Prepare for a Flattening of the Weekday Curve<\/span><\/h2>\nIf you do marketing for an ecommerce business, you may be familiar with the \u201cweekday curve\u201d: while customers are busy going out and catching up on errands over the weekend, sales drop. Spending then picks back up on weekdays, hence the \u201cweekday curve.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nAmong other changes around what people are buying, <\/span>when<\/span><\/i> people are shopping has been affected by COVID-19 as well. Whereas weekends used to be for going out and spending in stores, they are now largely spent inside. The result is a peak in ecommerce search terms on weekends, reversing the prior trend of weekday peaks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLooking at the Google Trends chart for \u201cexercise bike,\u201d the peaks during the month of May all happened on weekends.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the takeaway from this new spending trend? If you weren\u2019t running Google Ads and Amazon ads on weekends, now would be the time to start. Analyze search trends for your keywords and increase ad spend during times of the week where customers are searching most, to increase your likelihood of getting seen.<\/span><\/p>\nPay Attention to Shifts in Consumer Spending<\/span><\/h2>\nKen Shults, VP of Strategic Innovation at BrightEdge took a look at search trends in a range of industries to gauge how consumer interests have shifted since the onset of Coronavirus, and how industries can prepare accordingly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nShults broke the industries into four categories: Rebounding, Accelerating, Recovering, and Stabilizing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRebounding<\/b> industries took an initial hit at the onset of COVID-19, but by week 7 began rebounding once consumers began to adjust to lifestyle changes. Industries in this category include apparel, beauty, and IT Networking. Shults recommended that businesses in these industries \u201cfocus on winning categories.\u2019 For instance, clothing brands may tone down marketing for professional wear and instead focus on casual clothing lines.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAccelerating<\/b> industries were flat from the onset of COVID-19, and have since accelerated. Businesses in this category include digital marketing, pet adoption, and garden and patio. Shults recommends to \u201cpour on the gas,\u201d capturing your market\u2019s attention while these shifts are still fresh.<\/span><\/p>\nRecovering<\/b> industries took the biggest hit in the beginning, and are now slowly leveling off. Industries in this category include concerts, hotels, and wealth management. Shults recommends that these businesses \u201ctransform and prepare,\u201d pivoting to digital strategies and preparing for an uptick in demand once lockdown restrictions ease up.<\/span><\/p>\nFinally,<\/span> Stabilizing<\/b> industries saw an uptick in searches, and have since dropped, but are still much higher than pre-COVID figures. Industries in the stabilizing category include gaming, grocery, and IT security. According to Shults this increased demand is here to stay, and businesses need to adopt digital strategies to keep up with demand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nCoronavirus didn\u2019t impact industries uniformly, so it\u2019s crucial to look at trends in your specific industry to get insight as to how you should be shifting your digital strategy now to prepare for a post-COVID-19 landscape.<\/span><\/p>\n