How Marketing & Consumer Engagement has changed since Covid19
During the time of Covid-19, there have been huge shifts in the way brands are creating their content. Due to the fact that many people are experiencing a difficult time in their life, it’s clear that brands don’t want to upset anyone.
Generally online marketing is pretty light-hearted, depending on the brands you follow online, you’ll see a range of different ads and posts on your social feeds that try to stand out and grab your interest to buy, read on, sign up or browse.
However, during the time of Covid19, there have been huge shifts in the way brands are creating their content. Due to the fact that many people are experiencing a difficult time in their life, it’s clear that brands don’t want to upset anyone.
Brands are asking followers for content
One huge shift that’s very noticeable is a lot of brands are literally asking their followers ‘What do you want to see?’. Do we as an audience still want social media to feel like there isn’t a pandemic outside?
This appears to be the case for many industries, from the results of IG polls for example, where many individuals still want daily inspiration and to see what’s new in-store; from the latest homeware to summer fashion pieces.
For B2B however, this could be an opportunity to keep future clients engaged by providing them with inspiration for the future.
Hopefully when people start returning to work, businesses will want to push their services. Gifting opportunities such as promotional confectionery and personalised products will allow for companies to share a gift with the clients that stuck by them during tough periods.
Messaging is relieving the pressures of buying
Another shift this is clear to see with today’s social media is the need to provide followers with tips, tricks and advice for anything they can do at home.
Naturally, food brands are now creating content on how to cook at home, home stores are providing more decorating inspiration and as many households include children, businesses have created video’s, guides and posts for things you can do with your kids whilst in isolation.
This new way of interacting with customers, even from a personal experience, it feels as though there is less pressure to buy items, especially as we currently live in a world where only the essential is worth our money, it’s refreshing to see brands taking a step back from the conventional way of selling.
Try it for yourself, how can you advertise your service or product without the need to add certain buzz words or phrases that may come across as though you’re trying to capitalise on the current crisis. It should present a fun and engaging way of staying social with clients and customers.
Emails feel more personal and important
If you check your emails regularly, you may have noticed the influx of ‘Message from our CEO’ newsletters, which is beneficial for brands for several reasons.
- It makes us as a consumer feel more valued
- We feel as though our voices and concerns are considered
- Brand loyalty may increase as we are kept in the loop of business decisions
If you’re thinking how your business can take that customer interaction one step further, perhaps a similar message from your brand could be used to remind your customers why they should stay loyal.
The traditional marketing newsletters are still being sent out but most brands now are providing some sort of relief due to Covid-19, whether that’s free delivery, an extension of a subscription, a percentage of money off a purchase or even a donation as part of a purchase, brands are trying to be much more creative in a more sensitive online world.
What about the negative changes?
An interesting piece of research from Neil Patel shows the different types of business sectors and their traffic growth or decline during Covid-19. From the graph, the biggest industries affected have been Travel, Manufacturing, Construction and Advertising.
How have these businesses been responding to the virus? Many of these brands have provided their social media with official statements and more serious images to address messages to their customers. Even these ‘negative’ interactions are still providing customers with the information they need.