Digital Marketing Success Story During COVID-19
Background
In this section, we'll be discussing digital marketing: marketing strategies, communication strategies, and how they integrate with your needs. However, today we want to focus on sharing a practical example with you, considering everything that's happening with COVID-19 and how it has affected brands.
Years ago, the concept of Transmedia storytelling Hello Transmedia narrative. The importance of using different communication media and platforms was explained, at that time integrating strong social channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, among others.
For over 15 years, this concept has been gaining momentum, changing the dynamics and interaction with our clients. Even more so now, with the pandemic (which prevents physical contact due to social distancing), digital channels are essential for interaction between people.
Transmedia Storytelling
Why are we addressing this? Because with this concept in mind, we want to talk about two brands, client X and client Y; and the decisions they made to position their brands and promote their products, thereby compensating for the sales they lost at their points of sale during this quarantine.
How would you approach customers during a pandemic with a digital strategy and a lot of uncertainty surrounding it?
Client Y.
The pandemic forced us to look for spaces where our potential customers could see us. We had been working for months on the positioning of its sister brand, and although with different audiences, it was necessary to strengthen our communication on social networks and seek sales through them.
In 2020, Mexico had more than 83 million active Facebook users and more than 23 million active Instagram users, and Google searches increased by 50% during the quarantine.
Based on this data and an advertising and communication strategy the client Y approved the strategy: the brand's objectives and our experience helped us to formulate a hypothesis about current customers and those we could reach digitally.
What were they looking for and what was the potential growth in these networks? We want to meet your needs. They presented us with the budget they could allocate, we developed a media plan, the distribution, on which channels, targeting which audience, and with what objective (measurable).
Formats as an essential part, not your entire audience will be where you think, we always work closely with the brand team, so the client suggested a format they wanted to see in their communication (Instagram stories), we suggested the format Facebook carousel or sequence.
Instagram Stories could not be the most suitable for product sales, however we had to try it. The first few days we observed the high cost of advertising Instagram Stories, so by the week we add this budget directly into the Carousel format, which was having better results: more unique clicks (people who click on your ad, directing them to the online store, and there's a greater potential for conversion because they've already declared interest in your product).
Even while considering hypotheses (based on our experience, knowledge, and the type of product), the initial strategy is optimized, the audiences we are speaking to, the objective we are pursuing, and the visual thread becomes much more attractive and easier to understand to achieve the expected numbers.
The Q1 2020 social media trends report, by Socialbakers mention
As people are forced to social distance at home, they spend more time on social media consuming content, therefore, the demand for digital content is increasing. Social media data shows that smart brands should use this opportunity to stay close to their customers by taking advantage of the lower cost of ads..
SOURCE: SOCIALBAKERS. (2020). SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS REPORT: IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS ON MARKETING. JUNE 9, 2020, The Social Bakers.
As we maintain investment within the channels we choose, the marketing strategy linked with the Transmedia narrative, allows us to visualize the ideal digital ecosystem for our businesses.
Client Z.
They were ambivalent about the efforts and costs required for a traditional channel versus a digital channel. This brand decided to continue betting on the traditional offline path (missing out on the digital transformation opportunity).
According to Mercado Libre’s study on e-commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic: Mexico saw a +79% increase in new buyers compared to the same period in 2019; with growth across all categories: computers (+7%), automotive accessories (+10%), cell phones and telecommunications (8%), home, furniture, and garden (+9%), sports and fitness (8%), health and medical equipment (5%), consumer goods and food (6%), beauty and personal care (+6%), and clothing, bags, and footwear (11%)
Mercado Libre, E-commerce in the Time of COVID-19, According to the Real Behavior of its Consumers
These cases may be representative of many out there, which is why we want to highlight the following points:
- Client Z wasted the first two months of quarantine, and offline sales dropped. In contrast, with client Y, after the first month we exceeded expectationsof the total of the brand's sales The 6% was delivered digitally. A great success! We're continuing to build the 100% products on social media channels.
- If you work with an agency, trust it, reach a common ground, share your doubts if necessary, share your goals, and above all, share your successes in pursuing the same goals under the same vision and scope.
- Interdisciplinary teams generate optimal synergy for business planning.
- Still unsure if your brand is ready to strengthen its digital presence, or you don't know how to take action and achieve the results you need to increase your sales? Gerund We want to help you through the process. The answers are in your brand/product. We work hand-in-hand with you, and together we find opportunities to boost your business.
Maresa Freyre
