How Coronavirus Is Impacting Ecommerce: The Good and Bad

[00:00:00] Host: [00:00:00]
This is the digital marketing fast lane. This podcast will show you how to build,
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[00:00:21] Coming to you from the online marketing experts at media. Here’s your
host, Kevin. Your roots. Yeah.

[00:00:31] Kevin: [00:00:31]
Hey everybody, welcome to today’s episode. We have a special attack. Today
we’re going to be talking about the Corona virus that’s affecting everybody
from just not just e-commerce, but. Kind of everybody in general and sort of as
a population of humans, and I’m also here with Eric .
Hey Eric, how are you doing?

[00:00:47] Eric: [00:00:47]
Good.

[00:00:47] Kevin: [00:00:47]
How are you? Good. We’re working from home the past

[00:00:50] Eric: [00:00:50]
two weeks, right? Judging each other’s own backdrop office,

[00:00:54] Kevin: [00:00:54]
but yeah, I think. We are. We’re also feeling the impact here. Like obviously
we’re all working from home. We’re all based out of [00:01:00] New York city,
so we’re sort of kind of a little lockdown. I just got announced today
actually, which is today is March 20th yeah,

[00:01:07] Eric: [00:01:07]
yeah.

[00:01:07] By the time you’re hearing this, so it could be
another time and you know, that’s an eternity in such a fast
developing situation. But

[00:01:13] Kevin: [00:01:13]
this week I had homeless felt so long.

[00:01:16] Eric: [00:01:16]
Yeah. It is such a long week home, especially with so much uncertainty day to
day. And then that’s something we want to talk about with the Corona virus, how
it’s affecting digital, uh, e-commerce, direct to consumer direct response to
marketing.

[00:01:30] So the number one metric that we’re keeping an
eye on right now is conversion rate. People are online a lot. Screen time is
really, really high. But with the economic uncertainty happening, conversion
rates, though, people aren’t buying as much. So a lot
of opportunities, psoriasis in that situation. But a lot of.

[00:01:49] Problems arise as well. Um, mostly problems right
now. But yeah, there are opportunities. Kevin, you have any points that you
want to address before I’ve gone to some of the opportunities and threats?

[00:02:00] [00:01:59] Kevin: [00:01:59]
I think for me with the coronavirus yeah, it’s sort of something like this.
What’s happening is as a business owner, obviously I think a lot of business
owners are sort of scared, and I mean us too, as a company because.

[00:02:11] We also have other eCommerce businesses, not just
media and, and those sort of businesses were, we’re
also thinking about how’s your supply chain is going to be affected? What
products can we come out for next year? Obviously we
have like KPIs and goals, but obviously now every business is sort of, you
know, kind of every metric that they probably had planned is sort of out the
window.

[00:02:31] So I think as a business owner. You wouldn’t need
to think about it. It’s like you just need to adapt. This is just the name of
the game. It’s like you just need to adapt and sort of tell your employees
what’s going on. That way they know that you know you’re doing everything you
can to sort of figure out what’s the next best step and really at the time
right now to really sort of see what channels you have internally and external
that can really help your, at least say, stay afloat.

[00:02:53] Obviously. Eric, you’re saying you’re, you know,
a lot of restaurant workers, and I do too. That just going to let [00:03:00] go
because it’s just

[00:03:00] Eric: [00:03:00]
too hard. Yeah. Restaurants are closing with no sign of a, yeah. Opening. So
yeah, that’s one industry that’s affected.

[00:03:09] Kevin: [00:03:09]
But yeah, I think like as a business owner and sort of anything that we’re
doing, we’re just thinking about.

[00:03:15] How do we stand at float? Not in a bad way, but
more like less cause preserve cash. Cause we don’t want, we want to obviously
just stay in business of course. And you know, when it’s over, it’s gonna be great again. But obviously we know that the longterm economic impact is going to be not just for the
next six months, going to be for at least a year.

[00:03:31] No. So,

[00:03:32] Eric: [00:03:32]
yeah. Yeah. It’s a huge impact. There are longterm, a
lot of businesses, longterm vacations,

[00:03:37] Kevin: [00:03:37]
but yeah, even then, but something like this. There’s still some great
opportunity for certain niches and certain brands,

[00:03:44] Eric: [00:03:44]
um,

[00:03:44] Kevin: [00:03:44]
that even we’re working with right now that obviously would want to take it.
It’s not taking advantage, but in situation, we know that people are home.

[00:03:50] We know that they’re looking for things to do. So I think it makes sense for you as a brand to really use
this time to, you know, leverage assets that you already have, for [00:04:00]
example. Yeah. Zoom, which is one of the most popular, like whatever video
conferencing startups, they’re seeing their stock increase by a lot because
everybody all of a sudden is discovering zoom, right?

[00:04:10] So it’s honestly one of those things where it’s
like you don’t want to take advantage, but if you can provide that the servers
or the resources for people to get things done, then why not? I think it’s a
disservice if you’re not showing people, Hey, our service can help you do this.
Another great one is Peloton, right?

[00:04:27] Peloton. A great thing against them was, Oh,
who’s going to work out at home? Like there’s gyms, but now like think about
it. Everybody’s working at her home. Like, I mean, Eric, you see a little time
like all your friends are posting all these random workout videos now.

[00:04:39] Eric: [00:04:39]
I workout at home all the time. I’m sure.

[00:04:41] You know. Yeah. It’s just,

[00:04:44] Kevin: [00:04:44]
yeah. I think this goes back into the bigger picture that Eric said. There’s so
much opportunity and like, obviously you want to do it in a tasteful way, but
yeah. This for sometimes for a startup, this is the break that you might need,
right? It sucks, but.

[00:04:55] Eric: [00:04:55]
Yeah, it’s, there is opportunity though, and there’s a lot of uncertainty.

[00:04:59] Um, everyone’s [00:05:00] mind is on one thing
for like the first time in human history, Novell ROV con tweeted for the first
time in human history, everyone’s focus focusing on one solution to one to the
same problem. And. You know, that’s very important to note. And you can use
that in a lot of different ways as a business.

[00:05:15] You can use it to your advantage and you know,
that’s important. So what are some other industries
that we see? So anything in the parenting age we see,
uh, because you know, kids are home from school. Now there’s opportunity there.
Uh, we have several brands in the parenting niche. Um, now of course it’s a little
chaotic.

[00:05:32] So there’s a lot of, yeah, the tone you should
take is supportive and you want, we’re there for you. Oh, that kind of stuff.
So that’s definitely a niche that, you know, it has some opportunity. The pet
niche people are at home with their pets a lot more. And yeah, the pet niche we
see also helping pet pet furniture.

[00:05:50] No people around their pets more. Um, yeah, the F
at home fitness, there’s a lot. The delivery one is a huge one. Uh, delivery
apps, delivery services, these are huge. [00:06:00] Oh yeah. There are a lot
of, you know, as you can imagine, a lot of these niches, they have
opportunities now, but even if you’re just a regular brand, let’s say you’re
directly affected, your conversion rate is down.

[00:06:10] You don’t know what to do. One thing that I’ve
been talking to a lot of brands about, a lot of clients, even internally, we’ve
been thinking. With screen time being at an all time high engagement is still there, even though
conversions aren’t there. So people are looking at
your website, even they’re on social media and engaging with your posts.

[00:06:28] Uh, any kind of community or email you have, it’s
kind of free mediums where people can engage with your brand. These are very
important right now. Okay. So if you can leverage
those when the conversion rates go back up and people are ready to buy. You
have a really warm audience. People with really good community building are
thriving right now because they don’t have to do as much marketing.

[00:06:49] They’re so top of mind in their community right
now. So if someone is going to make a purchase that’s
a non-essential or something, they’re thinking about a brand that they’re most
comfortable and familiar with. So that’s why the [00:07:00] community building,
the retention email list, those are so important. And that’s something we’re
seeing.

[00:07:05] We’re telling a lot of brands to do that if
you’re doing paid traffic list, building ads can be huge right now.

[00:07:11] Kevin: [00:07:11]
Yeah. I think what you’re saying makes sense because right now is a great time
to just sort of tell people about your brand. And of course
this seems to make sense because you know, you need to have enough cash flow to
sort of maintain these sort of brand awareness ads or people that might not.

[00:07:27] Bye yet. So of course
it’s always a balance, like anything. Yeah. But right now, everybody’s on their
phone right now. Everybody’s just at home trying to look for things to do, and
it’s a great time if your brand right now that you can make something that’s in
this sort of stay at home or be at home sort of.

[00:07:45] Mindset, right? It could be a fitness brands. Of course, the fitness brands we’re doing right now
are just killing it with, they’re doing so many home workout videos. They’re
doing so many home PDF videos like we are that one brand, Eric, that you know,
that’s getting thousands of downloads for their PDF guide because of the whole
fitness.

[00:08:00] [00:07:59] So absolutely.

[00:08:01] Eric: [00:08:01]
Yeah, I know exactly the one you’re talking about and yeah, that’s a huge one
as well. We saw the cost per download is really, really good there. So that’s
something we’re thinking, all right, let’s segment that audience. Cause you
know, they might be warmer for another offer later as these things clear this
up.

[00:08:16] And that’s really good. These lead magnets, free
lead magnets can be awesome here. Getting a lot of people. You got some doctrinated with your brand. Exactly. Value adding lead
magnet

[00:08:25] Kevin: [00:08:25]
and exactly. It’s, and that’s also, it goes back to that Goodwill. It’s like,
you know, it’s a Goodwill. It’s like, Hey, they’re trying to help me out while
I’m gonna start a meet.

[00:08:31] Eventually they’re going to need something from
you. It’s like, it’s just brand building one Oh one people sometimes think
about it as like, Oh my God, I’m tricking somebody,
but this is what every brand does to you. Like Nike. Think about how many just
random commercials they give you about, you know, just do it.

[00:08:45] That is literally like them branding to you and
then eventually like, Oh yeah, Nike does promote me
going outside and doing it. Yeah.

[00:08:52] Eric: [00:08:52]
Facebook group. Like I’m in a few groups. I got into the running, I guess hobby
right before this whole work from home thing happened. So
kind of bad timing, [00:09:00] but uh, yeah. And a couple of these runner
groups, a lot of people are talking about, you know, I think one of them is run
by an actual brand and that brand, I guess they sell running.

[00:09:10] You’re choosing stuff, you know, I wouldn’t
really shop there immediately, but I’m on their group a lot and their group is
providing a lot of valuable information cause they’re a leader in the niche.
You’re providing valuable information, what to do if you’re at home. They’re
kind of controlling the story.

[00:09:24] That’s a way to add value because everyone’s mind
is on one thing. You know what they’re thinking about. So
it’s a really good time. You could argue it’s easier than ever to create an a relationship and build a community because you know
what everyone’s thinking about right now. It’s going to be a relevant piece of
content to put out.

[00:09:39] Kevin: [00:09:39]
Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying. It’s like you can make this content
really relevant to you and tier brand and sort of see how can this help people.
I think the key term is how can you really help somebody or help people in
need. So now if you’re doing that, you know you need to. Build your traditional
sort of marketing channels or official branding.

[00:09:57] You don’t want to be building a brand that’s
going to be scamming or [00:10:00] tricking people. It’s how we were saying you
want to. User. I think that’s relevant in a way that makes sense for yourself
as a brand owner, that ethos that you have, your sort of your voice, and then
how, how can it help other

[00:10:11] Eric: [00:10:11]
people?

[00:10:12] Yeah, absolutely. Another scenario is, let’s say
you have a, it’s becomes clear when things will be back to normal. Let’s say
it’s April 21st or whatever, April 7th or whatever it is. You know it just for
an example, or May 1st even some of the brands that. I’m wondering, I think
launching a prelaunch, uh, email list building campaign could be the move and
you do some kind of grand reopening sale.

[00:10:36] That’s another thing. Brands are asking, should I
do a big promotion right now? Should I do it when things, you know, should I do
it later? When you see conversion rates going up to them, I would say.
Definitely some kind of list building campaign, prelaunch list building
campaign, and get people on an early bird email list.

[00:10:51] That’s something you could do on Facebook ads.
Get some paid traffic to build that email list and build a lot of hype, big
retargeting list for when you do return. It’s a [00:11:00] similar logic. Two,
building a community and engaging a lot right now, and then you have a big
warmer retargeting audience when you are ready to sell.

[00:11:08] That’s pretty much the logic, but from a paid
traffic standpoint, how would that would look at an actual Facebook ad
campaign. So that’s something we’re recommending a lot of brands. That’s even
something you can do right now. Let’s say your operations have come to a halt
because your supply chain is in shambles.

[00:11:22] That’s something you can still do. All this
engagement, these list building campaigns with paid traffic, these are things
you can do even if you’re not even operational as a business. And that’s
something I recommend a lot of brands think about.

[00:11:35] Kevin: [00:11:35]
Yep. And then another thing where these businesses too is to think about is.

[00:11:42] Is you could really see which products or
services that you have are essential for people, and then that really shows you
that this is something that people are always in need or want, no matter what
time of the appeared it is, and that can really help you figure out what your
product catalog could be for, for your brand.

[00:11:56] Right.

[00:11:57] Eric: [00:11:57]
Yeah. That’s interesting. [00:12:00] It’s good stuff.

[00:12:01] Kevin: [00:12:01]
What other thoughts do you have on the Corona and turn for brands, Eric?

[00:12:05] Eric: [00:12:05]
Oh, another huge thing I should mention. Let’s say you’re still running paid
traffic right now. And click through. Rates are down, your conversion rates are
down. Everything’s rough right now.

[00:12:14] We see a lot where click through rates aren’t
exactly taking a hit as much, but conversion rate is the main metric that’s
getting crushed. So there’s still traffic. I would
keep an eye on what we call delayed attribution, and that’s something we, you
can put a whole podcast on what that is, but basically delayed attribution is
when someone takes more than.

[00:12:32] One day to make a purchase on your ad account. So let’s say it’s, it’s March 19th I click an ad today, but
I don’t want to buy it, but I buy it on March 25th Facebook will attribute that
conversion. To actually the March 19th and ads manager, and you can set up your
columns in a way. If you want to email [email protected] I can send you a
screenshot of our delayed attribution columns and you can check one day click
attribution [00:13:00] versus.

[00:13:00] The 28 day click attribution, I would keep an eye
on that because as well, there’s a lot of people window shopping, but not ready
to buy. Now. The ads, they’re clicking. If they do buy, they’re going to be
attributed later. So it’s important to check delayed
attribution, especially now because you might be making decisions on, okay, in
middle of March or the end of March, things were really bad.

[00:13:21] The results on my ad spenders
bed, so I’m going to, I need to make a. You’re using how you felt at this time
to make decisions a little later, but maybe check your delay that confusion and
realize, Hey, those people actually are starting to convert. Maybe the ad spend
wasn’t so bad. We had a better return.

[00:13:37] So that’s just something to keep in mind. You
could see some with a lot of delayed attribution in the coming weeks as people
go from window shopping to actually converting.

[00:13:46] Kevin: [00:13:46]
Yeah. And another thing too, with this thing happening is it’s a great time for
our business to sort of figure out what other channels can really work for
them.

[00:13:54] No Facebook, and obviously paid is not the only
channel. You know, there’s so many different things out there. SEO, [00:14:00]
influencer outreach, community building, which is what you said, there’s so
many different ways for you to think about your business and especially if
you’re seeing, you know, just paid, not working.

[00:14:09] But like I said, for some brands, paid is working
really well and we’re scaling some of those campaigns up even higher than
before. It’s sort of a grizzly agree opportunity to see what else you can do
out do for your business because there’s so many ways to grow a business and a
time like this really shows Millie makes you creative, I think.

[00:14:26] Yeah, it can really, you have less staff, you
have less people. How can you squeeze every dollar every, you know. Depending on every dollar. So
it’s a great way to think about different strategies and that sort of like,
we’ve been having a lot of these calls, the brands, I’m like literally, Hey
guys, what else can we do besides, Hey dad, we had one today with at a big
brand and even a company with 200 people, they’re still thinking about it
because you know it just a time like this.

[00:14:50] You just need to, the thinking out of the box.

[00:14:54] Eric: [00:14:54]
Yeah, absolutely. And if you’re listening to this later on, and maybe it’s situations changing, it’s a [00:15:00] constantly
developing situation. Our Facebook group has been really active lately just
because there is so much uncertainty. It’s called Facebook ads, explosive growth.

[00:15:08] When you can find, I think you find it on the
void media.com website. There’s some links to it there, but if you want to stay
up to date in real time and now things are developing, um, separate from
however. Well, this podcast ages. Yeah, that’s definitely a great place to go
for more updates. Cause you know, we’re constantly talking about that in a
group.

[00:15:26] Kevin: [00:15:26]
Yeah, I would say, yeah. I mean that’s sort of all we have for now with TBA
Corona. I think there’s so much different things that’s going to be happening,
but I think that’s all we have for today.

[00:15:35] Eric: [00:15:35]
Yeah. And stay safe out there.

[00:15:37] Kevin: [00:15:37]
Well, if anything comes up, we’ll, we’ll keep you updated on the podcast. Right.

[00:15:40] Thanks Eric.

[00:15:41] Eric: [00:15:41]
Right. This week’s episode of digital marketing fast lane was brought to you by
the performance marketing experts at voice media. Join us again next time as we
will be bringing you more tips, techniques to know how to make your online
business the very best that it can be. If you have any questions, comments, or
feedback, we’d love [00:16:00] to hear them on Twitter at voice media.

[00:16:02] Thank you.