Now the entire UBL Digital marketing team stayed home. We switched to our PCs in temporary home offices and followed the usual pattern of implementing dynamic marketing for our clients.
Coronavirus has spread across the country at that moment, with the realization that society and the economy are heading towards the biggest disaster in our history.
Governments moved quickly to seek patients to reduce the impact of the healthcare system. The impact of Coronavirus on companies and industries to protect local communities, employees, users and visitors varies from industry to industry.
Healthcare soared, and the travel industry froze. Food retailers and cleaning product companies have struggled to keep up with unprecedented demand. Ecommerce overall performed better with users spending 10-30% more time online. Many small businesses are closed temporarily without the usual pedestrian traffic.
For companies hardest hit by the coronavirus, the impact is swift and severe. Several UBL clients have worked with us to formulate take-back plans. We are experienced marketers, but our strategic plan for recovery for clients goes beyond "the volatility". We quickly changed strategies and did so without knowing what would happen in the next hour, regardless of the next day or week.
We kept our heads raised and looked for ways to spot a market crash. We have seen our clients at the forefront of recovery planning and step-by-step marketing initiatives based on a reaction, rebound and recovery approach.
UBL has embraced and adapted this approach across all clients and across all sectors. Our dynamic marketing techniques for creative digital performance marketing create campaigns that can respond quickly to changes in the market, test and improve them in real time, then influence those that are successful.
In this series of three articles, we will focus on every aspect of our dynamic marketing approach to navigate the global coronavirus pandemic. Insights from our experiences, how we see the world today, and what we think will happen as we move forward.
Should it be marketed or marketed in the era of the Coronavirus?
At this point, companies need to keep texting their audience. In fact, many consumers were still buying. Most importantly, it was felt that this moment would pass quickly and new opportunities would come.
By mid-March, we began adopting this three-step approach, which means what we see in the customer behavior of our clients and our internal team. The three-step approach allowed us to isolate the digital marketing strategy using an integrated process in the beginning, middle and end parts.
These are the three stages of marketing that we have seen during the global pandemic of this coronavirus:
- When things get close, watch for rapidly changing consumer behavior for changes in business processes, marketing executives, and communication strategy.
- As things return, adjust activities and communication planning strategies for a flexible market with no priorities.
- Improving operations and communications while we are in a stable market.
UBL's goal was to create a platform to ensure that clients' marketing efforts and messages were appropriately placed in the middle of each stage, when the recovery finally began.
When building marketing strategies in times of crisis and uncertainty, flexibility is important. The vibrant marketing strategy means that you can change one rupee at any time. Digital ads can be paused or speeded up, and your SEO work can be improved or changed entirely. Content marketing and website delivery deadlines can be speeded up, slowed down, or suspended altogether.
As we looked at each stage of our marketing approach, we were ready to explore whether it was Reaction, Rebound, or finally, the recovery phase. Reaction stage, read on for details on how we applied the strategy at this stage and pursue the strategy.
Reaction phase: pivoting into a crisis situation
Depending on how COVID-19 affects your business, marketing efforts either increased or stopped altogether. Once Pandemic is affected, we as digital marketers need to evaluate all aspects of current digital marketing strategies. Rapid marketing has been a major factor in enabling communication in this volatile environment.
This reaction phase really focused on understanding consumer overnight behaviour as government instructions to "stay at home" were implemented.
The stage of the reaction is determined by three characteristics that are specific to the customer:
Fear, panic and insecurity.
Decrease in purchases of non-essential goods and services.
Movement restrictions - the number, "Stay home".
The engagement stage is where we need to be truly active marketers and pivotal strategists depending on how the customer's behaviour changes.
As a result, we saw a direct impact on our marketing efforts:
Short-term and long-term strategies should be revisited.
Changing customer behaviour has led to a reassessment of marketing channels.
Advertising budgets have been adjusted based on performance.
Messages are revised as customer sentiments change.
Pivoting and valuation has become a major issue as all industries across the global economy are affected by shipping protocols. For some industries, there were opportunities to engage, build relationships, or meet extraordinary needs. Other industries have been closed indefinitely. Some industries will not recover.
But one thing is for sure, what worked in February 2020 has no relevance in March 2020.
Active Marketing During COVID: The Marketing Channels We Focused On
As COVID-19 became the new norm during the engagement phase, it was important for brands to keep showing off to consumers. Changes in messaging to receive a sympathetic and inspiring tone that builds bonds with customers in the modified landscape.
Delivering that voice requires brands and their customer base to continue with already active digital marketing channels. Remember, when people are asked to stay home, they are not restricted from using their phones, laptops, and tablets. During COVID-19, users changed their digital consumption habits - but were willing to show brands.
1. Search Engine Optimization
As consumer behaviour has changed during this interactive phase, so has the need for search engine optimization. Many companies lean towards their organic rankings rather than the paid campaigns. One of the challenges is that the research has changed. How, what, when and where to search is now done through the lens of COVID-19. Organizations that have certified SEO content planning have benefited from monitoring COVID-19 trends and behaviours.
2. Social media
Organic social media was an important part of this interaction phase, and we wanted more and more users to keep in touch. Users who have never used regular social media before now, have plenty of time to stay in touch and stay in touch. Social media activity, such as engagement and post-indecision, rose to record levels in March 2020. Market research firm Nielsen has seen a 50-fold increase in social media activity in India since the coronavirus first hit the country. Tick ​​tock's downloads also increased by 27% in March 2020 due to the coronavirus shipping ban.
The social media messages were inspiring, inclusive, and engaging. Examples of effective messages include "We are still here for you", and be transparent about how the coronavirus is affecting your business.
3. Search Engine Marketing.
Businesses affected by COVID-19 need to maintain an average search engine marketing budget. Reducing the early budget, keeping a large budget for investment in the future stages (recovery and recovery) when demand decreases and demand increases. Keeping a small budget for brand awareness campaigns protects the brand from competitors trying to follow branded keywords.
4. SEO Site audit
Website audits have been critical to ensure that website visitors receive accurate and appropriate messages related to business and activities. Some of our recommendations include:
The COVID messages ensure that the site keeps visitors updated, including how the company and employees are dealing with the pandemic.
Issues calls to action that are relevant and sensitive and do not point fingers at restricted information or activities.
Avoid using aggressive or disturbing ringtones and visuals. For example, the main Hero Image website promoted a travel client to transform their destination into a smooth lifestyle picture using the word "nudge" from the bold red banner. Within two weeks, site time increased + 7% and bounce rate decreased + 2%.
5. Email marketing
The months of March and April 2020 saw pent-up open rates across all email marketing areas. Due to the overall lower click rates, brands have focused on creating engaging content rather than CTAs. The rise in open rates has created an opportunity for users to interact with and personalize their content and have more information for later use.
It was also a great opportunity to re-engage in engagement campaigns. CRM tools are essential for capturing which pages users visit to create segments for a post-engagement. For example, capturing these pages by a customer who visited during the engagement phase will lay the groundwork for future phases as the business becomes more sustainable.
5 lessons we learned in the reaction phase
We expect this phase of reaction to be completed by the end of May. When "stay-at-home" orders were lifted in early June, shuttered businesses restarted and travel restrictions were relaxed. Now, we move on to the recoil stage.
Keeping up with all marketing efforts, even if expanded again, needs continuity.
Reduces advertising costs and switching to the future.
The message of sympathy, selfless humanity, and pity was effectively delivered too late.
Replace acquisition-focused campaigns with awareness-focused ads that help engage and nurture customers.
Engaging existing and following clients was critical to fostering lasting relationships. The impact of the Coronavirus has forced businesses to stop pursuing new customers and focus instead on reconnecting with existing and old customers.
The first phase, Reaction Face, focused on brand awareness and how companies can "be" their customers. Messaging is a way to empathize with users in a verbatim panic. Digital marketing channels are becoming more and more popular as media consumption habits change and new opportunities are created.