Trends Digital Marketers Are Witnessing with Online Behavior Since COVID-19

Marissa Dilione - July 14, 2020

While many consumers have now been working from home for a full quarter, and businesses have adapted to the new normal, what does that mean for online businesses? For digital marketers, we see this as an opportunity to analyze the data we have under our belts to make better business decisions based off the trends we have seen these past few months.

Here is a list of the biggest themes we are witnessing in the digital space to help you adapt your marketing and customer service experience through the remainder of 2020.

#1 Online Activity

There has been a surge in website traffic ever since more people have been working from home (WFH). Contrary to popular belief that this would come to a halt, Statista, a global #1 business data platform, has reported that online traffic across 20 different industries increased by 10.2% compared to pre-COVID times. This makes sense because most people at first had a lot of questions that they were looking for answers to. For example there were a substantial amount of search queries for “how to manage a distributed workforce” or “how to stage your WFH setting”. As more people were being forced to be in front of a computer much more than the norm, and with constant zoom meetings now on their calendar, it is only natural that they start browsing the web. In addition to users searching for answers, they were also looking for more educational content to sharpen their skills with this new found time.

This is where we saw how effective Inbound Marketing could be. Users searching these queries show the demand online marketers needed to fill with their keyword targeting to continue to drive that website traffic through offering valuable and relevant content. Given that we are still enduring a global pandemic and this trend is expected to continue, this has become a crucial initiative to invest in. If you need help with your keyword targeting to capture more website traffic, contact us for a complimentary consultation.

#2 Chat Bots and Conversational Marketing

As online traffic increased, so did user engagement with chat bots and online customer service agents. This form of online interaction has become a key player in the user experience for consumers. Many of these have 24/7 assistance and are at the freedom of the user to reach out when they feel comfortable and ready. With being home, many people look to these after normal work hours as they finish putting their kids to bed, or in between meetings. Consumers wanted convenience before COVID, and chat messengers have allowed businesses to prosper in a time that really accelerated contactless interaction. To add some perspective to the adoption of online chat messengers, Markets and Markets released a report forecasting that chat bot market size is forecasted to grow to almost 9.4 billion by 2024.

As we progress through the pandemic, consider how one of these platforms might work best for your business. If you are currently using an online chat system, keep in mind the type of verbiage that needs to be used during this time to make the experience a bit more personalized. Read through transcripts to find opportunities to tweak your messaging.

#3 Database Marketing

Have you experienced a fuller email inbox since March? We recently hosted a webinar with Worldata where President and CEO Jay Schwedelson shared how many companies are sending numerous emails daily. Most people would find this spammy, but the open rates have shockingly increased as well. This proves that not only is email a direct channel to interact with your customer base, but also there is no such thing as a frequency cap right now. To learn more about what Schwedelson had to say, sign up to listen to the webinar here.

What does this mean? Businesses should be testing those email strategies now! Find what days work best, what times work best, and what promotions, content, and subject lines work best. Email has been proven historically to be a really powerful channel to connect and re-engage with your customers to keep them up to date with what you are doing. It has also been known to play an essential role in the consideration phase of the user journey for a consumer to make that final conversion. All of these factors combined is what makes this channel all the more valuable to focus on at this time.

Keep these strategies in mind as your business navigates the new normal through the remainder of 2020.  We know these are still trying times, but if there is anything we have learned over the past quarter, it’s that we need to continuously be adapting to the needs of our audiences. Listen, learn, and improve!