Digital marketing as an industry is changing – as more marketers are
rethinking their strategies due to the uncertainties brought by the COVID-19 outbreak.
The digital marketing sector, as well as its methodologies in the marketplace, is evolving.
Most organizations are adjusting their business models amid the COVID-19 crisis in order to keep up and running. The latest report from TapClicks studied the industry data alongside proprietary analytics for different industries and six different channels – to offer insights to help the marketers realize how to function ahead. The report titled, “The New Normal: Digital Marketing Insights from TapClicks, Spring 2020” evaluates the current status of the digital marketing sector amidst the widespread pandemic.
Digital Marketing and Data-driven Business Decisions Will Take Over Traditional Practice
In response to the worldwide health crisis, the digital marketing industry has been in a
position of flux as an industry segment pivoting its business strategies. It has resulted in the lowering of budgets and running through discounted offerings. Most businesses across
different sectors had shifted their e-commerce plans, introduced new delivery practices,
and started remote services. Even if the changes bring unforeseen challenges, they also
bring marketers with scopes to set apart their brands and emerge as market leaders. For
revenue growth, the healthcare sector experienced the most extensive marketing spends
with $30 billion in 2019. This year too, it is expected that the spending will continue to rise
as demand is accelerating due to the COVID-19 crisis. Even for higher education, the
institutions spent over $100 million on digital media, which is nearly 17% of the total
spending.
Researchers have examined the industry data from more than 900,000 advertising and
marketing campaigns – that are managed via TapClicks’ proprietary analytics platform. The
data in the study account for trends spanning six advertising channels – social, video,
SEM/PPC, programmatic, location-based, and display. The study revealed some critical
opportunities for brands to drive more revenue and highlights plans to optimize campaign
spending with the changing dynamics of the economy.
Some principal findings around advertising channel trends:
a] PPC/SEM is here to stay as marketers’ favorite channel: About 54% of customer
budgets had been shifted to SEM/PPC in 2019. Businesses are still increasing their
budget for this channel to foster success.
SMBs to invest in SEO and PPC in 2019
b] New advertising drives demand a shift to the “Top of the Funnel” messaging: As businesses pivot and offer new online solutions, they are required to refocus “top of the funnel” messaging strategy. This is for better customer engagement and generating cognitive uplift to sustain purchasing routine.
c] Moving the channel mix to gain enhanced results with lower budgets: Brands will need to improve their blend of channels – for instance, display and social, to reduce
costs and augment awareness in concert.
According to Daryl McNutt, Senior VP of Marketing at TapClicks – “The data we’ve identified
highlights incredible opportunities for marketers to refine their strategies and tap into
emerging trends as a result of the quickly changing business environment…TapClicks’
mission is to empower businesses through marketing data and intelligence, and the trends
we’ve identified in combination with the unified solutions we provide will help advertisers
and marketers optimize campaign success and generate positive ROI into 2021.”
Marketing Data Matters Much More than the Campaign Performance
