When the COVID-19 pandemic descended in 2020, almost every industry suffered detrimental effects from its fallout.
Shops were shuttered, the hospitality industry went dark, and a heavy sense of fear prevailed. While the pandemic's negative consequences rippled across the world, one sector saw a different kind of metamorphosis. Digital marketing is an industry that exists within the prism of the digital world. Soon consumers flocked online, and print and in-store advertising became obsolete, digital marketing became essential.
Francis Volpe is an experienced digital marketer who co-founded the New York-based digital marketing agency ‘Y Not You Media.’ Here he explains the impact that COVID-19 has had on the digital marketing industry.
Volpe shares that the digital marketing industry has just undergone one of the most tumultuous years of its existence. It has been a year that brought the importance of the industry into sharp focus. The pandemic's immediate impact on the digital marketing industry, Volpe says, was the unprecedented demand for digital marketing skills and experience that occurred almost overnight. Volpe expands on this, explaining that physical stores whose digital presence only extended to social media pages had to pivot and transition their businesses online to survive. It created a huge demand for digital marketing. It exists as a lifeline between the isolated customer and the stranded retailer, connecting the supply and demand chain.
Volpe stresses that digital marketing agencies, both large and small had to step up to the challenge. He adds that the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was a double-edged sword that digital agencies had to stop themselves from falling on. The business was booming, but the reason for it was so unprecedented that most agencies were overwhelmed by the demand. During this pivotal time, Volpe believes that every agency faced a choice to buckle beneath the pressure or rise above it.
Thankfully he says, the industry showed an extraordinary amount of tenacity and rose above the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Elaborating on this, Volpe says, “The digital marketing industry not only withstood the pandemic, but also became a champion for small businesses and the economy at large.”
Francis Volpe co-founded the ‘Y Not You Media’ agency in 2018. He says he was inspired to pursue a venture when he saw the exponential growth that the digital marketing industry was undergoing. Once the agency had launched, Volpe set about creating unique content and strategies with his team. These strategies were designed to help individualise any company online.
Speaking of the importance of digital marketing, Volpe says, “Our lives now exist in a very large part online, for this reason alone, the digital world is one that every business should create a space within.”
No industry was spared from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, some industries managed to persevere through the chaos it created and emerge stronger than before.