Leveraging Key Marketing Trends in a Pandemic

Welcome to the Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog. Today's post, "Leveraging Key Marketing Trends in a Pandemic," updates active measures regarding leveraging the use of key marketing trends during the COVID-19 pandemic, which in many cases changes the game. It is critical to understand that a challenging economy can generate as many opportunities and, in some cases, even more than the negatively affected sectors.  At any rate, excluding any preconceived notions about COVID-19 or the media coverage of the pandemic, the unknown economic impact during this period should inspire the motivation to reimagine and possibly grow your business.


Our Quote of the Day:  "Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity."  — R. I. Fitzhenry




Consumer Routines 

Overall, Americans and the rest of the world routines are gone, increasing the degree of uncertainty and insecurity, accompanied by the threat of financial downturns.  In this environment, it is critical to understand that shopping, product searching, and product comparison tend to land at the bottom of the to-do lists unless deemed essential, such as medical or groceries.  The change in consumer routines has a definitive effect on how business strategies ultimately align with those changes.  Moreover, in the absence of re-thinking marketing strategies, the probability of expanding and growing could juxtapose the business against consumer interests. 



We know that internet usage is skyrocketing and will continue to expand over the next few weeks as the number of outbreaks continues to climb, with new variants infiltrating numerous states that may ultimately force the third lockdown.  Therefore, maintaining an active digital presence during this period will speak volumes.  The bad news for the internet and digital communications is that 24/7 web traffic will continue to make it more challenging to create and produce timely content that generates acceptable response rates using pre-pandemic budgets for online marketing. 

 Therefore, brands should determine how to create better online marketing campaigns that yield higher response rates and engagement rates.

One method is to point consumer targets to specific online destinations from outside the digital environment.  Direct mail answers that challenge.  According to Direct Marketing Consultant Craig Simpson, "If you want to build your online business, research shows that one of the best ways to do it is to use direct mail to drive prospects to your site.  It's the combination of direct mail with an online presence that packs such a powerful marketing punch.  Even Google, probably one of the iconic internet businesses, sends out direct-mail campaigns."
  Further, adding personalized direct mail as the driver to online marketing destinations ensures the targets who have read the offer are directed to the online content to fulfill product purchasing.
  



Key Marketing Trends


Key marketing trends, which tend to be driven digitally, for the most part, are made up of marketing tools that are considered the most efficient and effective, as rated by several data-mining organizations.  All of these marketing tools based on recent trends are still viable during this period and include: 




Facebook and Instagram: These two social media destinations continue to lead the pack with response and engagement rates.  That said, Facebook is undergoing a review of allowing fake news content to continue unabated.  Brand marketers should proceed with caution when spending ad money on the platform, particularly if another advertiser boycott emerges.  Conversely, posting free positive content that demonstrates the brand cares about people and their communities can go a long way in the consumer's mind while remaining present.  We contend that marketers should keep a watchful eye on the platforms' changes that could place social media back in good stead for paid advertising.





Video: Video marketing is a critical piece of content, especially live video.  Not all brands can perform live videos; nevertheless, engaging video content is a winning marketing tool.  A quote from Digital Marketing Institute states, "In a mobile-mad world, people are watching more video than ever before, using smartphones to watch and share videos about everything, learning more about brands, and what they have to offer."

Consider these stats from ImpactBND: 



• 70% of consumers have shared a brand's video.
• 52% of consumers claim that watching product videos makes them more confident and guides their online purchasing decisions.
• 72% of businesses believe video content has improved their conversion rates.


Email Marketing: As you may have guessed, email marketing is still useful and is here to stay.  This communication channel is responsible for over 230 billion messages per day!  Email marketing contains many disciplines that use this tool, including commercial, non-profits, personal, industrial, scientific, transportation, legal, and academic purposes.  During this pandemic, it is vitally important to create personalized email messages geared toward specific communications.  Automated email responses driven by AI are highly effective.  When a user is searching or browsing for a particular product or service, an automated email response that follows up with a promo price or explanatory video in a personalized email can be a game-changer.

Interactive Content: When users can engage and interact with online content, the marketing world is ecstatic, giving high marks, primarily as an effective method to educate and inform potential buyers. Now and throughout 2021, more organizations will look to create interactive content, including quizzes, polls, 360-degree videos, try-and-buy, and augmented reality ads.




Omnichannel Marketing: Omnichannel marketing is the execution whereby you publish content across multiple platforms. These platforms can include direct mail, email, apps, social media channels, websites, web blogs.  Omnichannel marketing is no longer an afterthought.  This undertaking allows brands to connect with prospects and customers across various touchpoints, thus increasing user experiences.  The difference between multichannel and omnichannel is that multichannel places ads on all viable channels the brand can afford.  An omnichannel effort is similar to a multichannel one, except it focuses on providing a seamless customer experience across all channels. Depending on the budgetary status, both multichannel and omnichannel approaches will yield results.  However, the omnichannel investment is driven by personalization, over and above just being present on a group of channels. 



Leveraging Marketing Trends



In a sense, leveraging the top marketing trends during a pandemic will improve a brand's overall reach. In all likelihood, prospects who see marketing messages across various channels tend to respond much better.  Besides, keeping the brand's name and content in front of folks in an ongoing fashion across many customer touchpoints will reap the benefits of establishing brand visibility over the long term.  The other critical aspect is that brand messaging should be solution-based and built around addressing prospects' and customers' needs and wishes.  When a brand says, "We feel your pain," and have solutions to ease that pain, that is when the brand magic happens. 



The Net-Net



While the nation is undergoing how to co-exist in the short term with the advent of new variant strains extending this pandemic, businesses will continue to evolve, especially in search of new opportunities. Every time a door closes, a new one opens. That's life! And to that end, re-focusing and reimagining new opportunities will significantly help create new marketing strategies and tactics.  We hope you found value in this post, and thanks for reading "Leveraging Key Marketing Trends in a Pandemic."




Let's have a conversation about integrated business solutions and how they can help grow your business, change behavior, and improve the customer experience. Let us show you how to improve your document processes to optimize your workflow, reduce your costs, and maximize your organization's printing, letter shop, and mailing capabilities. Dove Direct does have an official USPS certified bureau located within our offices that will save you time and money. We can even create a demo file for you. For more information, call Carla Eubanks at 404-629-0122 or email Carla This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 



Dove Direct, your Atlanta based print and mail solutions provider, offers organizations end-to-end data, printing, and mailing solutions: 


• Data Management
• Variable Digital Printing
• Direct Mail
• Digital Scanning Services
• LetterShop and Fulfillment
• Fully Automated MLOCR Presort Bureau
• Marketing and Production Management Support
• Secure Data Life Cycle Management


If you don't want to wait, you can reach Dove Direct today by calling 404-629-0122 or use the Contact Form for Dove Direct.
.