The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the economy, causing record unemployment and forcing many consumers to stay indoors. With consumer spending on the decline, the coronavirus crisis is causing many brands to consider how they might be able to find new solutions to spread the word about their offerings.

As many brands reduce their advertising budgets or slashing them entirely, performance-based solutions stand out as one way to make the most of a less-than-ideal situation. Read on to learn about how Webgears has made it possible for advertisers to ride the wave of increased search traffic and reach consumers at every stage of the purchase funnel.

Problem

For many brands, especially those in the retail sector that have lost sales from physical stores, this pandemic-related shift in consumer behavior requires an adjustment in marketing tactics in order to reach the right customers at the right time, all while keeping in mind that most shoppers will be more price-conscious than usual for the foreseeable future.

Throughout this uncertain time, one thing is for sure: consumers are understandably nervous, and they are turning to the internet more than ever to find reliable information, whether that be the latest news about their state’s reopening plans or the best deals on food delivery services. The challenge for brands exists in how to succeed in this new landscape by tapping into the trust consumers have with media partners.

Solution

Using expertise acquired in various EU markets over the past ten years, Webgears Group launched its first media partnerships in the U.S. in Q3 2019. Today, we work directly with more than 1,500 advertisers and brands who are able to reach millions of high-intent shoppers browsing the commerce content platforms we’ve built for U.S. digital media partners like CNET and The Daily Beast.

We only partner with category-leading publishers and advertisers, and understanding the power of placing a great deal alongside a well-respected and trusted news or media source, we go to great lengths to design our commerce content solutions to appear fully native and organic on each publisher’s domain. For our advertising partners, this means greater reader interest and trust, and therefore superior conversion rates.

Working with us, advertisers can rest assured that their offerings are reaching consumers across all stages of the sales funnel. We use a variety of cutting-edge techniques to increase traffic, conversion rates and total sales, including weaving our content adjacent deal solutions into reviews, newsletters, timely news-oriented product placements and more. For example, to borrow an example from last week’s installment of “Commerce Content in Times of Crisis,” we collaborated with our editorial partners at CNET to create a food delivery feature to target consumers staying home due to the COVID-19 pandemic back in March.

Result

Still within our first year of large U.S. media partnerships, many advertisers featured on Webgears’ sites and platforms already experience a click to transaction conversion rate of over 10 percent, currently resulting in more than $700,000 in combined daily sales for these brands.

We attribute this performance to a strong brand association with our trusted media partners, dedication to reducing bounces and encouraging reader engagement with a premium user experience. As well we take a consultant-like approach with our media publisher partners to ensure that advertisers’ offerings are displayed in an attractive, organic format with relevant, accurate information when it comes to integrating our solutions and technology throughout their domains.

In the midst of an economic downturn when many brands are reevaluating the efficacy of their marketing efforts, our custom solutions in partnership with top-tier media publishers allow advertisers to have more opportunities to target consumers in the context of a well-trusted brand where users will turn first when navigating all of the noise.