COVID-19 has basically disrupted the usual way of our lifestyle. From how we live to how we shop, everything has changed. For the marketers, it is either the worst nightmare or the best thing that ever happened. As a marketer, this can be the best opportunity for you, if you can adapt to changing consumer behavior and come up with innovative ideas. However, if you think you can cope up with this with traditional marketing, we have bad news for you!

Understanding your customer is one of the toughest things to do. Times like this make that even tougher. So, in this article, we are going to show you some ways you can adjust to this changing customer behavior. You will also get to know how we, as marketers, can change our strategy to meet new customer demands.

What Changed Since the Start of the Pandemic from the Customer End

How Marketers Can Adjust to New Consumer Behavior

Since the COVID-19 outbreak started to spread rapidly earlier this year, people have been pretty much homebound. Though things are looking a bit brighter now, than it was in the past, how customers shop pretty much changed forever.

First of all, customers who did not prefer shopping online, are now forced to do so. However, despite this, customers are shopping less. While essential products demand stayed the same, the luxury product business has seen a sharp decline at the same time.

While people are spending more time online, it's important to realize that there is also a sense of economic insecurity among consumers. It is the defining change that we are seeing due to COVID-19.

Economic Insecurity is Playing a Crucial Role

COVID-19 will be remembered as a black period for the global economy. Millions of people lost their jobs worldwide, and more people saw significant pay-cuts. This implanted a sense of economic insecurity for all the people around the world.

On average 64% of people are worried about the impact of COVID-19 on their personal job security.
– accenture

This insecurity has put a bad impact on all the industries. Especially, the luxury market has very much shrunken. This reached such a level that big brands like J.C Penny, Diesel, G Star Raw had to declare bankruptcy.

This is because customers are prioritizing the essential products, before the luxuries. Unless you can market your product as an important one, there's a good chance you will see a decrease in sales in the coming days as well.

Customers are Spending more Times on the Internet- What Does it Mean for Marketers?

Online retail shopping was already growing by leaps and bounds even before the COVID-19 hit the world. But we can't ignore the fact that eCommerce has seen the largest boom that we ever experienced till now. This is because due to the pandemic people are largely staying at home.

So more and more people are coming online to pass their time or even attend their office. And since people are hardly ever coming out of your home, whether they need a new toothbrush or repair their oven, they are largely dependent on the internet. Even people who had no wish or experience of shopping online, are forced to shop online.

Rise of Internet Usage during COVID-19 — Image Source: PCMAG

As a marketer, this is your chance to capture people's attention. Reach customers in this COVID-19, focusing on intelligent content marketing, not just product promotion. Let people feel valuable with personalized campaigns. Use social media promotion and SEO to let people know and explore your shelves.

ECommerce is getting the bigger pie of the shrunken sales. Try grab as much as you can, while also preparing yourself for the future without COVID-19.

New User Boom- Opportunity for eCommerce or Threat?

As we have been talking about over and over again. ECommerce has seen unprecedented growth during this pandemic. A large part of this growth can be rooted back to what we are calling, “A New User Boom”. These customers are a large part of today's online customer base.

According to MARKETTAP, during the pandemic, only 48% of the consumers are remaining loyal to their usual/familiar brands.

This is largely because of the new user boom. So, it's important to utilize this situation by seeing it as an opportunity.

Kameleoon predicts that 24% of consumers will increase the long-term use of digital channels due to COVID-19

These new customers are not going away anytime soon. This is an untapped market and you still have the chance to make them your loyal customer by running personalized marketing campaigns.

Traditional Marketing is Now a Thing of the Past

Traditional marketing as we call it is a thing of the past. You must shift your focus solely to online. SEO will be an even big part of the new marketing strategy than it was before. However, a renewed focus should also be given to the content that we promote.

Given the socioeconomic shift due to COVID-19, contents that we create for the consumer should also be modified altogether. It's also important to understand that your target consumers are not in the same position anymore. Crafting personalized messages that are relevant to the current situation should be on the list of your top priority as a marketer.

People are more price-conscious now than ever before. So, rather than self-promotion try to present yourself as a cost-efficient alternative to the big brands. Remember, a big chunk of the customers will stick to your brand even after the pandemic, if you can offer them a sense of reliability during this dire situation.

Alter Your Strategy to Match Changing Consumer Behavior

As we already talked about traditional marketing is not the way to go during or after this pandemic. In order to survive and be profitable, you must alter your strategies. Rather it is better to focus on smart and data-driven marketing.

Try to be realistic about the situation and the changing consumer behavior. Provide useful content that helps people in this situation. And offer products that are affordable and essential.

These are our tips for you to handle this tough time as a marketer

Provide emotional support through your promotions, introduce safe ways to get the products your customers need. If you want to attract the consumer and match changing consumer behavior, you must provide them the sense of assurance they are seeking during this pandemic.

Conclusions

These are difficult times, both for consumers and marketers. Making money in this pandemic has been hard for businesses. Global sales in both the product and service market have seen a decrease in revenue, while some industries like travel have seen zero sales.

It is not the best time to target the highest of growth, but to survive. But it is still a good time to establish your product as people's choice which will do good for you even after the pandemic.

Whether you are overseeing the marketing of a small eCommerce business or a big business, try to offer people help and support. These supports and contributions will remain as some of the most powerful marketing you'll ever do.

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How Marketers Can Adjust to Changing Consumer Behavior