The Ultimate List of Statistics for Marketers During COVID Times

(Updated September 2020)

There’s no question that COVID-19 has had an immense impact on the global economy. As head of marketing for e-Spirit, a DXP and content management software company, I’ve focused much effort on analyzing the current state of our market and adjusting our company’s marketing strategy in response to COVID.

Data 6 months ago, 3 months ago or even 6 weeks ago in some cases is out of date. Therefore, I’ve needed to scour the Internet on a regular basis to identify the latest research related to this “new normal” that we’re all facing. You’ll find below the list of statistics and insights that I’ve uncovered related to marketing strategy and tactics and e-commerce sector data. All studies were conducted in 2020.

Have I missed a good report or more recent study? Please send me a note at gerard@e-spirit.com and I’ll ensure it gets added to this post as we plan to update this list on a regular basis. And if you’re interested in learning how to create better digital experiences for your customers, reach out to learn how e-Spirit’s hybrid headless content management system (CMS) and AI-driven personalization software help turn customers into lifelong fans for many of the world’s leading brands.

Marketing Tactics Statistics

• “73% of advertisers have modified or developed new assets since the start of the pandemic. Of these, over half (53%) are increasing messaging that emphasizes the mission of the company.” [IAB, June 8, 2020]
• Estimated change in advertising spending influenced by the coronavirus outbreak according to advertising professionals in the United States: [Statista, April 8, 2020]

• “Average email benchmarks for all industries during April 2020:" [Email Marketing Benchmarks: COVID-19 Edition, May 2020]
  • Average open rate: 21.2%
  • Average click-through rate: 3.10%
  • Average click-to-open rate: 14.6%
  • Average unsubscribe rate: 0.14%
  • Average bounce rate: 0.86%”

• “Media consumption is up since the outbreak, and it’s primarily video-based: “87% of U.S. consumers and 80% of UK consumers say they're consuming more content – broadcast TV, online videos, and online TV streaming take the top spots overall for increased media consumption.” [Global Web Index, April 2020]
• The importance of omnichannel marketing and a hybrid headless CMS:
  • “When asked how the coronavirus crisis has impacted their cell phone usage, 56% of people said they’re using their mobile devices more, with 46% spending an additional four or more hours every day.” [zipwhip, April 2020]
  • “38% of people are getting more news and alerts through texts.” [zipwhip, April 2020, Link]
• Webinars and virtual events:
  • Virtual event attendees use an average of 4.8 different conferencing applications “often”. [IDC Virtual Meetings and Conference Survey, June 2020]
  • “The expectation is already set: Videoconferencing is for engagement, not broadcast.” The top 5 virtual conference engagement methods include:
  • • “Live chat to ask questions of speakers” (43.1%)
    • “Live chat for participants to communicate” (40.2%)
    • “Online community” (31.4%)
    • “Polls with real-time results” (29.4%)
    • “Virtual happy hour or other breakouts” (25.5%) [IDC Virtual Meetings and Conference Survey, June 2020]
  • 68% of companies indicate that Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday are the best days for webinar attendance; however, as ON24 indicates, “while mid-week is still a strong performer for attendance, nearly any day of the workweek will net you a solid number of attendees. We’d recommend experimenting with different webinar formats for different days of the week to optimize attendance.” [ON24, April 21, 2020]
  • “Based on April 2020 data, three-quarters of (webinar) registrants (74%) sign up in the week of the webinar. This is a marked difference from the behavior in 2019, where 43% of registrants did so.” [ON24, April 2020] That said, 69% of ON24 webinar users start webinar planning 3 months ahead of time, and the more promotion the greater the number of attendees.
  • The worst days to send webinar promotional emails are Friday, Saturday and Sunday. [ON24, April 21, 2020]
  • 57% of companies indicate that the best start time for a webinar is 8:00 am to 12:00 pm PST. [ON24, April 21, 2020]

• Webinar attendance rates are 50%+ on Mondays and Fridays, and below 45% on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. [TwentyThree, March 24, 2020]
• “Not only are people more likely to attend your webinar on a Monday, but they will also stay longer. Compared to the average attendance, people's attention span is just shorter on Tuesdays and Fridays.” (Engagement performance is measured by the amount of audience engagement in a webinar (chat, questions, poll votes) and is a strong indicator of whether people are actively following the webinar.) [TwentyThree, March 24, 2020]

• In-Person Events
  • “53% of companies indicate that digital events will NOT replace live in-person events in the future.” [Skyline Events Industry Pulse Check, May 28, 2020]
  • “83% of respondents to the survey estimated that the trade show and event industry will return to "normal" after the end of 2020.” [Skyline Events Industry Pulse Check, May 28, 2020]
  • “69% of marketers we surveyed said they would only attend virtual/online events this year unless a COVID-19 vaccine is available, a slight uptick compared to 66% who answered the same question more than a month ago.” [Martech Today, June 2020]

• Search trends and PPC strategies:
  • Coronovirus search trends vs. weather, news, music and sports: [Google, June 2020]

• April, 2020: Google search data based on a sample of 15,759 US-based WordStream client accounts in all verticals who were advertising on Google search. Link
  • COVID-19 has caused a 10-15% increase in search ad impressions during late night hours of weekdays. . . .
  • However, “in the evening hours coinciding with the peak search volume for COVID-19, advertisers have noted a 30% lower conversion rate than they typically would expect at night.”
  • Wordstream offers great advice for how to better manage your PPC budget in this new COVID-19 environment, for example:
    • “Revisit your campaigns’ ad schedule performance.
    • Consider new day dayparting strategies.
    • Try smart bidding.”

Marketing Performance Measurement and Metrics

• 48% of marketing organizations are tracking customer lifetime value (LTV). (vs. 43% in 2018) [Salesforce 2020 State of Marketing, 6th edition]
• 80% of marketers share goals and metrics with ecommerce colleagues. [Salesforce 2020 State of Marketing, 6th edition]
• Change in marketing and sales metrics versus pre-COVID times from March to May 2020 based upon Hubspot’s CRM customer base of 70,000+ companies: [Link]
  • Sales deals:
    • New sales deals created dropped ~15%.
    • New sales deals closed dropped ~20%.
  • Sales emails:
    • ~50% more emails were sent.
    • Email response rates dropped ~14%.
  • Marketing emails:
    • ~25% more emails were sent.
    • Email open rate increased ~15%.
  • Website visitors: ~16% increase in visitors.
• 37% of marketers are completely satisfied with the quality/hygiene aspects of their customer data. (High Performers are 5.5X more likely to be completely satisfied than Underperformers) [Salesforce 2020 State of Marketing, 6th edition]
• SaaS companies: 41% of leads are sales generated for enterprise customer targets. [2020 SaaS Product Benchmarks Study, OpenView, June 2020]

Strategic Areas of Focus for Marketers

• Marketing Budget:
  • “In July 2020, a poll of 300 marketing leaders found that 59% of them expect a marketing budget cut of more than 5%, an indicator that the COVID-19 crisis continues to deeply impact marketing.” [Gartner interview, CMSWire, September 16, 2020]
• 97% of enterprise decision-makers believe the pandemic sped up their company’s digital transformation. [New Twilio research as report in Entrepreneur, July 2020]
• Are you looking to update your target account list as part of an Account Based Marketing (ABM) strategy, and want to include companies that will thrive during COVID-19 times? Check out The Harris Poll who recently released its list of “100 Essential Companies Tied to Corporate Response to COVID-19 Pandemic” (The Harris Poll, July 2020)
• “The 2020 COVID-19 Crisis Will Stun US Marketing:
  • Two scenarios provided with the pandemic stalling in 2020 or 2021.
  • In both scenarios, off-line media declines.
  • Marketing technology will sustain.
  • Don’t stop marketing!
    • When McGraw-Hill Research studied the 1981 and ’82 recession, it found that companies that marketed aggressively had 256% higher sales than those that did not.” [Source: Shar VanBoskirk, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester]
• Marketing’s alignment with internal groups: “72% of marketers say they are aligned with their IT organizations, yet IT leaders rank insufficient business unit alignment as a top challenge.* [Salesforce 2020 State of Marketing, 6th edition]
• AI in Marketing: 84% report use of AI in marketing. [Salesforce 2020 State of Marketing, 6th edition] Top AI use cases:
  • “Personalized experiences in individual channels.” (e.g., personalized digital experiences)
  • “Improved customer segmentation/lookalike modeling.”
  • “Surfaced insights from data.”
• “Marketing leaders should approach today’s emotionally fraught consumers with the intention of winning and protecting trust. To do this, marketers must:
  • Plant the seeds of trust now for a long-term yield.
  • Be relevant, be timely, and most of all, be present.”
  • [“During The Pandemic, Empathetic Brands Build Trust With Wary Consumers”, Forrester]

Consumer and Buyer Insight

• B2B Insight:
  • B2B Software Buyers:
    • “44% of buyers expect no change in software spend during the next two quarters.” [New Data on How COVID-19 Will Impact B2B Tech Spending”, TrustRadius, June 8th, 2020, Link.]

• Top 5 areas where businesses will increase software spending:
  • Web conferencing
  • Collaboration tools
  • Remote desktop tools
  • Security software
  • Learning management software [Source: TrustRadius, June 8th, 2020]
• Top 5 sectors that are projected to spend more on B2B software:
  • Government administration
  • Non-profit
  • Telecommunications
  • Education
  • Insurance [Source: TrustRadius, June 8th, 2020]
• Consumer Insight:
  • “Nearly half of US online adults are actively saving because of looming uncertainty.” [“During The Pandemic, Empathetic Brands Build Trust With Wary Consumers”, Forrester, May 22, 2020]
  • “As “lockdown” or “shelter-at-home” restrictions begin to ease, many consumers are not planning a quick return to various public places. Almost half say they will not return to shops “for some time” or “for a long time”; this rises to nearly 60% for large outdoor venues (e.g. sports stadiums, music festivals) and climbs still higher to two-thirds for large indoor venues (e.g. cinemas, concert halls, sports arenas).” [GWI Coronavirus Research, April 2020, Multi-market research wave 3]
  • Brand categories most impacted by COVID-19: [IAB, June 8, 2020]

• “Over 40% say they will shop online more frequently after the outbreak, hitting 50% in China. Some countries such as Japan and France are notably less enthusiastic about this, but the global figures remain high and consistent by gender, income, and age (only dropping a little among boomers). [GWI Coronavirus Research, April 2020, Multi-market research wave 3]
• “Reach3 Insights recently found that 76% (of consumers) have recently picked up new habits, behaviors and routines in the wake of COVID-19. Of those people, 89% said they plan on keeping some of their new habits.” [Entrepreneur, May 10, 2020]
• Global orders over time by category - Non-Essentials; Essentials; New Essentials: [Klaviyo, June 11, 2020]

• “Many of the tools and solutions that people have turned to during the “lockdown” period can expect a lasting boost. About a fifth say they will use food delivery services more frequently, around a quarter plan to use video conferencing platforms such as Zoom more regularly, and about a third plan greater usage of mobile payment services and video calling tools such as FaceTime.” [GWI Coronavirus Research, April 2020, Multi-market research wave 3]
• “Top 5 brand activities that companies are doing for consumers:
  • Providing practical information / tips which help people to deal with the situation
  • Pledging money / aid / supplies to help people
  • Running promotions / offers / loyalty perks for customers
  • Offering flexible payment terms (e.g. instalments, payment plans, etc)
  • Running advertising which shows how they are responding to coronavirus or helping customers” [GWI Coronavirus Research, April 2020, Multi-market research wave 3]

Ecommerce Market Outlook

• “Online spending for the week of June 2 to June 8, 2020 dropped 8%. Despite the decline, overall ecommerce spending remains up 29% from pre-pandemic levels.” [“COVID-19 Weekly Pulse Report for Ecommerce”, Signify, June 2020]
• “Demand for business supplies — sales are down 36% compared to pre-pandemic days — waned no doubt in connection with offices and small businesses closing.” [Source: Signify, June 2020]

• “Consumers are certainly leveraging e-commerce to safely gain access to essentials. The channel has seen a 46% increase in buyers since the pandemic.” [“COVID-19: Tracking the Impact on FMCG, Retail and Media”, Nielsen, March 16, 2020]
• “The global e-commerce market is expected to grow from $1,808.5 billion in 2019 to about $2,405.3 billion in 2020. Due to Covid-19, a significant growth is seen in the demand for essential supplies such as food, medicine, hand sanitizers, tissue, and disinfectants. The market is expected to stabilize and reach $3,056.3 billion at a CAGR of 14% through 2023.” [“COVID-19 Impact on Global E-commerce Market 2020 Analysis and Forecast 2026”, MarketWatch, May 6, 2020]
• “Ecommerce transaction volume spiked during the stay-at-home order in the US, even doubling in April compared to mid-March. It has since stabilized but is still higher than before the stay-at-home order.” [Mobify, May 29, 2020] (refer below)

From Around the World

• EMEA e-Commerce:
  • “More than half of (EMEA) retailers enable their customers to rate their products (53%).” [The 2020 RetailX Europe Growth 3000, June 2020]
  • “Mobile websites (for EMEA’s top retail/ecommerce sites) fully download in a median of 7s. Mobile websites operated by marketplaces download the fastest, at a median of 4.81s.” [The 2020 RetailX Europe Growth 3000, June 2020]
• UK: “Just 7% of UK marketers say their brands are taking a strategic approach to invest more in marketing during the coronavirus pandemic, with the vast majority forced to maintain or cut spend in the face of business disruption.” [Sarah Vizard, Marketing Week, April 28, 2020]
• “More than 90 percent of B2Bs have transitioned to a virtual sales model during COVID-19.” See data for US and European and Asian countries here. [“The B2B digital inflection point: How sales have changed during COVID-19” by McKinsey, April 30, 2020]
• “Impact of COVID-19 on personal finances: “By country, figures for expecting a big or dramatic impact on personal finances can vary from as low as 25% in Germany to as high as 86% in the Philippines. The U.S. and UK have both seen little change in their figures across waves 1, 2, and 3; this suggests that, despite the deterioration of circumstances in both places, consumers remain convinced that they will be able to weather the storm.” [GWI Coronavirus Research, April 2020, Multi-market research wave 3]
• UK: Only 48.6% of consumers indicate that after the COVID-19 health issue is over, they will go back to shopping like they did before the outbreak. [Internet Retailing, May 20, 2020] The e-commerce sector will never be the same again.
• UK: As a result of COVID-19, 25.1% of consumers have started shopping with a retailer they had never used before. [Internet Retailing, May 20, 2020]