Please don’t exploit the coronavirus situation

The last thing we want to see is people trying to exploit fear but unfortunately it’s all we’re seeing.

What we mean by this is supplies are running low around the world. From masks and toilet paper (who knows why) to hand sanitiser and other basic necessities… We’re seeing “marketers” buying them and then reselling them on eBay or running ads and selling them for 10-50x the price. Horrible.

This isn’t entrepreneurship and this certainly isn’t what marketing is. We strongly suggest you avoid exploiting the Coronavirus situation to make a quick buck. It’s wrong and will not last long.

Anyway, now that’s out of the way, what does COVID- 19 mean for marketers?

Businesses will no doubt struggle for a while

If the virus slows down as fast as the numbers have dropped in China, businesses are still going to struggle for well over a year because they unfortunately will have to make up for their losses.

In China the Coronavirus has caused retail sales to drop by 20.5% and unemployment rate to jump to 6.2 in February.

Huge companies like Apple are closing their shops to help reduce the spread, it will mean less income and less profit. Sure a company like Apple are able to pay their employees during their temporary closing, but not all companies have Apple’s bank balance and most won’t be able to do the same.

Let’s take a look at the travel industry. The coronavirus is expected to lose them 820 billion dollars. Virgin Atlantic have had to ask their staff to take an 8-week unpaid leave.

It’s now estimated that in total COVID-19 will cost the global economy $2.7 trillion.

Not only are companies losing money but they are also losing traffic and conversions.

It’s clear that organic traffic is down

From an SEO standpoint, last week we saw huge drops in organic traffic for most industries we are tracking.

If you are in the news industry or financial space, your traffic is most likely skyrocketing… Along with supermarkets and pharmacies.

…But if you are in the travel industry or luxury goods you probably saw massive drops in traffic, except for those looking up refund rules.

The internet traffic has really changed in the past week, from casual shopping and looking for new business to survival and information mode.

Conversions have been down for most industries

Unsurprisingly we saw a conversion rate standpoint, we saw drops in most industries as well. Even the financial sector, which had big traffic booms in traffic, but dropped in conversions.

But when it comes to news (media) sites, they have had a big conversion lift as many of them charge for people to read their updated information. For example, you can only read a certain amount of content from the Washington Post or The Guardian for free.

People are not going to want to miss out on Coronavirus, political and financial information with the turmoil, hence news sites saw a nice lift.

And with some sectors like travel, they are currently offering massive discounts, which is helping counteract some of their traffic declines. Overall, they are still seeing a massive revenue hit.

PPC during the Coronavirus

From our work, we haven’t seen particularly big shifts in cost per click… even for things like the travel industry, in fact in some sectors average bidding costs have gone up.

Even though we saw big dips in the number of people searching to buy things like flights or hotels, we haven’t seen a drastic drop in CPC but we did see a big increase in cost per acquisition.

In other words, you can still roughly pay the same amount per click, but the cost per conversion has been going up for most industries… unless you are selling necessities like toilet paper.

So what does this mean for marketers?

Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful

We didn’t come up with that saying, it’s actually a line from Warren Buffett.

You will see people cutting back because the economy is predicted to get hit by 2.7 trillion dollars and experts are saying that we are going to go into a recession.

You even have billionaire investors like Carl Ichan saying that the market has more room to go down and we should expect the sell-off has longer to go.

When it comes to marketing, during an economic downturn, you’ll find that you will have less competition, which means it is easier and faster to get results, and in some cases, you’ll be able to get deals, such as a potential reduction in PPC advertising.

Just think of it this way: out of all the publicly traded companies, if the market keeps going down, many of them will struggle to pay off their debt, which has exploded to $75 trillion.

What this means is some companies will either go bankrupt, get bought out, or get bailed out by the government. Some may be able to cut costs enough to pay their bills, but for most, it will be too late.

Again, this just means less competition for you.

So when you see your competitors closing down or slowing down on their marketing, the goal is to double down. You may not see the biggest return right away, but in the long term, you will.

Every time the market goes down by 20% or more it roughly takes 536 days to recover.

As we recover, you’ll see your revenue climb and the ROI from your marketing spend go through the roof.

Conclusion

Hopefully, the Coronavirus passes soon and it has minimal impact on lives. For the time being, try not to socialise with others too much or go into crowded places.

You should read this article by the Washington Post as it breaks down great simulations of how the Coronavirus will spread and what we can do to reduce the impact on the world.

And as for your marketing, this is the time for you to double down. Don’t be fearful when others are also afraid. Do what Warren Buffett does… be greedy when other people are fearful.

How have you seen the Coronavirus affect your traffic?

PS: Please be safe and stay healthy.

Written by Clara