The Corona virus is creating ripples of fear and uncertainty across the globe, irrespective of whether a nation is developed or developing. The entire world is now battling an invisible enemy, which has even brought down the strongest of nations.
The disastrous effects of this deadly virus are more than the death of thousands and in capacitation of millions of people across the globe. It is also badly affecting the global economy. Thousands of people are being treated for this disease and millions of people are quarantined inside their homes.
Social distancing has been enforced in most countries that are affected or could be affected by the COVID19. IT professionals have been asked to work from home while schools, colleges, malls, and non-essential stores have been closed.
So, now millions of people are stuck inside their homes with only televisions, streaming apps and mobile apps for entertainment and information.
Let’s explore the impact of the corona virus on app installs and marketing in this blog.
Impact of Corona Virus on App Installs
When you look at the performance of individual apps, downloads of news apps like Newsbreak and SmartNews were very high in the first week of the self-isolation.
A lot of people are already on social media and this month, there was a marginal increase in the downloads of social media apps. A large chunk of the downloads was for the Houseparty app that allows people to stay in touch with their families and friends.
The download of education apps saw an increase of nearly 17%. This increase can be attributed to the fact that students are now at home and parents are looking for ways to keep children busy and not miss their studies.
Most of the food delivery apps took a huge hit this month. Postmates, UberEATS, and Grubhub had a steep decline in the downloads. However, Doordash and Instacart continue to do well. In fact, the downloads of Instacart were more than that of the other food delivery apps.
Even though travel has been prohibited in many places, a lot of people did download apps of airlines. However, downloads of Yelp and Lyft saw a decline over the month.
In the shopping apps category, Amazon continues to hold the top position. Target did see a 40% increase in downloads over the month. As many people are housebound, they need to use online shopping apps to buy groceries and other essentials.
Downloads of ride-hailing apps also saw a sharp decline through the month of March as most people preferred to stay indoors and safe. The most hit apps are Chinese-based apps – Didi, Dida, and Hello.
Read Also : Everything you need to know about a Wifi-Attendance App
Country-wise Breakup of Top Downloaded Apps
The chart below gives you an overview of the top downloaded apps across 12 countries.
Source : Appsflyer.com
Impact of Corona Virus on App Marketing
With the Corona pandemic locking people up in their homes, customer behavior and user experiences have drastically changed. GWI conducted a global survey of nearly 13,000 customers between 16th to 20th of March 2020.
The survey found that nearly 95% of people are spending more time watching television and videos and movies online. There has also been a marked increase in the number of people watching the news. The survey also reported that
- 45% of people spend most of their time on messaging apps
- 50% of people spend most of their time on streaming apps
- 45% of people spend most of their time on social media
- 10% of people spend time on creating and uploading videos
The entertainment media has changed over the last few months because of lockdown and self-isolation imposed due to the corona pandemic. So, to keep pace with changing customer behavior, businesses are also looking for more digital marketing methods.
Traditional modes of marketing and advertisement like billboards, pamphlets, events, and more are now being placed on the back burner and digital media is being used for marketing.
The survey also found that 35% of firms are planning device-targeted marketing campaigns while 38% of organizations are working on audience targeting campaigns.
It’s not just the mode of marketing and advertising that has changed. Businesses are also looking at ways to integrate the current pandemic situation into the theme of their marketing campaigns to create a connection with the customer.
In fact, 63% of the businesses are planning to change the message and the tone of the message so it stays relevant to the current situation.
As for the theme of the marketing campaigns, 42% of businesses are planning to use mission-based marketing campaigns while 41% of organizations are moving towards cause-based marketing.
Many of the businesses are also using purpose-driven marketing campaigns to create a connection between their brand and the customer, in the current situation.
Conclusion
Necessity is the mother of invention. As the world is battling a microbe, app developers and marketers are looking for innovative ways to stay in the competition.
With most people across the globe practicing social distancing, digital media is the only possible solution for communication, education, entertainment, and economic development.
It is important to stay positive in these turbulent times and find the best way to keep the hope up. At this stage, we can say that corona has a huge impact on mobile app installs and marketing.
The current situation and the global crisis have spurred developers and marketers to come up with innovative and relevant solutions.