COVID's Impact on Digital Marketing | How's Your Online Presence?

It probably comes as no surprise that having a strong online presence, especially amidst a global pandemic, plays a large role in the success of a business. With many businesses being forced to temporarily shutdown or scale back during these uncertain times, many have turned to digital commerce to keep their businesses afloat. Luckily for them, they made a choice that will likely have a positive effect their business.

HubSpot, an American developer and marketer of software products for inbound marketing, sales, and customers service recently shared some insight into how COVID-19 has effected digital businesses. In the last quarter (Q1 compared to Q2), HubSpot confirmed a 18% increase in web traffic, including a 31% rise in chat volume from the previous quarter. They also reported a strong marketing email open rate at 32% compared to the 25-30% open rate from Q3-Q4 of last year.

Jon Dick, HubSpot's Vice President shared his thoughts on digital commerce during the time of increasingly remote audiences. "The biggest and most obvious takeaway, in my opinion, is that companies that invested in a really good online presence really benefited when the world suddenly found itself sitting at home looking at the computer all day,” said Dick. “We saw a huge spike in traffic to our customers’ websites starting the week of March 15. There was a peak in mid-April of about 24% above benchmark. Companies that invested in really good email marketing also benefited.”

He then goes on to shed some light on the surprising increase in marketing emails' successful open rates which have been trending upwards along with the volume of marketing emails being sent out to consumers. “That almost never happens,” he said. “Traditionally, if you send more emails, your open rate goes down.”

The Takeaway: An increasing number of businesses have shifted online out of necessity, some for the first time. The data complied by HubSpot shows an obvious bias towards their own database, mostly comprised of those already with an online presence. However, it is very clear that those who had an online presence when the shutdown began in March, were at a strong advantage.

For many of us, the majority of our business is being done online right now. So it more important than ever for consumers to be able to find you online, whether it is on a website or on a social media platform. If you do not already have an online presence, building a website or creating free social media accounts is a good place to start. If you already have an online presence, you may want to consider investing in SEO and taking advantage of the currently cheaper ad marketplace (global ad spend is 8% below pre-COVID levels, and fewer buyers means cheaper keywords) is one way to boost your online presence.

Whichever route you'd like to see your online presence take, we're here to help!

Original data from Martech Today