How 2020 has changed Digital Marketing
2020 and the emergence of COVID-19 has altered the way we all live and work, including the world of Digital Marketing. While the pandemic’s full impact is still to be determined, its effects on Digital Marketing has been profound as people increasingly go online to meet their day-to-day needs. From SEO to the way businesses interact with consumers, the script is being rewritten for better and for worse. The way we interact with each other has significantly changed, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that companies also need to change how they interact with customers. From giving back to the community by offering free services to putting a positive emphasis on marketing messaging, most businesses have had to shift their digital strategy in order to adjust to this new world order. For many companies who hadn’t already gone online, 2020 was the ‘point of no return’. With customers spending more time online than ever and looking for information and safer ways to shop, online is now a ‘must have’ even for services industries. 2020 has profoundly changed online consumer behaviour. For lunch or dinner options, instead of searching for restaurants closest to our locations, we are searching for delivery options. We are more online than ever before. Online appointments are now the norm for many businesses. Online meetings and Zoom calls are on the rise while face-to-face interactions are on the decline due to the COVID-19 crisis. Consumers are hopping on websites and communicating through brand’s social media platforms more than ever. Digital marketing is one of the best and most cost-effective ways for businesses to reach their target audiences. New behavioral practices like social distancing are accelerating consumers’ use of e-commerce options, forcing traditional marketing to take a backseat. As interpersonal communication declines, businesses are becoming more reliant on digital tools and other accessories to accomplish their goals, I.e., Facebook Messenger, live chat on websites, text message marketing, etc. Brands investing in SEO may have initially seen a decline in revenue when the pandemic began but now may be seeing a rise. 2020 has been a challenging year for most businesses, and marketers have had to put their thinking caps on and adapt quicker than ever. The good news however is that many of these changes, are likely to be with us for the foreseeable future, and in a way this has been a year of accelerated learning and finally executing those plans many have been talking about, but just haven’t had the urgency to follow through on. What will 2021 hold? Only time will tell. The Publisher Management Team
Surviving the Covid-19 crisis as an affiliate
There might be those who believe affiliate publishers are largely unaffected by the Carona virus pandemic. They couldn’t be more wrong. Although we operate in an online space, when the worldwide economy is in a downturn due to a global crisis, everyone gets affected. But there is proof that some verticals (like travel) are being hit harder than others (like gaming). So how can you as an affiliate, adapt and survive during this stressful time, and what are the big do’s and don’t’s you need to be aware of? The answer may be exactly that: adapt & survive. The virus outbreak hinders many brick-and-mortar businesses, products or services often promoted with the help of the affiliate marketing industry. This in turn leads to a lower demand for online purchases, a cut in advertising budgets, lower interest from customers, and a general decrease of business opportunities for affiliates. But it’s not all bad news. With millions of people forced into quarantine, self-isolation, and working from home they will be looking for ways to keep themselves entertained. This can in turn lead to a rise in demand for entertainment traffic in verticals like streaming, gaming, and dating i.e. new business opportunities for affiliate advertisers and publishers alike. You may also be wondering whether it will now be more expensive to run affiliate ad campaigns now? Whenever there’s a world crisis, no industry remains stable. An unstable industry means unstable pricing. But in the case of affiliate advertising, this may, again, open up new possibilities. For instance, Google Ads pricing has dropped by roughly 25% in the last week due to the pressure on so many industries, especially travel. Overall there are much fewer offers out now in ‘old’ verticals, while we will see more offers emerge for new, trending verticals. The payout for new or existing offers are expected to be lower than usual, but at least it’ll have a chance to convert. At least for a while traffic may become cheaper. But it’s still early days so we’ll need to see. Now, however, is definitely the time to explore new ‘work from home’ verticals. These include Surveys & Sweeps, Lead Generation, Education/Personal development, Hobbies & Interests, Nutra & Healthcare. Mobile devices verticals include: App Smartlink, Utility & VPN, Antivirus, Games. Adult content verticals include: Smartlinks, Cams/Tube sites, Games Push traffic (as users engage with news an are staying alert), pop and domain-redirect traffic (entertainment traffic), and native in-app advertising should also do the trick with people turning to their phones for all kinds of e-commerce related purchases. It is also important for advertisers and publishers alike to update themselves with the latest campaign guidelines for affiliate advertising in times of coronavirus. For example NO Coronavirus related angles are allowed in advertising, which includes the use of terminology like Covid-19, Corona or Covid. This applies across the board to landing pages, icons, images ad descriptions etc. Fake news and deceptive content is also a BIG NO and could have legal implications. This also applies to fake endorsements of products. However advertisers and publishers ARE allowed to promote medical products during the Corona pandemic, as long as the ad is not irresponsible or exploit people’s fears regarding the outbreak. Campaigns without the Coronavirus related angle, but promoting self-protection products are also allowed (like gloves, masks, hand sanitizer), as long as there’s no mention of the pandemic. There is no doubt that these are strange and challenging times, but our industry is an amazingly resilient and adaptable one. Let’s use this opportunity to take on a new challenge, and who knows, you may come out the other side even stronger. Onwards and upwards! The Publisher Team
Interview with Kate Kuilman, freelance paid media specialist
This month we chat to Kate Kuilman, Vega Brand school graduate and freelance paid media specialist. Expert in Google Ads (Search & Display), YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter advertising, Kate uses her specialist knowledge to help a range of clients, including Ole!Connect, Hoorah Digital and Names & Faces to reach new users and increase their e-commerce performance. Describe yourself in 3 words Kind, analytical and ambitious When I was little I wanted to be a… I could never decide on one thing I wanted to do that was able to combine the creativity I craved (despite my complete lack of technical artistic skill) and the analytics I naturally leaned towards. But when the adults would ask, “a vet” seemed to be the most easily accepted response. What exactly does a freelance paid media specialist do? As a paid media specialist I help brands get their creatives and messaging in front of their target market. Depending on the KPIs set by the client we work together to optimise the targeting, messaging and overall consumer journey to help boost awareness/leads/sales/revenue. What do you love most about your job? I love the certainty and accuracy in which we can attribute the spend used on advertising to overall performance. Being able to understand the impact the ads have had and report back exact numbers to clients that help understand how users are engaging with their content is always rewarding. How do you stay on top of all the changes and developments in the PPC landscape? I am lucky to have clients that span industries, business sizes and KPIs. Working in different spaces and objectives means naturally staying on top of what is happening to ensure the accounts are performing at their best. Having strong relationships with my clients also means a lot of time is put discussing strategies and learnings from each other that help increase everyone’s knowledge. What are the longer term challenges facing e-commerce in South Africa? The long-term challenges facing e-commerce in South Africa are tricky to predict. South Africans are the 3rd most discount obsessed shoppers in the world, and the constraints of our economy mean that shoppers are becoming more selective of where their money is spent. Going online means they are able to compare prices and discounts far more easily. While we are still lagging behind other developed nations in regard to our e-commerce penetration, we are catching up fast. Last year’s Black Friday saw South Africa record one of the biggest percentage growth in Black Friday specials and sales internationally. As a country, South Africa faces multiple challenges when it comes to the growth of e-commerce. Historically the biggest obstacles have generally been high prices, poor quality and access of internet services, and the reliability and cost of product delivery. In addition, South African users are also concerned with online fraud and the security of their transactions. Continuing to address and improve upon these issues will be the main challenge. We are seeing online retailers offer more payment options to help cater for users with varying access to financial resources; and delivery times and accuracy are improving as technology develops. There has also been an increase in online discounts and sales, especially from the bigger retailers that have the resources to offer discounts on some of their products. Ultimately, retailers wishing to take advantage of the e-commerce boom will need to figure out how to overcome these hurdles at scale. What makes a good PPC marketer? There is no one thing. Everyone has their own way of structuring accounts and targeting users. Each channel has their own best practices, but depending on what the client is looking for will depending on the set strategy that a PPC marketer will use. Ultimately, being able to understand the users you are trying to talk to and how they behave online will be the most important aspect. Deciding how to use which channel, device or messaging and which stage in the consumer journey will help boost the overall digital strategy and results. I absolutely despise… Being late. I will be annoyingly early to every meeting. My favourite TV show is… Friends My favourite tech gadget is… Besides my iPhone? My Fossil Hybrid Smartwatch 🙂 When I’m not working, I’m… Planning my next trip or meeting up with friends for a glass of wine
Two sides
There is a famous quote by American comedian, Daniel Tosh that goes: “No matter how flat you make your pancakes, they still have two sides”. This does indeed seem to be the case for the South African retail industry at the moment- if you believe the latest reports from experts and research houses. While the brick-and-mortar retail industry is predicted to basically show 0% growth in 2020, the e-commerce industry is expected to continue to grow at a a healthy rate. So, does this mean South Africans are finally catching on to the online shopping trend? Perhaps. It is generally believed that the busier your shopping malls are, the healthier your economy. This is probably true to some extent, but let’s not forget that many South Africans are heavily indebted, so while the malls may be filled with shoppers, it doesn’t necessarily spell good news for the economy. The growth in e-commerce is likely to be a result of shoppers moving their budgets from malls to online, as many buyers use the internet to search for discounts and deals – which will be even more apparent when the economy is slow. Personally I’m excited about 2020. When the economy is tough it forces digital marketers to be more focused and deliver tangible results for each Rand spent – which is after all AdMarula’s core strength. It is seldom that a client will actually cut a budget. In most cases it’s a matter of moving it around to find the channel mix that works best for their business or product. Our on-site remarketing and mobile traffic optimitsation products have been in high demand due to its transparent an performance-based nature, and I believe this trend will continue in the coming months. On a different note, we are currently looking for a Digital Account Manager and an SEO Marketing expert to join our team. If you think you fit either of those roles, feel free to send us your CV and a brief cover letter to careers@admarula.com. We’d love to hear from you. Onwards and upwards! Daniel Gross – CEO
Merchants, Publishers: Are you ready?
With exactly four weeks to Christmas Eve, the end of another year is in sight, and most South Africans will be getting ready to take their annual holiday and get their gift shopping sorted. For some retailers, the holiday season can represent as much as 30 percent of annual sales with hobby, toy and game stores reporting the highest percentage. However, with the current dip in our economy, customers will be more selective than ever about where they spend their hard earned cash. Here are a few tips for optimising your site to attract more eyeballs this festive season. Beyond ensuring fast, efficient website performance, there are a few other things you should keep in mind when prepping your e-commerce website for increased holiday traffic. Display, display, display – Physical retail stores often set up special holiday displays during the shopping season. You can take a similar approach to your website. Dress up your digital channel just like you do your brick and mortar. But this doesn’t necessarily mean adding Christmas trees and flashing lights to your homepage. Update your content to be more upbeat, and tie offers of your products to festive dates like Christmas, New Years, Black Friday etc. and highlight why this product or offer will delight the customer. Check your site speed – Large photos and interactive elements could slow your site down significantly, meaning all your effort to make a gorgeous website could get wasted because the page doesn’t load in time for the consumer. Make sure your Web hosting solution has the necessary bandwidth and speed to support higher holiday traffic. Customer support – Holiday shoppers want a positive customer experience, so make your contact details easy to find on all pages of your website in case customers have questions about their orders. You may even want to consider adding temporary help to answer the additional calls, if you think you will need it. Security – With the increase in online activity, hackers are sitting ready to make the most of this opportunity. Educate your time on recognising cyber attacks and ensure you have a solution in place to deal with such an attack, should it occur. Make them laugh – the use of humor is a good way to stand out during a very competitive shopping season. JibJab allows visitors to personalize hilarious videos and send them to friends and family. Special offers & discounts – Make sure that your holiday offers are featured prominently on your home page and post post your special offers to your top social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Email marketing – It’s easy to get caught up in making sure your website is perfectly festive. However, remember that many customers won’t see it — unless you email them with a link and a good reason to return to your homepage. After all, your subscribers opted into your email list for a reason. Give back – remember that although your thoughts will be on the bottom line, this is the season of giving so give back to your customers. For instance, you could make a donation to a charitable organization or sponsor a company-wide day of service. Hope you find these ideas useful, and remember the AdMarula Team is here to assist if you get stuck. Happy selling! The Publisher Team.
