For the latter part of 2020, the global community has seen itself in turmoil as the Covid-19 pandemic has caused national lockdowns throughout various countries. The economic impact is immeasurable and is likely to take up to a decade to come up with reliable figures, as usually is with global crises’.
Marketing agencies have not been immune to the situation in any manner. If your client is unable to operate, then they are unlikely to pay for or need your services. What has been of note is how some agencies have helped their clients during this time,
Forbes Magazine notes “Being confined to the office – or even the home – rather than on the road on sales visits or at events, means marketers have more time to develop digital strategies. This means researching where your customers can be found online, and how different approaches and tactics might impact your success.” This leaves digital agencies with a unique opportunity of being at the forefront of the marketing response that brands must produce in order to continue connecting to their clients. Digital agencies already have the methodologies and systems that allow them to swiftly create, adjust, or implement strategies for their clients.
The lack of movement means that fewer people are interacting with traditional marketing such as outdoor media, activation events, and print media. People are however embracing more screentime from Netflix, online shopping, and social media–this has meant that services such as Google and Facebook have been able to find out even more about users by the mere fact that their entire lives are now happening digitally. This kind of incite becomes invaluable to digital agencies as they use these platforms as their main means for marketing.
Where Digital Agencies Come In
Firstly, Digital agencies have to develop a strategy that is unique to the current climate of Covid-19. Whereas in the past, a strategy may have focused on promoting products, services, events, or driving foot traffic to a specific client, agencies must now find a way to connect their clients to their consumers in the most virtually viable way. In some cases, a digital agency may even have to look at developing or integrating an e-commerce site/feature for its clients.
According to bigcommerce.com, “E-commerce sales are not higher across the board, although some industries are seeing significant upticks. This is especially true for online sellers of household goods and groceries.” This trend is likely to start overflowing into other industries once people start to become more certain of their financial futures and spending picks up again. For this reason, it is better to be proactive rather than reactive.
The second step is to create brand assets that will be rolled out during the following months of digital campaigning. These assets need to include banners, videos, social media posts, and other forms of content to distribute.
Lastly, the agencies must execute the campaign. One mistake many smaller agencies make is to develop a strategy, create brand assets, and then leave the execution to clients. This is usually what leads to many failed campaigns as clients don’t know how to react and adjust accordingly where they may see that a certain part of the strategy is not working.
Managing the entire process and seeing a project through is what is likely to be the difference in whether agencies can meet their promised KPIs or not. Agencies should care about the success of the strategy as much as the client does. So even during these uncertain times, it is crucial for digital agencies to communicate to their clients that they are here to help them because they care about how their clients survive through Covid-19. Your clients need you now more than ever, even if they themselves may not realize it.