Along with the rest of the world, businesses continue to cover new ground and confront unprecedented challenges. The Coronavirus is impacting consumer mobility, shifts in media consumption, online viewing habits. With this dynamic situation, companies need to plan their next marketing moves wisely to either mitigate downside risk or capture as much of the upside as possible.
Here are some examples of the types of shifts we’re seeing and expect to see in marketing approaches and investments:
- Directing investments toward marketing tactics that drive online sales.
- Reducing marketing investments on campaigns to drive short-term sales or business outcomes, while keeping brand-building campaigns alive.
- Shifting budgets to promote at-home and delivery-based options (i.e., at-home fitness solutions/equipment/apps,grocery delivery, restaurant delivery, etc.).
- Shifting focus from promoting premium products to entry-point or everyday items.
- With sporting events being canceled or playing without fans, many advertisers are formulating new plans for those budgets – often holding the investments for a later time.
- Fine-tuning media allocations by tactic as we experience demand-driven price fluctuations in various media channels. Changes in media supply and demand will impact costs. We anticipate marketers will need to closely manage certain spending areas, such as digital, with refreshed ROIs on new cost levels.
- Tracking data in local geographies that experienced varying levels of impacts.
- Using social sentiment trends and google query volume on relevant keywords as indicators to inform marketing actions.
- Quick response learnings to optimize marketing budgets and transfer learnings across markets.
- Measurement of custom creative addressing the viruses.
Some expect that consumers may not return exactly to their prior habits when the outbreak has passed. When faced with disruption and uncertainty, we leverage advanced analytics to support decisions and reduce risk. We plan and optimize so our clients can weigh short and long-term goals. This allows our customers to better meet their own customers’ needs, given a range of outcomes.