The measures taken in regards to COVID-19 continue to change daily. With that, we are also seeing changes within the digital marketing world.
This global pandemic has seen businesses halt campaigns and change their daily operations, however people are more than ever turning to online search for answers. As many companies swiftly put the brakes on media spend, it’s important to consider how this affects Google behaviours and trends as Coronavirus is shaping up to be the biggest story in Google Trends history. To put this in perspective, searches in relation to the virus are already twice as many as those of Donald Trump during the 2016 election.
Over the last few days we have seen a steady decline in cost per click for our clients across industries. This is an important metric for us as digital marketers. A lower CPC for our clients means higher ad positions and higher quality scores in turn, this allows the budgets go further.
So why are we seeing these changes in Avg. CPC?
Well, Usually CPC’s are determined by the bidding competition. But as more and more businesses pull the pin on their digital spend the competition diminishes meaning more visibility on SERP and higher ad relevance for remaining advertisers.
Cost-per-click is an important factor in determining the financial success of your campaigns. Since the overall ROI of your campaigns is determined by how much you’re paying for clicks and the quality of traffic they’re bringing in, it is important to think about cost per click in terms of both cost and value. You want to identify and target clicks that are both inexpensive and valuable.
Let’s first look at the Real Estate Industry. Over the last few days we have seen searches for the term “will real estate agents stay open” increase by 1,700% in the last 7 days (Correct as of 23rd March.) With the increase in searches we have seen a drop in Avg. CPC for our clients within this sector. At the start of March we recorded a CPC of $0.15, however as the month has progressed we have noticed a drop to a low of $0.06. What does this mean for the Real Estate Industry moving forward during this pandemic? As consumers become more hesitant to attend an open house, more will rely on a professional agent to schedule an appointment instead and therefore will turn to the internet for help.
The Travel and Transport industry has undoubtedly been affected by the COVID-19 breakout with restrictions put in place globally. However local taxi companies are still able to operate, an option in which increasingly more people are taking instead of the dreaded public transport. Over the past 7 days we have seen the CPC drop for our client within the private transport sector. A low of $2.62 was recorded (22nd March) where we saw this number at $2.88 a week prior. That’s a drop of $0.26 across 7 days!
The Education sector has been the topic of debate for many weeks now during the pandemic as we all understand the importance of school and further education for the workers of tomorrow. As schools begin to close their doors for the foreseeable future, online learning portals and educational material will now be available online. As can be seen below, the cost per click for our client within the Education Sector has decreased significantly over the month of March.
15th March Avg. CPC $5.35
22nd March Avg. CPC $4.28
During the Coronavirus outbreak, although many businesses will be affected, it’s important to note that some companies may see their business skyrocket with demand. Australian Manufacturing will be at the forefront of this surge. We have already recorded a decrease in CPC over the last few days for our clients within this industry.
16th March Avg. CPC $3.26
21st March Avg. CPC $2.76
So what does this mean for our clients? As we’re all aware the costs at some point will stop decreasing. Competitors will begin to restart their Google campaigns and Coronavirus will (hopefully) be a distant memory. But for the time being we are able to generate cost effective results to those who can still trade and are brave enough to play.
Although we are all currently going through a time of panic and uncertainty both online and off it’s important that we are able to focus on these small glimmers of hope. During this time, remember that it’s not all doom and gloom and whilst your business goes through changes so does digital marketing, and right now for our clients it’s for the better.
