Digital marketing in COVID-19 outbreak: Why

brands must rely on digital marketing now, more

than ever?
GUEST AUTHOR
APR 13, 2020, 13:17 IST

A few strategies you might find helpful for your digital marketing initiatives.

 It’s critical for marketers to look beyond the

current situation and gain a long-term view of the
picture before pausing their digital
marketing efforts.
 Raman Mittal, CMO, and Co-founder, TO THE
NEW shares a few strategies you might find
helpful for your digital marketing initiatives.

As the internet became a part of our daily lives, digital marketing has proved to be imperative
for brands. Considering 4.5 Billion internet subscribers globally, more & more businesses
now focus on creating an online brand image because that’s where their customers are!

However, in the past few weeks, the outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted our lives and
multiple businesses across the world in unprecedented ways; marketing spends and activities
of many brands have been paused, including various digital marketing initiatives. Today, it’s
critical for marketers to look beyond this situation and gain a long-term view of the picture
before pausing their digital marketing efforts.

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People are spending more time online now more than ever. In fact, as the coronavirus
pandemic places a quarter of the world’s population under lockdown, internet hits have
surged by 50-70%, according to Forbes. So, brands need to carefully define their digital
marketing strategy and find newer & sensitive ways to communicate during this time. Here
are a few strategies you might find helpful for your digital marketing initiatives:

Go for Responsible Marketing: Set the right tone of your content to communicate in these
difficult times. At present, it is important for brands to establish an emotional connect with
consumers, and therefore the messaging should be chosen carefully. Create engaging paid and
organic content which is meaningful and relevant in these times; for ex: many brands are
changing & twisting their logos to indicate social distancing. Your brand messaging can also
highlight the importance of social distancing, staying at home to keep everybody safe, sharing
helpful insights on work from home or important business tips in this crisis.

Get your brand in front of your target audience: With COVID-19, all traditional marketing
efforts are almost entirely out of the picture. As millions of people across the world continue
to surge and increase their time spent on the internet, brands need to understand that it’s
important to be in front of their target audience, always. Not all customers have stopped
making purchase decisions, so you want your business to be ready when your audience
searches on the internet. Also, when this situation ends and all businesses resume, your
marketing efforts will help to create brand recall and keep your business relevant in front of
your target audience.

Keep your audience engaged with email marketing: It’s critical that brands keep their
audience engaged but they need to avoid using bulk and automated communication at this
time and position themselves strategically. If you're sending out emails to customers
explaining how your business is addressing the crisis, then make sure the information is
relevant and use the opportunity to differentiate yourself. Ensure your customers know that
you are open for business, how you’re navigating the issues and the situation won’t impact
any critical deliveries. Reach out to your customers individually by sending them personalized
emails, newsletters, etc. Messaging at this time will undoubtedly play a crucial role in
defining your relationship with your customers going forward.

Track the changing consumer behaviour: Keep a close watch on how your customer
behaviour is evolving during these times. Indeed, when the world bids adieu to the COVID-
19, the customer buying behaviour might have transformed – their interest in products or
services, their needs and expectations from brands, spending patterns, etc. It is essential for
brands to delve deep into these changes and work on their digital media strategy accordingly.

Make the smart move, avoid any product launches: Even if it’s absolutely essential, it is
advisable not to release new products amidst these turbulent times. It doesn’t matter if you’re
launching the products / services through digital marketing, your efforts might not lead to
favourable results and might hamper the brand image. Schedule it for the future, when the
market reopens and the energy supersedes.

Businesses need to understand that this situation is not going to last forever and their business
isn’t closing. They need to retain their brand presence as it may be harder to recover later after
losing the momentum; that’s how digital marketing works! So stay positive and use this time
to redefine your digital marketing strategies, strengthen your existing connections & build
long-term trust with your audience and set yourself up for success post this crisis. So start
planning your comeback!