COVID CONSUMERS: Attracting Revenues in a Global Pandemic

If it seems as if the entire world has changed, it has. We know this. Nary a region, city, continent on Planet Earth has escaped the ravaging effects of Covid-19, now a global pandemic that has severely shifted commerce, labor, and everyday living in a social distancing environment.

As commerce is the backbone of all free societies, this is a startling fact. Here’s a jaw-dropping statistic: Global Web Index found that 80 percent of consumers in the US and UK have increased their online purchasing in the wake of this pandemic. A sudden emphasis toward ecommerce is opening up markets that in the past were strictly in-person, and padding revenues for existing online sellers. It’s critical to closely examine your business model to make the best of a dire situation. With the right information, tools, attitude, and devotion, you may get through this unprecedented time.

The most essential factor here is understanding consumer behaviors in the wake of closed storefronts and empty grocery shelves. How are average citizens choosing to replenish basic supplies? How are they spending mostly limited dollars on “luxury” goods, which were not so luxurious just three months ago?
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Commerce crashes are hitting virtually every sector of the economy and society. From entertainment to education, new purchases have all but disappeared. And in the runup to a real recession, many consumers are finding themselves out of work and unable to meet their current financial obligations for basics like utility bills, rent, and credit card payments.
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But not all. Some are positioned to ride out this storm with a modicum of buying power. Can you take advantage of that? Take a look at some digital marketing trends that are helping businesses stay afloat, taking advantage of the nearly captive audience of consumers stuck at home with only the internet as a source of information. It’s also their source of purchasing.

Grazitti Interactive gathered an instructive list of important digital marketing trends popping up in the 2020 Covid-19 era. They may not salvage your ecommerce business, but they can give it a shot in the arm.
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Their colorful pyramid lists these strategies, among others:

1. Interactive content. Home-bound shoppers are desperate for entertainment. Give it to them, in the form of 360-degree videos, shoppable posts, quizzes, and polls. What once was an annoyance may now be both fun and motivational, encouraging new sales.
   
   
2. New-breed SEO. Beef up the search optimization element of your content by updating the hacks you used last year. The SEO utility is an ever-changing entity; one of the most important aspects of conducting online commerce. New algorithms will necessitate new strategies, especially in an era where millions of people are searching for information (and goods) they never previously needed.
   
   
3. Social commerce. Are your products designed to be self-selling? Probably not. Engaging new customers and keeping existing ones will require a two-step dance to be more creative and aggressive. Try crafting “shoppable stories” and posts that draw attention and motivate purchases. Use social commerce plug-ins and apps to guide you along the way. Increase (or start) ad budgets on social media sites. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are now the go-to portals for quarantined consumers; put them to good use.
   
   
4. Bidding smart in Google Ads. Auction-time bidding is a phenomenon not heavily used by a vast sampling of ecommerce vendors, but it’s worth a second look. Google Marketing announced awesome improvements in their 2019 lineup, opening up a new audience with consumers ready to bid on your products.

 
As an ecommerce merchant, you should be accustomed to an ever-changing landscape requiring constant vigilance. It’s never been more important than now to harness the accessibility of potential customers who are stuck at home, in need of shopping for staples, clothing, and miscellaneous items they can’t get at brick-and-mortar stores. And for many, the temptation to raise spirits with an occasional mood-boosting buy is inevitable.