Page 18 - Adnews Magazine Sep-Oct 2020

Agenda
Australia Day long weekend none of us were talking about the coronavi- rus and now we’ve reached this point where almost half of all Aussie businesses have changed their route to market,” says Shepherd.
“I think our strong half was definitely through meeting the needs of people, but also the fast development of products that busi- nesses and advertisers wanted.
“Australia is leading the way in a lot of this stuff, and not just in the use of the products we’re building, but in some cases in the development of those products.”
Woolworths is one brand that turned to Facebook’s digital cat- alogues when print was dis- rupted and more difficult to get to consumers, although the supermarket chain has still com- mitted to its print catalogue.
The Facebook team also used its Events feature to create a booking system for beauty brand Estee Lauder to help it virtually connect consumers with its beauty experts.
One brand that made a shift to ecommerce in a big way was Inditex, owner of fashion brands such as Zara, which announced it was closing more than 1000 stores globally in the next two years and reinvesting more than US$1 billion into online shopping in the next three years, with social part of that mix.
According to The State Of Commerce Experience report by Forrester and BloomReach, which looked at how shopping trends have changed this year due to COVID-19, 52 per cent of busi- nesses said they planned to increase budget on social channels since the pandemic, compared to 49 per cent before it. This is com- pared to 46 per cent who said they would invest more in online third- party marketplaces compared to 68 per cent before the pandemic.
Meanwhile, 24 per cent said they would increase investment in their retail stores since the pandemic, compared to 52 per cent before it.
“Digital channels for consum- ers and businesses have been maturing for more than two dec- ades, but the coronavirus has pushed digital from a supporting function to a primary touchpoint for many,” the report said.
“People had more time to play so we saw them unleashing their creativity.” Victoria Brennan National Head of Technology Platforms, Wavemaker
“These touchpoints are a lifeline for consumers, businesspeople and even students as social distancing has forced a dramatic change in behaviours. Never since the dot-com boom has digital commerce been so front and centre. Whether your business is in survival, adaptive or growth mode, now is a critical time to reallocate funding to deliver enhanced digital experiences and set your business up to be more com- petitive as the world shifts to a new normal post-pandemic.”
Shepherd expects this shift to online shopping to stay even after the pandemic passes. She says that while many businesses used this period to simply join the digital space, many would look at building on their online experience in the future.
“I think initially it was about just getting something in the digital space,” she says. “Now it’s about building in new functionality and being able to shop directly, or customising it in many different ways and measuring the sales outcomes and that sort of thing.
“I do think these things will continue to be embedded, and I think that’s not necessarily driven only by business; I think that’s driven by people saying their behaviours won’t change, and that’s something that we’re picking up in our platform insights. About 54 per cent of Australians are saying, ‘I’ve adopted a new behaviour based on COVID-19,’ and a lot of that is around online behaviour.
“And then 42 per cent of Australians are saying, ‘I’m never going back because I’m actually enjoying the way things are working for me right now.’ So we wouldn’t expect these things would change for people, and nor would we expect they change for business.”
Aaron Brooks, Vamp CEO, says Instagram led the way for brands throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Instagram has really been leading the way. They launched food delivery, gift card and Support Small Business story stickers, giving businesses new ways to promote themselves and allowing customers to become advocates for them,” he says.
“Then came Instagram Shops, which offers a chance to shift busi- ness models to selling online if brick-and-mortar stores have been impacted by COVID-19. Instagram has given bigger brands more chances to convert social scrollers into shoppers with its growing roster of shoppable features and Branded Content ads, which help amplify the impact of Paid Partnership posts.”
The rising social media player TikTok has been labelled the “winner” of this pandemic due to its surge in popularity during lockdowns. The platform has recently expanded its presence with a local team in Australia. While it’s been building its products for advertisers, such as launching TikTok for Business, some agencies say more time is needed to understand how to bring brands into the app.
“As with any new entrant to the media ecosystem, adoption by advertisers and validation by media agencies requires process and thus time,” says Tsang.
“We have been working with their teams and are currently seeing a variety of advertisers testing the performance of the platform. We think they are definitely a key platform to consider in 2021.”
Koppe is “cautiously” optimistic about the rest of the year when it comes to social media’s advertising performance. Even with usage expected to decline as restrictions ease, she expects social media revenue to grow.
“Ad revenues are likely to increase within the likes of Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest, which have enhanced their ecommerce offerings and added new formats to cater for businesses which have turned on their social ecommerce in a bid to stay open and compete against the large marketplaces.” she says.
Social creative through the COVID-19 pandemic
The rise of “covid-vertising”, where brands moved away from call to action and towards brand messages of support during “these unprecedented times”, started to tire consumers and marketers.