Weekly News Digest on COVID-19 – 03/27/20

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With health and safety top-of-mind, Adlucent remains committed to helping our partners adapt to the rapidly changing COVID-19 situation. Staying on top of how the crisis is affecting the ecommerce world is imperative to retailers and brands. Since things are changing every day, it’s easy to fall into information overload, so we’ve outlined the past week’s most important COVID-19 news for ecommerce business. If you’d like to be notified as we continue to share relevant content, sign up for the Adlucent newsletter.

Navigating The COVID-19 Crisis: A Guide For Retailers – Adlucent

The Adlucent team pulled together findings summarizing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on retail and ecommerce to provide strategic recommendations for advertisers. The document includes data on the retail impact and broader economic outlook, as well as changes in shopper behavior. It also contains a COVID-19 action plan for businesses and strategies on quickly retargeting investments to align with consumer shopping behaviors.

Owned Channel Marketing Strategy During COVID-19 – Adlucent

Adlucent’s recommendations on adapting owned channels during the crisis, including brand voice, tone, and language used in messaging and on websites, social media presence, content ideas, and customer service channels. 

COVID-19 Information and Resources – Google

Google has set up a website to cover COVID-19. For those unfamiliar, the symptoms of COVID-19 include fever and cough. Furthermore, the disease can easily spread either through an infected person or surface. There, you’ll find additional information on the disease, such as safety and prevention tips, data and insights, and general resources.

Coronavirus Resources for Retailers – National Retail Federation

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is providing information related to the global and domestic spread of COVID-19 and any supply chain implications. The page is updated regularly and includes the latest news regarding the $2 trillion stimulus package, the CARES Act. NRF summarized and issued a statement welcoming the bill.

Creative Works: what brands are doing for the coronavirus pandemic – The Drum

As COVID-19 spreads, this site shows the creative ways brands and media entities are informing and educating the public. Scroll through the creative work on this page and view the specific projects for more information. Keep visiting to view new campaigns added to the site.

How Marketers and Agencies Are Trying to Strike the Right Tone in the Age of Coronavirus – Adweek

Despite some mistakes at the start, retailers are re-evaluating ad spots and trying to strike the right tone in their advertising. Some brands, like KFC and Hersheys, have pulled spots that appeared misaligned with current health concerns, while Coors preemptively pulled an ad about March Madness. To adjust to the current landscape, creative ad agencies are busy reworking existing footage to help their clients find the right words for their audience at this time.

Distressed retailers struggled with falling sales for years — and then came coronavirus – Retail Dive

The physical retail industry, already facing a shift toward ecommerce, now sees an unprecedented standstill in traffic due to COVID-19. Some issues include looming debt and liquidity, and COVID-19 could expedite the inevitable collapse for those unable to pivot in a crisis. 

Many of these retailers could off-set declining in-store sales by shifting the focus online, and they will need a solid digital marketing strategy to contend with Amazon and other established ecommerce players.  

The huge paradigm shift from physical to online shopping may last for the foreseeable future. 

COVID-19 checklist for businesses: How to manage your online presence and keep customers updated in a time of crisis – Search Engine Land

While customers search for the availability of specific products at stores, businesses can utilize local business listings, websites and Schema markups to attract them. 

Specifically, businesses should:

• Review listings across Google, Bing, Yelp, etc. and make sure to update hours and temporary closings. 
• Create local posts on Google Post and update social media pages and profiles. 
• Refresh websites by adding a page or homepage link solely dedicated to COVID-19 updates and information.
• Ensure the following areas and product schema are updated: item availability, event status, now-virtual events, and special announcements.

Reducing digital marketing due to COVID-19? Read this first – Search Engine Land

Other than “essential” businesses, many industries have seen at least a 20% decrease in website performance over the past two weeks with the impact of COVID-19.

The swift and unexpected loss in revenue has led to conversations about trimmed budgets and digital marketing spend. 

Multiple industry experts provided advice on maximizing in these uncertain times.

The Main tips are to:

• Watch for skewed analytical data.
• Cut ad spend on products that are not considered essential at this time. On the flip side, the cost of bids is lower. Since everything is in flux, be more engaged.
• While being mindful of tone, maximize email and remind customers of your online availability.
• Continue the path of SEO and content marketing, although overall search-demand has reduced. Doing so will position brands once search-demand returns.

We’ve highlighted the most important recent ecommerce news related to COVID-19 and will continue to compile relevant resources to guide your business. Please check the Adlucent blog regularly for additional information and updates. 

Maureen Lomo