{"id":36722,"date":"2021-09-30T10:03:50","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T02:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crazydomains.com\/learn\/?p=36649"},"modified":"2024-07-09T18:49:41","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T10:49:41","slug":"covid-19-impact-on-email-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crazydomains.co.nz\/learn\/covid-19-impact-on-email-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Impact of COVID-19 on Email Marketing and What to Expect Next\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Covid-19 is\u00a0causing\u00a0a tremendous\u00a0impact\u00a0on online marketing.\u00a0The pandemic has transformed\u00a0how we interact with one another, make purchasing decisions, and consume advertising.\u00a0These\u00a0seismic shifts in consumer behaviour\u00a0have accelerated trends already\u00a0on the rise pre-pandemic.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the past couple of decades, online marketing became a dominant strategy for modern businesses to reach their audience. It has come a long way since the turn of the millennium when it accounted for less than 2% of ad spending. In fact, 2020 became the inflexion point when <\/span>online advertising\u00a0overtook traditional media<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for the first time.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However,\u00a0most\u00a0companies\u00a0are feeling the financial cost of the pandemic,\u00a0especially\u00a0SMEs.\u00a0<\/span>Statis<\/span>tics<\/span><\/a>\u00a0show\u00a0that\u00a078% of SMEs in Australia\u00a0are reporting a decline in revenue,\u00a0and 72% are concerned about business survival.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With so much uncertainty,\u00a0businesses\u00a0find themselves\u00a0at a crossroads\u00a0trying\u00a0to determine the best approach\u00a0for\u00a0post-covid\u00a0operations.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many companies\u00a0are\u00a0cutting costs wherever they\u00a0can, and\u00a0marketing\u00a0is no exception.\u00a0With the\u00a0rapid\u00a0shift to online purchasing\u00a0and eCommerce accelerated by the pandemic, it makes sense for businesses to focus their\u00a0marketing\u00a0strategy online.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the best\u00a0tools\u00a0available for businesses looking to improve their online marketing is email.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How Covid Affected Email Marketing<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

With businesses\u00a0trying to maintain revenue and continue to engage with customers amid the pandemic,\u00a0the spike in the number of marketing emails sent is not surprising.\u00a0What\u00a0is surprising,\u00a0though,\u00a0is that even with the higher volume of marketing emails, engagement metrics\u00a0also increased.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Acoustic\u2019s Covid-19 Email Marketing Benchmark Report<\/span><\/b><\/a>, between February and May 2020,\u00a0there was an increase of almost 50% in\u00a0emails sent by consumer product companies.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Given such a dramatic rise,\u00a0it is\u00a0expected that\u00a0email marketing\u2019s\u00a0performance\u00a0will\u00a0diminish\u00a0as\u00a0inboxes become\u00a0swamped with incoming marketing material.\u00a0But engagement metrics were up in 2020 compared to previous years.\u00a0In Australia,\u00a0<\/span>open rates were 20.6%<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in 2020 compared to 18.7% in 2019, and the click rate increased from 2.8% to 3.1%.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Banner<\/a><\/p>\n

Understanding Consumer Behaviour During the Pandemic<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"Consumer<\/p>\n

The pandemic\u00a0has produced\u00a0the\u00a0most dramatic\u00a0shift in consumer\u00a0purchasing\u00a0habits.\u00a0With the\u00a0health risks of in-person activities, consumers\u00a0chose to\u00a0buy\u00a0everything\u00a0online from the safety of their homes.\u00a0Many people, particularly older,\u00a0less tech-savvy demographics, became first time online shoppers\u00a0during the pandemic.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Online purchasing and the ecommerce market was already on a high growth curve. The Covid-19 outbreak supercharged this\u00a0trend.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2020 there was an estimated\u00a0<\/span><\/b>13.9%\u00a0increase in\u00a0e-commerce payments<\/span><\/b><\/a>\u00a0in Australia, reaching $52.2 billion.\u00a0The Australian Bureau of Statistics stated online sales registered a\u00a0<\/span><\/b>55%\u00a0rise in December 2020<\/span><\/b><\/a>\u00a0compared to the same\u00a0period\u00a0in 2019.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And many\u00a0consider\u00a0the genie out of the bottle\u00a0now\u00a0with regard to online shopping.\u00a0While in-person purchasing is\u00a0seeing some\u00a0bounce\u00a0back, we will never get back to how things were\u00a0pre-pandemic.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Businesses need to double down on their online marketing efforts in this post-pandemic world,\u00a0and email is standing out as one of the best tools available.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How Email Marketing Impacts Buying Habits<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

Email marketing\u00a0impacts\u00a0buying habits in numerous ways, including:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n