How COVID-19 Has Changed the Design of Digital Ads

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people spend their time. It has created a moral obligation for people to protect one another by distancing themselves and spending more time at home instead of socializing. While the magnitude of the negative effect this pandemic has had on businesses across the globe is yet to measured, many companies were forced to shut down.

The businesses that managed to survive had to look for different ways to attract consumers. A few months into the pandemic, it was clear that major changes had to be made for companies to stay in business. Aside from enabling employees to work from home, most businesses started to change the concept and design of their digital ads. Read on to find out more about why and how the design of digital ads has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Consumer Interests Started Shifting

One of the most important things graphic designers should know in 2020 is that consumer interests have shifted over the course of the previous several months. Although this may sound scary, it doesn’t really change the job of the average digital marketer.

Remember that your goal is always to realize and understand the interests of your target audience and create ads that’ll speak to them. According to a study published in September 2020, the digital ad space hasn’t suffered a lot of overall damage this year. In fact, digital ad revenue went up by 4% this year.

Companies that stuck to the same old digital marketing formula that they’ve been using for years weren’t able to retain most of their customers. To achieve success during these changing times, digital marketers had to identify how consumer interests have shifted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. One thing that expert marketers realized at the start of the pandemic was that people were going to spend much more time at home.

If you take a look at most advertisements created prior to COVID-19, a lot of them are centered around social activities. Most beauty brands focused heavily on promoting their makeup lines, clothing companies showcased beautiful dresses and suits you could buy for special occasions, and numerous businesses that sell food and drinks showed groups of people sharing their products.

The novel coronavirus has reminded everyone how important health is. Most countries were not prepared to deal with an infectious disease of this type. The fact that this disease could easily spread and cause serious health problems made people scared and worried. Health and wellbeing has become more important than it used to be. That’s why companies who sell food and beverages started to focus on their healthy products. Digital ads started displaying foods and juices that were fortified with essential vitamins that can help prevent infection.

Similarly, beauty companies stopped putting a lot of money into marketing campaigns that promoted makeup products. Instead, they shifted their focus towards skin care. Retail businesses started promoting online shopping as the main way of purchasing goods because they realized this became the best way for them to connect with consumers.

Some industries had to get more inventive with their digital ads. For instance, the real estate industry shifted their focus towards virtual tours, as they couldn’t bring people directly into homes. One of the industries that benefited heavily from the pandemic in terms of revenue is entertainment. Since the majority of people practice social distancing at least to some extent, they’re spending more time at home. That’s why revenue from on-demand media has grown to unbelievable heights.

Have Long-Term Digital Advertising Strategies Changed?

The initial wave of infection and restrictions made by governments in most countries made business owners wonder how long this ‘new normal’ was going to last. At first, more than 40% believed that the pandemic wouldn’t last more than six months. The numbers have changed since and companies are now aware that it’s going to take much longer for everything to go back to the way it was.

Business owners, marketers, and graphic designers had a tough call to make during this time. They had to figure out whether they should change their short- or long-term marketing strategies. According to research published a few months ago, only 9% of businesses have changed their long-term campaigns. Around 61% have completely changed their short-term digital marketing strategies, while 30% still haven’t felt the need to alter anything.

As of right now, it’s very difficult to determine who is right. On one hand, changing long-term digital marketing campaigns and the design of digital ads is the right call to make if this pandemic lasts for a few more years. On the other hand, a vaccine might soon get approved and mass produced. If the general population is able to achieve immunity to the novel coronavirus through a vaccine, there will be nothing to stop them from going back to the way thing were.

The Budget for Digital Ads in the Post-Corona World

Apart from the danger it poses to the health of the general population, another area in which COVID-19 has caused immense damage is the global economy. Certain flaws of capitalism stood out when businesses started shutting down a few months after the first wave of infection. Apart from a few industries that thrived in the post-corona world, most experienced financial problems.

Bars and restaurants in particular took a huge hit, and a lot of them had to close permanently. While most bars are still waiting for the day when people can come in without masks or fear of contracting the coronavirus, restaurants were able to draw the long straw. Restaurant owners who realized that COVID-19 was a problem that wasn’t going to go away easily focused their efforts on changing the design of digital ads to focus on food delivery.

The battle for customers began as restaurants started promising prompt delivery in their digital advertising efforts. They started to design digital ads that would display weekly specials and discounts you get on family meals. What’s interesting about this whole ordeal is that it showed restaurant owners how affordable digital advertising is. Traditional ads were still very effective prior to the novel coronavirus pandemic, but cost several times more than digital advertisements.

If you take the cost of traditional marketing strategies out of the equation, you realize that you have a lot of money in your budget for digital ads. Even though it has been well known that digital marketing is cheaper than traditional for years, some realized how much they can save on marketing only after the pandemic hit. That’s why the budget for digital ads in the post-corona world has increased.

To attract consumers to make purchases during a time when they spend most of their time at home, businesses felt the need to change the design of their digital ads as often as possible. The average budget for digital marketing has increased significantly because it’s currently the only effective way to reach customers.

Ads That Promote Unity and Social Responsibility

Coca-Cola took a seven-month break from commercial advertising due to the novel coronavirus crisis. When they came back, they presented an amazing marketing effort that promoted unity and social responsibility. As you would expect from a company like Coca-Cola, their ad was groundbreaking and caused a huge shift in marketing.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a worldwide divide. The majority of people encouraged unity and social responsibility, while others were vocal about freedom and not living under rules set by governments. Instead of focusing on sales or mentioning the outstanding quality of their products, Coca-Cola came up with a simple message that was going to speak to every person that promotes unity.

In this difficult time, Coca-Cola realized what it had to do to stay at the top despite a global pandemic. It didn’t take long before major European and US-based brands started sharing similar ads with uplifting and positive messages. This has become a common theme in a lot of digital ads as well. Design is now more concerned with images of frontline workers and people standing together during a time of uncertainty.

Final Thoughts

It took merely a few months since the first recorded case of the novel coronavirus for the world to change. The new normal arrived and people quickly had to adapt. Similarly, companies needed to find a way to survive in a world where people were practicing social distancing and mostly staying at home.

The design of digital ads has changed to appeal towards current consumer interests. Most marketing experts suggest that businesses should change their short-term strategies. Only a fraction of companies chose to alter their long-term marketing campaigns. At the moment, it’s unclear whether you’d benefit more from changing your short- or long-term strategy because it’s hard to know how long the pandemic will last.

Author’s Bio:

Michael Gorman is a highly skilled freelance writer and marketing expert from the UK who currently works for an essay writer service.

He has been offering online assignment help to students across the globe for several years.

Some of his students consider him the best essay writer in the UK due to his in-depth knowledge in various subjects.

x