Right now, we are all aware of the tough times the world is experiencing—news of COVID-19’s spreading impact is all but unavoidable, and it has impacted just about every industry. Even in advertising, it has caused a number of trends to shift. During this time, we wanted to give you a few insights and ideas to help you better handle these shifts. The media buying process has become more uncertain as our demographics and customers are not responding to what we know works.

We have put together a list of trends and traffic performance we have seen in the last month.

Dayparting and Traffic changes

As more and more people stay home, we see a trend between weekends and weekdays that was not the norm a few months ago. Weekdays turn into weekends and our online presence does not diminish. Consider reviewing your weekend dayparting setting. You might be missing some valuable performance time due to the increase in weekend traffic.

We’ve also noticed interesting trends connected to dayparting in the morning. Since many people no longer have to commute, online traffic earlier in the day has increased. Check your dayparting settings and consider testing a few campaigns to start earlier in the day.

Creative Trends

As social distancing is our new norm, our desire to see other people naturally increases. We’ve always seen images with real people work well, but now this could not be more true, especially if the image is of an outdoor setting. Images of a single person doing an activity outdoors (rather than a group) have attracted a lot of attention.

While many of us have (and love!) pets, an interesting trend has emerged during these times. Images with animals have had less attraction—our guess is because we are spending more time with our pets.

How to approach your creative copy?

Fear is in everyone’s minds. During any kind of recession it affects our minds before our pockets. Stay away from instilling fear in your creative copy. Humor can be used casually but keep in mind to be authentic and relay helpfulness during these times.

Should I stop all my campaigns?

No. History shows marketers who keep spending during hard times come out stronger after. Do replace pre-planned campaigns and readjust as necessary to build a better connection. Create with the intent to project presence and be sure you are invested in how the content is worded and portrayed. The last thing you want is for thoughtless phrasing to turn off customers.

In performance marketing:

Stackline created a fantastic top 100 gaining and cleaning e-commerce categories. (click here)
According to their research, they are seeing an increase in beauty products that can be used at home, as well as kitchen gadgets such as bread machines, weight training equipment, chairs, and crafts kits.

We hope that you are staying safe and healthy during this time. Please reach out if you have any questions—as always, your Maximus team is here to help.

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