“Do not go gentle into that good night.”
If there was ever a time to start living by these famous words by Dylan Thomas, that time is now. After all, with the goings on of COVID-19, every industry in every corner of the world has faced tremendous challenges. Today, this blog takes a look at what’s going on in these sectors. And the one common thing that can come to their rescue. In other words, it’s a blog that offers a survival kit to businesses during COVID-19.
First, let’s take a quick look at the industries that have been hit the hardest by COVID-19.
AUTOMOBILE
Auto scraped through the first couple months of 2020 the world over. And now with the pandemic in full force, manufacturing plants are being affected globally, footfalls in showrooms have dropped to near nil, as have sales. Industry events are off the table.
MEDIA
When Wimbledon gets postponed, you know the world is going through something huge. And this something huge is being felt across the globe. Event organizers are feeling the pinch. Media that broadcasts live events is feeling the pressure. Even local cable TV companies that depend on ad revenues are in a tight spot. No large gatherings mean that out of home advertising is virtually suspended worldwide. Movie halls are shut, billboards are blank, and television is mostly bleak news.
TRAVEL AND TOURISM
Travel and Tourism, for obvious reasons, is the worst hit, amongst all other industries. Any comparisons between China and the USA may not be helpful because the USA, being the new epicenter of the pandemic, isn’t quite following China’s trajectory. America’s travel industry is among the hardest hit with airlines and cruise ships highly impacted.
The hardest hit are tourism’s core industries: accommodation, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, transportation and travel services.
SO WHAT’S THE SOLUTION THEN, EH?
It may not be a silver bullet. But it’s certainly going to slay the demon your brand faces. And the world calls it digital marketing. And here’s half a dozen reasons you should seriously consider it:
1: It doesn’t require people to gather in groups. And yet, it can speak to millions, billions at a time.
2: Brands don’t have to wonder when out-of-home advertising will be back again. They simply take their communication online, because people are (whether they like it or not) sitting in front of their computer screens all day, every day. Ever heard of the low hanging fruit?
3: Tech has improved tremendously in just the last few years. Conversational marketing like real time conversation on chats is changing the way brands communicate with their audience.
4: Tracking and measuring is far easier, far more efficient on digital media, compared to any other form of communication. Brands get to view the clearest picture possible of their ROI. And this is especially important in these strange, tumultuous times.
5: It’s personalised to the audience. Find the smallest group you can imagine, and target your communication directly at them. Moreover, digital media gets brands the ability to generate the highest number of quality leads at expenses old school media couldn’t manage even in the best of times. And god knows these aren’t the best of times.
Croud
6: Out of mind, out of sight isn’t just a thing people say. It’s something brands have experienced through the decades. And in these times, only brands who are active, nay, aggressive on digital channels stand any chance at all to stay in the consumers’ minds.
If done right, digital marketing may not just serve as an emergency fill-in, but can help in the long haul when the world eventually gets back to normal, making companies stronger, helping them combat any future pandemics.
So there you have it. A bunch of reasons, some of them not so happy, to get your brand to go the digital marketing way.
Meanwhile, stay safe, STAY INDOORS, and stay digital. See you with another blog soon!
