CORONAVIRUS

&
SMMA

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INTRODUCTION

To respond to the impact of COVID-19 and the spreading

of the Coronavirus throughout the world,
GrowYourAgency.com has produced the following
document containing research into the impact the virus
has had on a variety of businesses and specific niches, as
well as advice for social media marketing agency owners.

Information contained in this document may also be

relevant to other business owners.

This document contains both original research, the

experiences of GrowYourAgency.com students, as well as
the research of other organisations. We are grateful to all
those who have shared information, and hope that by
doing the same we can help many small business owners
through this difficult time.

IMPORTANT

None of the information given in this

report is intended to offer or replicate
medical advice. Please follow your local
government's advice and consult the
World Health Organization's website for
information regarding the Coronavirus.
GLOBAL IMPACT

With over 177 countries and territories having

confirmed cases of COVID-19, the Coronavirus has
undoubtedly had a 'global' impact.

This document will largely focus on the direct impact

to businesses in the United States of America, Canada,
the UK, Europe and Australia.

However, as many businesses rely on supply chains and

labour from throughout the world, the spread of
Corona Virus throughout the world will also impact
businesses in these countries.
IMPACT ON RESTAURANTS

Restaurant bookings vs same day last year

(%)

Source: Opentable.com

Restaurants are included in one of the most obvious

industries to be impacted by the Corona Virus:
hospitality.

The sector has been affected since the beginning of the

global pandemic, with a steep decline in reservations
indicating a decrease in confidence even prior to
guidelines on social distancing.

As of the 23rd March, the UK, USA, Canada and

Australia have all implemented one form of 'lockdown',
preventing consumers from visiting restaurants.
 IMPACT ON RESTAURANTS (CONT'D)

Before government-
mandated shutdowns,
many restaurants had
already pivoted towards a
delivery-only service,
partnering with UberEats,
Deliveroo and other
delivery services to provide
'contact-free' delivery.

However, since the 23rd March, a number of larger

chain restaurants in the UK (including McDonalds and
Byron) have suspended all operations, including takeaway,
It is too early to tell whether this trend will continue with
independent establishments.

BRAND SPOTLIGHT
In Cambridge, UK, the Vanderlyle
Restaurant has successfully pivoted
towards takeaway only, selling out a
week's worth of pick-up slots in two
days, harnessing their social media
presence as well as the software 'Tock
To Go'.

They are now considering adopting this

as a second business model when they
@vanderlylerestaurant reopen.
RESTAURANTS RECOMMENDATIONS

Support existing clients as they

transition to delivery-only. Consider
utilising existing CRM data, and
incorporating email and SMS
marketing.

OpenTable has waived their GiftCard

fees for restaurants. Consider
campaigns urging customers to
support local businesses.

WHAT OUR STUDENTS ARE SAYING

" All three of my content marketing/social media

management clients had to put my services on pause.
All three are closed for business at least temporarily.
This has inspired me to offer paid traffic services"

Mike Bolton

" Currently working with a restaurant in Denmark.

They aren't allowed to operate normally but still offer
takeaways. The most important thing is to speak to
existing customers and make the restaurant's number
prominent"
Mahsun Avci
IMPACT ON REAL ESTATE

Worldwide Google Searches for 'Homes for Sale'

Source: Google Trends

Although the medium-to-longer term effects of the

global pandemic are yet to be seen in the real estate
market, a steep decline in market confidence, a change
in consumer behaviour and even practical difficulties
such as quarantines preventing real estate agencies
operating in person have contributed to a steep decline
in interest in both buying and selling homes.

Prior to the outbreak of the Coronavirus, the property

saw an a global increase from December 2019,
especially in the UK after the late election.
 IMPACT ON REAL ESTATE CONT'D

In the UK, online estate agent Rightmove, along with

competitor have significantly reduced estate agents
fees for the next four months, indicating an
anticipation of longer term effects of the pandemic.

In the USA, Zillow and Redfin have suspended their

'iBuyer' schemes, with Redfin also suspending any
media buying activity.

Property expert Henry Pryor has issued caution on the

health of the market but indicated that there will be an
increase in houses on the market in the coming
months, and sellers looking for estate agents.
 REAL ESTATE RECOMMENDATIONS

AVOID Facebook and other

advertising. CPAs have been reported
to be much higher as usual rates.

Wait for uptake in sellers' market,

consider change in marketing
campaigns to changes in consumer
profiles: debt and downsizing is likely
to feature heavily in sellers profiles.

WHAT OUR STUDENTS ARE SAYING

" All my clients report the same: customers are too

afraid to meet up. Ads are expensive and poor quality"

Kevin Muss

"I've cut the ads for real estate as they quadrupled in

price.. the broker can't visit the client so thats a no go
situation"

Ricardo Janmaat
IMPACT ON ECOMMERCE

% Transactions March 8th-15th

Source: Content Square

Logic dictates that eCommerce would benefit greatly

from the Coronavirus: consumers are ordering more
deliveries, there are more eyeballs on screens and less
competition from other business outlets.

This has undoubtedly been true in the case of

consumables and groceries where transactions have
massively increased since the outbreak of the virus.

However, many sectors of eCommerce have also taken

a hit: notably luxury, fashion, jewellery and watches,
and home furnishings.
IMPACT ON ECOMMERCE CONT'D

Despite a global 50% increase in use of Facebook-

owned platforms since the outbreak began, both
Facebook and Google have acknowledged the
Coronavirus will have a massive impact on their revenue
from ad buying.

This golden combination of increased media

consumption and decreased competition has
benefitted marketers with decreased CPMs. However,
the treasure-trove of data offered by within.co indicates
that - while CPMs may be lower - ad performance on
Pure Play eCommerce has dropped dramatically on
Google and Facebook, as well as specifically in the
luxury sector.

Meanwhile performance has increased with

omnichannel retailers, and specifically with essentials
and fashion
 ECOMMERCE RECOMMENDATIONS

Consider ad spend per sector.

Decreased CPMs doesn't equate to
increased performance.

Customer behaviour is changing and

luxury eCommerce is most likely to
be hit with higher-ticket items seeing
the biggest decline. Retail healthcare,
however, has seen a massive uptake.

WHAT OUR STUDENTS ARE SAYING

"With one of my e-com clients in the UK, we had to

pause our campaigns as their suppliers aren't
working in China, so they don't have the best selling
products in stock. With other e-com clients in the US,
there is a slight drop in orders but nothing
Václav Tomanec significant."

"For one of my commerce clients we scaled from 4

ROAS to 8.5 ROAS because everybody is on their
phones! We asked our client to scale the budget to
double the amount and it worked out well"
Ricardo Janmaat
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