Much like every industry around the world, the marketing industry shifted drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic. The industry didn’t necessarily suffer as much as other industries such as the restaurant and tourism industries. But the circumstances caused by the pandemic pushed the marketing industry to innovate and adapt to ensure its survival during these trying times. And because of the way the industry innovated and adapted, things are looking up for many companies during 2021.
For example, Forbes reported the top three advertising agencies that are expecting growth during this new year. One of them is called Magna. This ad agency expects a 10.4 percent growth in its digital marketing arm. Another agency mentioned by Forbes is called GroupM. This ad agency is much more optimistic about its growth in 2021. It expects a 24.4 percent growth in the countries in Latin America and a 14.1 percent growth in the Asia-Pacific. Plus, the agency found that its digital marketing arm will rise to 14.1 percent this year.
Given these optimistic outlooks from successful agencies, it’s clear that the marketing industry will continue to grow this year and the years after that. And what makes this possible are the successful marketing strategies that are popular today. These are three of them.
Digital Marketing
As mentioned, the digital marketing arm of the sample agencies will grow this year. And this isn’t surprising, really. It’s because the COVID-19 pandemic actually helped with this. Because of the quarantine restrictions that were put in place, people stay at their own homes for months. Thus, they heavily relied on their phones and the internet to stay in touch with their friends and families, stay updated on current events, and, of course, purchase products and services that they needed. In effect, they became more exposed to digital marketing.
In the last few years, advertising agencies have been taking digital marketing very seriously, treating it as the new frontier in their world. They conduct brand tracking research to analyze consumer behavior. And by consumer behavior, marketing professionals mean the keywords that consumers use on search engines when looking for a product or service. They mean the consumers’ journey from the search engine to the checkout page of an online shop. By gathering all of these data, marketing professionals, then, would have the best information that would help them craft effective marketing strategies for their specific target audience.
Social Media and Influencer Marketing
Apart from search engines such as Google and Yahoo, social media platforms are also leading ways to successfully bridge companies to their target consumers. Much like in digital marketing, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the way people use social media. For one, it definitely increased the number of social media users over the last few months. In the United States alone, 78.1 percent of American adults use Facebook. Over 49 percent of them use Instagram and 34.9 percent use Twitter. This high number of social media user prove that if businesses want to reach their target market, social media is the best avenue for them.
This also helped raise the success rate of influencer marketing. This is when businesses would commission social media influencers to become their brand ambassadors. Influencers use the product or acquire the services of their corporate partners. And then, they will talk about their experience with their partners through their vlogs or posts.
Virtual Events
When it comes to the marketing industry, events are one of the most tried and true ways to promote certain brands. Major conventions and festivals thrive because of their corporate partnerships. But with the COVID-19 pandemic, mass gatherings have become a big no-no. Some areas around the world are becoming lenient about the mass gathering restrictions. But some have not. Thus, marketing professionals adapted to the new changes. They held virtual events instead.
But it turned out that virtual events have led to greater rewards. For one, they cost much cheaper than in-person events because they won’t have to worry about logistics such as venue, lights, and sound. Another significant reason is that virtual events are simply more accessible to the public. People just needed a device and an internet connection. Thus, companies are able to widen their reach and target a broader market.
Many things have changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these are long-term and even permanent changes. The same went with the marketing industry. Over the last few months, it has been clear that marketing has changed drastically. This proves the industry’s capacity to keep up with the times and remain strong despite the challenges.
