4 Ways COVID-19 Has Changed Marketing

The marketing industry is constantly changing, but over the past year, one of the biggest reasons why marketing has changed is due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the vaccine has led to the world largely beginning to get back to normal, it’s unlikely that consumerism is going to look exactly the same even when the global pandemic becomes history. So, what can marketers expect from a post-COVID-19 world?

More Connection

While the pandemic had an awful effect on the lives of many people around the world, one of the good things to come out of the situation is that people are staying more connected than ever before. Throughout the year where most of us stayed at home wherever possible to protect ourselves and others, a new mentality of ‘we are all in it together’ began to grow. This is likely to affect the way that people shop for some time, with many brands including Nike taking advantage of the new consumer attitude of staying connected and looking out for one another. 

Online Shopping

More and more brands have had to move online in order to survive throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Even brands that had gotten left behind and did not see the need to set up a website where customers could make purchases were forced to very quickly modernize their operations and create an online presence or else fail. For marketers, the fact that customers are choosing to shop online more and more often as a result of the pandemic is a huge bonus. This has provided marketing agencies like merrittgrp.com with far more access to consumer data, which can then be used to drive further marketing decisions for the future. 

A Human Touch

Working from home has caused huge changes to companies, with most of us more accepting that things happen and at the end of the day, everybody is human. While the human touch was already becoming more and more important in marketing, the pandemic has only highlighted the need for all companies to move away from a robotic, uber-professional way of doing things and connect with their customers as people. 

Customer Engagement

Customer engagement has become one of the most vital marketing strategies used by companies throughout the pandemic. With stores closing and online shopping becoming the only way to get access to the non-essential products that consumers want, most people are going to remember which brands took the time to engage with them throughout the crisis and which ones dropped off the radar. Throughout the pandemic, the brands that have been the most successful have achieved this by putting in the time and effort to regularly connect with and check up on their customers through online engagement on social media and a wide range of other channels. Brands that have looked to do something different such as online classes and virtual entertainment to bring their customers together and boost engagement have encouraged people to stay connected to their brand even in difficult times. 

Has COVID-19 made a difference to the way that you market your brand?