MARKETING | Highlights – May 2020

As more shoppers stick with online shopping, more are switching to apps as marketers start to spend on customer acquisition again

As the COVID-19 pandemic enters a new phase and consumer habits shift amid loosening restrictions in daily life, and now ecommerce apps are starting to see a bounce-back.

According to data from global app marketing platform Adjust, ecommerce apps are beginning to see growing installs and rising in-app sessions as more online shoppers turn to mobile.

The data also reflects an up-tick in ad spending on user acquisition on apps within retail as retailers shift to make the most of the continuing hegemony of online retailing, despite the lifting of lockdown.

Although the app economy was largely resilient in the face of COVID-19, with people turning to apps more than ever, e-commerce apps fared poorly by comparison. As reported in Adjust’s recently released App Trends report, e-commerce app installs trended down 12% week-on-week through March 2020, as companies pulled advertising, with a decrease in paid installs of 35% from March to April.

Yet new data by Adjust suggest these key indicators have risen back to near pre-COVID levels. This follows an overall recovery in digital ad spending in general, as the economy prepares for more activity.

Source: Internet Retailing

Online retailers are seeing Black Friday-like sales due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their business. According to new data from Adobe’s Digital Economy Index, U.S. e-commerce jumped 49% in April, compared to the baseline period in early March before shelter-in-place restrictions went into effect. Online grocery helped drive the increase in sales, with a 110% boost in daily sales between March and April. Meanwhile, electronic sales were up 58% and book sales have doubled.

The data comes from Adobe’s index of the digital economy, which analyzes more than one trillion online transactions across 100 million different SKUs. The company works with 80 of the top 100 U.S. online retailers to gather its data.

The numbers indicate that consumers are willing to spend on products that will help them manage the COVID-19 crisis. This includes, in large part, online grocery pickup and delivery.

Companies, including Amazon, Walmart and Instacart, have hired more workers to aid with the increased consumer demand across their retail operations. Instacart even became profitable for the first time, The Information recently reported, due to the surge triggered by the coronavirus outbreak. The company sold around $700 million worth of groceries during the first two weeks of April, up 450% over its December 2019 sales, the report said.

Source: TechCrunch

Whether you’re an individual, entrepreneur or brand, the need of the hour is to reassess, rethink and reinvent your approach. While influencers, billionaires and corporations are joining hands to aid those in need, brands need to sustain business activities and simultaneously make a positive contribution to those around them.

Simonetta Lein recently spoke with brand strategist Alex McCurry, founder of Astra Media, which is helping businesses, brands and entrepreneurs reinvent their digital marketing strategy. Their conversation inspied her to share the following five ways in which brands can rethink their online strategy and make relevant offerings as we all turn our focus toward recovery.

Source: Entrepreneur

Just 7% of UK marketers say their brands are taking a strategic approach to invest more in marketing during the coronavirus pandemic, with the vast majority forced to maintain or cut spend in the face of business disruption.

That compares to 29% who say their approach is to ‘stay the course’ by maintaining budgets and 50% who say they are making cuts so they can ‘live to fight another today’. A further 14% say it is too early to know what their strategic response to marketing will be.

Almost half of UK marketers say that if they asked to increase media spend, their leadership team would say that, while they understand the motivation, there is no cash to spend. Some 32% of marketers said finance would ask them to prove the case before they would consider it, while just 13% said finance would ask for a plan on how to do it.

One in 10 believe finance would say they were wasting their time.

Source: Marketing Week

Marketers on the new normal: Chris Carter, CEO at retail marketing agency SMP Chris Carter is Group CEO of retail marketing agency SMP and Amazon ecommerce specialist Melody. Entrepreneur Magazine asked Carter what his day-to-day now looks like, what trends he is seeing in his sector, and what advice he has for marketers.

What trends have you seen in the last few weeks in your sector?

Unsurprisingly, the biggest trend has been the shift of focus from physical retail to ecommerce. Melody, our ecommerce division, has never been busier. On a lighter note, I’ve also been getting a lot of interior design hints and tips from all the Zoom calls I have been on.

What advice would you give a marketer right now?

The advice I’d give right now is the same that I have always given, which has served me well over the years: attention to detail should be your mantra and delighting your clients your speciality.

However, recently we have been discussing the increased importance of context and would recommend two key steps: first, review your current/scheduled campaigns and see what needs to be cancelled, paused, reimagined or reconfigured. Is the message, tone, offer and imagery appropriate for the current crisis?

Second, identify what value your brand can legitimately offer to help get people through the crisis, and communicate it in a positive, informative, sensitive and accessible way.

Source: Econsultancy

Brands are seeing success in using video content on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Read expert tips on improving your video marketing strategy.

The reports are in and video is winning for small and medium-sized businesses, especially during COVID-19. A new study on small business marketer behaviour reveals an increased focus on video marketing and as well as using videos to get found on search.

According to the study, 64% responded that video is the most effective form of online marketing content. And almost half of the respondents agreed that they must create videos in order to grow their business.

Below are more video marketing stats and facts according to the Promo Small Business Marketing Trends report:

• 70% of SMBs post videos to Instagram and Facebook Stories.
• 62% of respondents create up to 5 videos per month.
• 76% spend less than 20 minutes to create a video, with 49% who can create in less than 10 minutes (via Promo.com users).
• 59% of respondents combine their own photos and videos with stock footage.
• The majority (39%) of stock photos come from places like Unsplash or other free sources.
• 41% of SMBs spend up to $500 per month to promote their videos.
• 30% of respondents post one video per week with 26% who post one time per month.

Source: Search Engine Journal

With the surge in video content on the web over the past decade, it’s probably no surprise that video has become a hugely critical piece in devising any marketing strategy. What may surprise you, however, is how astoundingly effective the simple webinar is over other video methods today.

A resounding 73 percent of marketing and sales leaders say webinars are one of the best ways to amass quality leads that may actually translate into sales. And since the average webinar attendee watches over 61 minutes, you’re talking about an engaged and invested audience.

If you’re launching a startup or trying to maximize your business reach in a whole new direction, you need to seriously consider the webinar route.

Source: The Next Web