The COVID-19 outbreak has produced an immense impact on every industry universally. The Coronavirus pandemic has compelled many companies to shut down completely, and the possibility of reopening seems highly unlikely. Not knowing the likely behavior of the new virus, experts couldn’t seem to predict a pattern or analysis to determine the stand of the catastrophic situation.
The world can only learn the devastating impact the virus has on businesses once the lockdown restrictions are slowly withdrawn from every country. The social distancing, self-isolation, and quarantine procedures have transformed the once prospering industries into struggling and closing businesses.
So, this article will focus on how the pandemic has impacted the Pay Per Click (PPC) businesses in the good/worse possible ways.
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Pay Per Click businesses during COVID-19 outbreak
Digital marketing is the most effective business strategy for any organization to achieve the highest conversion rates quickly. The pandemic situation has turned successful marketing techniques into a feeble approach that prompts a predicted business loss.
The PPC services are one such effective marketing tool that got unusual mixed outcomes during the pandemic even though it had a stellar success rate. The strategy provides revenue to the company by improving user traffic on its website and targeting potential customers at the ideal time for conversion. However, the PPC businesses earned profits for some industries and considerable losses for others during the adverse COVID-19 situation.
COVID-19 impact on PPC businesses in various sectors
The main objective of PPC services is to help a company improve its business by clicking on online advertisements or unique keywords. The pandemic situation has created an entirely new consumer behavior that made it challenging to analyze and implement new marketing strategies.
For instance, a report stated a 21% decrease in conversion rates following three weeks since the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, digital spending will decrease by 33% in the coming months of the pandemic situation.
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Businesses struggled to find customers during the COVID-19 outbreak period, and many had paused the PPC campaign to save their budget. While some thought it was the best idea, stopping it had decreased the only chance for driving at least some customers to their businesses during the Coronavirus outbreak.
COVID-19 impact on various industries
The local grocery retailers were the only positively impacted businesses during the pandemic situation as people had to stock up supplies to cook their meals.
The minimally impacted industries during the Coronavirus outbreak are as follows:
- Medical
- Legal services
- Education
- Finance
- Fitness
- Auto Parts
- Auto Repair Shops
- Local Service Providers
- Local Contractors
- Information Technology
The negatively impacted industries during the Coronavirus epidemic are as follows:
- Travel and Tourism
- Automobile Sales and dealerships
- Local Retailers
- Car Rentals
- Building and Construction
- Manufacturing Industries
- Malls and Restaurants
- Sports
- Alternative Medicine
- Leisure & Recreation
The lockdown restrictions and social distancing have increased e-commerce and online stores at a colossal rate, the highest percentage comparatively more than ever. People started to order online for their everyday needs that eventually added up more traffic to many websites.
The sudden spike in online shopping has made top tech companies change their digital marketing strategies. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) had become an effective marketing strategy that subtly increased the conversion rates and user traffic of many business websites. Since then, many companies have started hiring SEO services to expand their customer base and improve business productivity.
For example, any company having its business website on the top 10 pages of any search engine has an average conversion rate of 24.48%. In addition to that, PPC conversion rates through organic activities get almost 94% clicks compared to paid activities.
Increased business performance during COVID-19 outbreak
The major sectors that benefited from the pandemic were online shopping, entertainment, news, education, official work (IT and IT-based), and other media. The virtual environment created a secure place for most industries when social distancing was the requisite solution in that current situation.
Media has become the only source of entertainment and awareness for most people, increasing the need for specialized ads during commercials. Digital streaming subscriptions like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hotstar had a massive rise in that period as people had no other means of entertainment in their homes.
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The companies that invented the teleconferencing applications like Zoom, Meet, and Teams had gained substantial profits during the pandemic.
Negatively impacted businesses during the pandemic situation
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the worst-hit sectors include travel and tourism, local retailers, restaurants, shopping malls, constructions, and many others. The Government’s strict restrictions and social distancing instructions had significantly reduced travel, eating restaurant food, and user traffic in business websites.
The tourism sector is the worst-hit industry since many other industries like Airlines, transportation (cabs, car rentals), and hotels also depended on it. The COVID-19 restrictions made it difficult to improve the travel industry as people were restricted to only limited movements (primarily for medical and family emergencies).
Wrapping Up
The current situation has decreased the digital marketing strategies of the PPC businesses, but managing the PPC campaigning budget might prove helpful in the long run. Many companies have cut costs on their advertisements due to the dropping return investment, but it might further worsen the current business sales and traffic.
Constant engagement with your customers, professional SEO services, and offering a helping hand during crises might become the game-changer in the current situation to promote your business effectively.