- COVID-19 changes how consumers shop (and search).
The inception of COVID-19 made it clear: in-person retail was about to take a hit. Google advertisers tracking in-store visits saw conversion volume drop by 90%, as e-commerce became more and more of a necessity for online businesses.
- TikTok & YouTube continue to grow amongst Zoomers.
The all-powerful Generation Z (affectionately known as Zoomers) is gaining steam in pop culture. In a world where YouTube influencers are picking fights (and getting them!) with Floyd Mayweather, YouTube has continued to prove itself a vital platform for advertisers to reach younger audiences. 2020 also saw the ascension of TikTok, which by August had already accrued more the 2 billion downloads, making it the world’s fastest growing social media platform.
- SEO becomes more important as a result of COVID-19.
SEO during COVID-19 took on a different level of importance. A ton of businesses saw big drops in discretionary spend, not to mention reduction of staff. “Free clicks” to be earned on the organic side of the search results, including local listings, became all the more important.
- COVID-19 changes the landscape of paid search.
As the pandemic began to develop, it quickly became clear that COVID-19 was drastically impacting Google Ads data and Google Ads benchmarks. Industries like Health & Medical, Finance, Business Management, Nonprofits, Beauty & Personal Care, and more all saw increased performance
- Lead ads, audience building, and creative testing became crucial strategies for social advertisers.
Just like paid search, paid social media, notably Facebook, also saw some change as a result of COVID-19
- Small businesses do the best they can to adapt to COVID-19.
2020 was an extremely tough year for small businesses. If you followed this blog, you saw a ton of content around this subject as we tried to guide small business owners and marketers through the extremely cutthroat challenge of marketing during a pandemic.
(adapted from Wordstream’s blog)
