While global industries linked with Asian supply markets are already experiencing the effects of coronavirus at an alarming rate. There is no doubt by now that coronavirus has shaken up the online marketing ecosystem by its still to-be-seen impact on a massive scale and while the economical out-turn of the virus is still up in the air, it is very certain that industries are triggered to take drastic measures for the same cause. According to Google, “since the first week of February, search interest in coronavirus increased by +260% globally.” While spikes in search trends are common during events of this scale, there have also been surges in traffic for related products and topics as a direct response to the pandemic.
Some of the known effects of coronavirus across the online marketing ecosystem includes –
- A large number of employees are bound to work remotely
- An uptick can be seen on e-commerce sales
- An increase in the number of online events are witnessed, due to sudden cancellation of trade shows and conferences.
- Ongoing uncertainty and the possibility of recessions
- Issue in the supply chain for products produced in China
Effect On Search, E-commerce And Marketing Budgets
Corona Virus has been officially declared as an official pandemic because of its effect on the health and wellbeing of communities worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), so predicting the impact of coronavirus on online marketing can be a bit challenging. One study states that there will be no change in the search activity. But if there is a decline in some industries there is ultimately going to be a decline in the searches of those products and services. Hence, this will ultimately affect SEO, display advertising and paid searches. So if there are no sales it will directly affect the budget and differ spending.
According to a study conducted recently, there has been an increase in the number of searches for some categories and a good number of searches happening with effects to the spread of the virus.
There is an increase in e-commerce spending due to the decline in-store visit. According to a study, there is an increase of 52% in online shopping revenue and conversions rate are 9% higher as compared to a year ago.
Will coronavirus keep pushing this online marketing medium as people are afraid to leave their houses. On the other hand, will it benefit the online food delivery services due to the effects of the virus. There is a theory which states that online streaming will prosper due to the decrease in the visit of physical entertainment venues.
Staying up-to-date and waiting to see how much impact coronavirus leaves to the economy of online marketing, businesses are required to make use of all the available assets to increase customer demand in terms of boosting their online marketing efforts for the envisioned future.
