Advertising: How to Behave during Self-isolation

By Viktoriia Dorofeieva

The pandemic has also reached marketing. Coronavirus and self-isolation have influenced consumer behavior and advertising perception. In order not to be among those who have left the market, companies are trying to adjust and run advertising at the appropriate level. New habits will remain with us even after leaving the self-isolation. And anti-crisis measures and ideas for promotion will be relevant for a long time. 

If you are interested in this topic, read about the impacts of Covid-19 that affect the Global Business Market or tips to guide your business through the Pandemic on our website.

What has changed in our behavior and how it affects the business

In April, analytical company Nielsen published a study on how the coronavirus has affected consumer behavior. Buyers have prepared for long-term quarantine, and long self-isolation has formed new habits. All the usual activities have moved to an online format.

But let’s explore together which aspects of our lives have changed so far!

Simple joys and services that give positive emotions are relevant

People have forgotten the impressions they got from going to bars, socializing in the office, and going out together. They are open to consuming this information, content, that would fill this need to communicate and share emotions.

For example, the virtual bar Stay The Fuck Home opened in March. The creators offered video conference rooms for 12 people or less. During this occasion, people connected with their companies, and those who were bored alone come to get acquainted.

We cook and eat more at home

There is an additional demand for services that help people diversify their meals. For example, food delivery.

In the first weeks of self-isolation, delivery aggregators grew rapidly – everyone closed at home and ordered sushi every day. Then it became clear that cooking by ourselves was much easier and cheaper.

Now food delivery is no longer on the top. Anyway, orders from large food chains are still growing and they cannot cope with the flow. This also has increased the demand for cooking tools – dishes, mixers, microwave ovens, among others.

A good move came up with clothing brands – ordering a mask with its design as a gift. For example, this is the Belarusian Adept store, which, thanks to this idea, ended up arising its customers’ engagement level.

More often we started to do physical training at home

To begin with, there has been an increased demand for services for online trainings. Many users has started to practice through IGTV and YouTube.

The business model is also changing. Before Coronavirus, the margin of fitness clubs depended on the sale of season tickets. The main expense was the rent of the premises. Now they are actively testing the model of earning online: donates, subscriptions to training.

Fitness centers compete with those who have already worked online. We have a lot to think about on the fly: communication with customers, the convenience of the site. These services know how to communicate with clients and involve them in the process.

How has Covid-19 affected the business’ attitudes

If a company shows empathy, it can create an emotional connection with its customers. Consulting company Edelman studied how to trust in companies changed during the pandemic. The study involved 12,000 respondents from Brazil, Canada, China, the US, and seven other countries.

Here’s what the study says: most people will give up buying at a company that only works for money. 37% of them are loyal to companies that have demonstrated that they care.

On self-isolation, customers are more likely to be online from different devices. It may be watching live broadcasts and educational webinars, working from home, training, communicating in social networks.

So, nowadays companies need to come to the forefront of their agendas and build communication properly. Therefore, if you have a business, you should provide the cost of displaying advertising for the client, UX on the site, communication in the installation account.

There are several strategies for running advertising that will help to take this into account and not merge the budget. For instance, collaboration with other companies, targeted advertising, integration into popular content.

Unite with other businesses

Let’s imagine, there’s a company that is engaged in international logistics and transports goods from Hamburg to Kyiv. The owner of the company can bring free goods for doctors. Or to attract a large company like “Delivery-club”. They will pay the cost of air travel, and the company will take over the operational work and organization.

For instance, Yevhen Chernyak, a manufacturer of the Khortytsa brand, has teamed up with thirty entrepreneurs in Ukraine. They provided the logistics of IVL devices and fabrics for masks. Yevhen came to Ukrspirt with a proposal to produce antiseptics free of charge. Moreover, he allocated several hundred liters of alcohol from his factory. This is the power of collaboration.

The concept of “Jobs to be done”

Jobs to be done is a list of questions and the correct analysis of their answers, which helps to test product and marketing hypotheses. The right interview point is to ask users the main question: what problem does your product solve?

The essence of the job to be done is that the user “hires” the product for some job. For example, he buys design courses to help him change careers.

It’s important to clarify with the client, especially during the crisis. The benefit of the product is now the same as it was before, or has it changed?

Questions for customer development is a checklist for a product study. It will help to test the product to be done and understand what your clients want. It’ll fit both brands and small companies.

The creativity that works the best

• Founder message. The speech of the founder must be based on the benefits. Let it talk about the product, what the company does, and how it solves the user’s problem.
• Buyer’s feedback. Ask the customer to record the feedback on the video, again with a link to the benefits. In advertising food delivery, for example, working creatively with zero cost production – an unpacking of the product.
• The more brands become parasitic on the subject of the pandemic, the angrier the users react. The Edelman study confirmed, that 42% of users find advertising that ignores new realities unacceptable – for example, using photos from parties.
• Celebrity advertising. Fewer and fewer users trust celebrities. Think twice before cooperating with celebrities. Because of the general degree of tension, the image of a successful person can be annoying.
• Advertise to bloggers who are now the most trusted – for example, on medical blogs. 78% of users believe that the trust of the audience can be won by a doctor or government agency connected with the healthcare industry.
• Viral creatives. Form a positive image of the brand to calm the needs of the audience, to show empathy. There’s no need to sell crack creatives hard now. So, call for empathy, do some quiet advertising.

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