(Newswire.net — April 9, 2020) — COVID-19 has revolutionized life for those in countries where the disease continues to rage. In the U.S., almost everyone has been driven indoors, away from social gatherings of any kind — and that is radically changing how people use the web.
Because businesses need to rely on digital marketing to see themselves through this crisis, it is imperative that they understand how people are using the internet now and for the foreseeable future. Here are a few major changes to internet behavior that could help businesses survive and thrive.
Remote Connections
Some businesses have been forced to shutter for the duration of shelter-in-place orders — but many more have been driven online, with employees working remotely from home. Students, too, are turning to elearning to connect with teachers and stay on track with mandatory curricula. As a result, a sizable proportion of the American population spends hours every day using tools for online collaboration — tools like Zoom and Slack.
Yet, it isn’t just workers and students taking advantage of these services. Consumers, too, are spending a sizable amount of time using a variety of group and video chat tools as well as social media. Before COVID-19 drove everyone inside, chat tools were relatively obscure and reserved for special circumstances, like remote workers and long-distance relationships. Today, everyone is seeking to maintain connections to those they can no longer see or touch.
Not all businesses can develop remote working, learning or social tools to capitalize on this trend. However, businesses should consider trying to connect with their audiences face-to-face, using live video on social media or through Zoom and Google Hangouts. This type of content feels more personal and meaningful in a world where human contact is so rare.
Search
It should hardly be surprising that an unprecedented event like a global pandemic has dominated people’s thoughts and search patterns. For weeks, searches related to the new coronavirus have surged, overtaking all other searches about news, politics, weather, shopping and even adult content. Generally, searches about COVID-19 spike in the early morning and late at night, when people are most in their thoughts about the disease.
In an attempt to ensure these searchers find accurate information, Google has banned all ads appearing to capitalize on the virus and disease (besides those from WHO and CDC). Thus, businesses should not try to link their organization with COVID-19 in any way, especially to spread fake news about treatments or cures, as doing so will likely result in ranking penalties and worse. Working with a link building company can help businesses generate accurate content that addresses concerns without resulting in harmful Google actions.
However, an uptick in concern over the pandemic isn’t the only recent change to search habits. Incipient trends seem to indicate that consumers are staying up much later than they did before shelter-in-place orders went into effect, and they are much more active online after midnight. It might be worthwhile for businesses to reconsider their ad scheduling to better connect with audiences who are up late.
News Websites
As consumers desperately search for information on the evolving pandemic, they are engaging more and more with news websites like Newswire.net — but not necessarily the ones they might have turned to in the past. More people are seeking out local news to learn how the disease is affecting their surrounding community. This is surprising and advantageous for local news sources, which have struggled with declining audiences in recent years.
This close consumer attention on local news paired with campaigns to support local businesses could be significant boons. Businesses should take this time to focus on local SEO and perhaps reach out to local news agencies for coverage during these trying times.
Additionally, people are rapidly turning away from recognizable partisan news sites, like Fox News, the Daily Caller and Truthdig. Because COVID-19 is a threat to everyone, regardless of their political leanings, the desire for accuracy as opposed to opinion might be driving this shift in engagement. Above all, respected health news outlets, like the CDC homepage and the Johns Hopkins Resource Center, are seeing the greatest spike in attention.
Even when times are good, businesses should avoid taking a political stance — and now, when people need unity more than ever, businesses should resist the urge to produce partisan content. By remaining sensitive and focusing on accuracy, businesses can grow their audiences and reap the rewards.
The goal of sheltering in place is to reduce the number of coronavirus infections and reduce the toll on hospitals and health care centers — and the longer people are forced into quarantine, the more likely their internet habits are to change. Businesses need to stay abreast of these changes and flexible in their digital marketing strategies to outlast the pandemic.