COVID-19 is changing daily. 

Many of us have a high level of fear and anxiety around current events and when that happens, seek to absorb all the information that we can find. It’s a natural response to an unnatural state of affairs. 

Over the past few days, traffic to our community websites has doubled. New users are up 50%.  People turn to community news to know what’s happening in their immediate vicinity and for balanced reporting when it matters most.

There’s isolation for people, uncertainty for businesses. How long will it last?

With all of the changes going on right now, Team GMD has been paying close attention to campaigns and messages to monitor what might be out of sync with the world around us. 

We all know that in a realtime online world, having an ad message that comes off as opportunistic, off-colour or tone-deaf can be disastrous. That can happen if you’re not paying attention, and fairly, people are feeling distracted. 

Our team has been speaking to businesses about the importance of pivoting advertising objectives and messages right now. Ensuring that your business communication respects the moment will be remembered long after the moment has passed. Represent it well. 

In a lockdown, many businesses need to pause their operations. Shifting your media presence makes sense in step with a global shift. Experience has shown that businesses who stay top-of-mind in times of crisis have a faster recovery.

Tactically, here is what we recommend for businesses.

 

  • Community news display advertising. Local news is more important than ever. People are checking in with community news. Be there, too. Your business is part of the community fabric.
  • Mobile display. Mobile traffic was 72% of online traffic this week. Desktop traffic was 21%.
  • Blog posts and web content. Do you have something important that you need to communicate? Hire a writer to help you say it.
  • Sponsored content. Do you have a story to tell? Share how your business is connecting in your neighbourhood. Deepen your community connections to support others. 

 

  1. The only thing certain is that more uncertainty lies ahead so we stay informed because it helps. We reach out to friends and actually *talk* on the phone. We accept that we are in a kind of liminal time and practice patience, kindness, and lots and lots of handwashing.

Glacier Media news sites have high representation across three distinct visitor segments:
Casual readers who visit once per month, loyal readers who visit 3-4 times per month, and brand lovers, who visit 15+ times per month, visiting multiple pages with higher time spent. Many readers will be in this category.
COVID-19