Wonder

Log in

Research Outline

Prepared for Miles S. | Delivered August 26, 2020

Digital Marketing Post-Covid

Goals

To determine if digital marketing consultants and agencies have been hit as hard by COVID-19 as traditional agencies, including the outlook for individual consultants and small, medium, and large agencies, the digital marketing services should be focused on in the coming years. In addition, to determine if there are opportunities within the market to purchase agencies at a below value price. This research will inform strategic planning and investments over the coming year.

Early Findings

Upler´s surveyed digital marketing agencies of all sizes in the wake of COVID-19. It found the following:
  •  57% of the agencies felt the impact of COVID-29 would extend beyond six months.
  • Despite 16% of the agencies experiencing a revenue increase, the majority, 66% experienced a revenue decrease. This was most likely to have impacted on agencies with less than 25 employees-
  • As a result, 28% had reduced their fees, while 58% were more flexible with client terms.
  •  80% were looking to encourage investment in themselves. This illustrates the potential for investment that is available within the industry.
  •  40% of US agencies believe the impact of COVID-19 will be 6-12 months.
  • Digital platforms seem to have suffered fewer losses than other mediums of advertising and will, therefore, be better placed to recover from the downturn. They will create a competitive advantage for themselves as they collected behavioral information, which is likely to be sought after.
  • 19% of US digital marketing firms Expect COVID-19 to continue to impact on them at least until the end of the year.
  • Any survey found that 68% of digital agencies had experienced a down-turn in revenue, with 9% considering it a nosedive, with their revenue dropped below 50%. 25% saw their revenue fall 30-50%, while 32% experienced a revenue drop of less than 30%.

Summary

  • There is a considerable amount of information available on the impact that COVID-19 has had on the marketing industry. The harder task will be sorting through this information to find what is relevant to the research goals. In our initial hour of research, we have begun on this process.