Marketing Strategies & Scenarios in the Face of Coronavirus
Armed with real-time category demand information, marketers and decision makers can explore different scenarios and response strategies.
Scenario 1 – Should we stay the course with respect to marketing and spend?
If you are an e-commerce shop, online learning institution, multifamily developer, construction company or essential business, the answer is probably yes.
There can actually be more traffic online as people are stuck at home browsing and capturing those users might prove beneficial for business. For digital advertisers, be sure to increase caps for budget, volume, CPC to capture the increased volume of people going to e-commerce.
For example, multifamily development took a hit in search interest earlier this month (March 2020), but is climbing back to where it should have been as people settle in and social distancing continues.
Construction companies are labeled “essential business” and we are seeing a lift in building materials searches and sales.
Scenario 2 – Is it better to cut spend and conserve cash, and if so, by how much?
The decision to turn off paid media and conserve is not an easy call. PPC and display advertising are a key business driver for many of our clients, delivering 20-60% of overall website traffic in many cases.
For clients seeing a decline in category demand, where cutting paid media spend makes good sense, we are seeing a ramp up in SEO and organic search campaigns. During downtime, companies can focus on going after highly competitive keywords and building content that communicates positively and proactively.
For example, the hospitality and restaurant industries may be the hardest hit and spend cut is taking place across the board. The motel industry is seeing a 30-45% decline at a time when there should have been a 10% increase in demand.
Restaurants are directing spend to online ordering and delivery along with other creative campaigns to stay close to business-as-usual.
Scenario 3 – What would happen in the long term if we increased spend to gain market share?
Interestingly, the opportunity to invest in brand campaigns and video advertising is a critical consideration as companies seek to participate and add value. People are turning to online video to adapt, cope and connect.
YouTube is capturing a huge portion of that increase in digital media consumption. Google is noticing this especially for TV advertisers who are suddenly finding scattered buys to be more expensive as other advertisers are trying to buy up inventory. YouTube buys are significantly cheaper, especially when weighted against TV.
