Snapshot – What Worked and What Didn’t
Any business that already had a robust online presence and sales functionality fared dramatically better than ones who relied more on offline sales and activities.
As customers were forced to purchase more goods online, the brands who were able to confidently lead them down the online marketing funnel have been the ones who have sustained or even increased profits.
However, this also means that the online marketplace has become even more cluttered over the past few months, which has prompted the need for even better content to remain engaging and relevant.
According to Hubspot, marketing email open rates are currently sitting 18% above pre-pandemic levels. And email marketing has clearly been a reliable outlet throughout the quarter, with marketers sending 21% more emails this quarter compared to last.
Chat functionalities proved to be of high importance, as total chat volume increased by a staggering 31%.
Generally, global site traffic increased by 16%, peaking in April at 24%, which means that if your brand wasn’t online, you were missing and sometimes swimming to get on the boat.
Key Insights for the Future
1. Invest in Your Digital Presence
Pandemic-proofing your brand means making your offering accessible online from as many angles as possible. A great website, active socials, responsive customer service and strong SEO are absolutely worth the investment.
Prioritizing your online platform and capitalising on the cheaper ads and keywords (Hubspot reports ad spend has decreased 8% worldwide, and fewer ad buyers mean lower prices), are just a couple activities you could do to reach your target market right now.
Remember, the easier you make it for a customer to learn about your offering and its value, the more likely they are to convert.
2. Engage Customers with Value-driven Content and Messaging
Everyone is familiar with the phrase quality over quantity, but it bears repeating. The data was clear that marketers who increased the volume of their communications without providing strong value in that outreach saw fewer returns. It’s a trade-off that’s necessary to consider. If your team is spending time on email blasts that aren’t personalised, useful or timely, it will be wasted effort.
Creating customer relationships in this new normal is no easy feat, and the marketing teams who used personalisation tactics – such as good chat functionality – saw they could still connect with customers in meaningful ways.
Pivot your Communications to Meet your Market
As we adapt to a mid and post-Covid world, keep your messaging quality and cadence in mind. Are you evolving your communications with the way customers want to connect with brands? Covid-19 will undoubtedly impact our communication preferences, and brands will need to keep up or get left behind.