Last week, in part one of this series on adjusting your DV360 media buying strategy during COVID-19, we discussed how to analyze who might be new target audiences and how to maintain control of your brand’s visibility and messaging to audiences. You can read the post here.
Global Trends and Strategy – The impact of COVID-19 on user behavior & online advertising – Part II
The COVID-19 epidemic has changed everything from trending searches to relevant content, and even user behavior. As is being seen across the world, users are adapting quickly to new situations and sets of circumstances quite resiliently. You can see and feel it everywhere. Most countries continue to remain in a state of self-distancing. As a result, everyone is more cautious, whether it is choosing to (not) leave home, becoming more strict in avoiding unnecessary expenses, and buying essentials, like groceries, ordered and delivered to the doorstep without having to enter a store. Every single aspect of a pre-COVID-19 daily routine has been affected and disrupted. And this is a real phenomenon globally for your current audiences online. Embracing this change is crucial for you as a marketer.
WHAT is your audience doing right now?
To effectively answer this, we need to separate our answers into two basic behavioral queries: Which industries or sectors are currently experiencing a declining trend? As seen below by ComScore (a world-leading media strategist), entire industries are currently experiencing tremendous economic shocks.
- Tourism (Local & International)
- Events ticketing
- Live events
- Sports
- Restaurants
- eCommerce (in the fields of leisure)
- Car Manufacturers
- Real Estate
Which industries and sectors are growing?
Global trends show Q1 growth of the following sectors throughout the epidemic:
- Healthcare commodities and services
- SAAS solutions (mainly B2B based products)
- E-learning (courses & platforms)
- Pharmacy
- E-commerce (Grocery, Household goods)
- Gaming
- Instant Messaging
- News (nation & local)
- Over-the-top (OTT) services (VOD, SVOD)
- PPE
Key Takeaways:
Q1 experienced unprecedented levels of decline, but it seems that the world is beginning to revive itself from this challenging period of COVID-19 to varying degrees of openness and levels of effectiveness. In some countries, we are starting to notice governmental health policy changes of living alongside the epidemic as contrary to a full siege. Every market is progressing at a varying pace. However, on the whole people and businesses are learning how to survive in the new “normal.”
For nations with less reported infections, local economies are starting to open shops for business under strict standards (social distancing policies, mandatory personal use masks, disposable gloves). Not all sectors can do the same (mass entertainment, dining, and traveling are still under siege in most countries), but there are growing signs of global discussions regarding the re-launching of these sectors soon. We will have to wait and see how soon it will take for positive changes to begin to materialize for these industries. Every geo possesses unique user behaviors and was affected differently, and uniquely, by the epidemic.
For example, the United Kingdom (UK) decided on mass immunity while leaving the economy as open as possible with only a few steps of prevention, after weeks of extensive climbing in the number of cases and deaths. In March 2020, local policy and strategies were reversed to protect human lives. In the United States, we witnessed a variety of strategies designed to contain COVID-19.
Almost every country is trying to create and follow its strategy, most of the time, combining a few different plans over a short period. For both individuals and countries around the world, there are different strategies of coping, but for now, mainly uncertainty is the only universal constant. In the next article we are going to analyze user behavior changes during the COVID-19 and what can we learn from it as marketers. Stay tuned for the third part next week.