertising efforts accordingly can make all the difference. During the COVID-19 crisis, many companies took weeks to respond to the overall impact in terms of adapting their content and ads to reflect the crisis messaging. And now, most need to go through the same process to match the recovery messaging.

In addition to the overall switch from regular marketing messaging to crisis-related messaging, a lot of global companies had to segment their marketing efforts based on location. The overall impact of the pandemic had different stages and effects on each country, making it more challenging for marketers to match their advertising plans to maintain their online presence. The message here was clear – the one-size-fits-it-all approach is definitely no longer as effective as it once used to be.

The result