This is a guest blog from guest author, Ben Rusnak. 

Every generation will go through events that will change their lives, moments like 9/11, the Civil Rights Era and the World Wars. Most recently and most relatable to our generation is Covid-19 and how it has changed everyone’s habits and lifestyles. One of the biggest lifestyle changes has
been everyone’s home becoming the central hub to our lives. People’s busy commutes have turned into walks from the bedroom to their new home office and trips to the gym have turned into workouts in the living room. Our homes have become more than just a space to come to after a long day, they have become the center of our new lifestyles. With our homes becoming the center our life’s, this changes the way products and services are used and more importantly marketed to their customers. In this article, I will explore what this means for markers, how they need to react to the new lifestyles of consumers and what to expect in the future as Covid-19’s legacy will live on in more than masks and hand sanitizers.

What Does This Mean for Marketers? 

Marketers have their hands full in the next few years coming out of the Covid-19 Pandemic. This generational event has changed more than just routines, but lifestyles are seeing a new change. One of the biggest changes is the line between work and personal time being blurred. People are working more but are also taking more breaks throughout the day, so changes in peak adverting are harder to find. More people are checking their personal emails and are on social media at all times of the day, not just outside the typical 9-5 hours (4) Marketers have more access to people while they work from home allowing for more exposure to digital ads across platforms.

The digital ecosystem has become the preferred way family, friends, and coworkers to interact and has become the default for communication; digital advertising has become the default. More than just communication, social engagement has turned from more just likes on post. Likes are a thing of the past as engagement and interactions is the new yard stick; clicks, views, interactions and more are all stats that have rose to the top of importance lists(4).

As we move online, marketers need to reassess and adapt to the new every changing stats and rework how to grow ad engagement to increase sales. Moving online also means new artificial intelligence across products and households. Products like Google Home’s, and the Amazon Alexa are allowing to bridge the communication gap easier as well as bringing new technology to households (3). Technology is coming into homes at higher rates since the Pandemic which all bring optionally new ad spaces and opportunities for commercialization. Markets can capitalize with new products or with product spin-offs as new sources from revenue as well.

Lastly a large component to markets are the demographics of their potential customers. Research has showed higher educated and those who make more money are more likely to work from home. This means marketers need to change ads and targets of their products to find the right customers weather that be at work or home (2). 

What Should we Expect in the Future? 

Homes have been more than a place to work, but places to workout, relax, and spend time with family. As we move to normality, people will continue to work from home, we as marketers we need to be ahead of the curve. One lifestyle change we are seeing is more money being spent on their homes. At home gyms and health relates products are on the rise with more tech-based products in the market than ever before (3). Another trend we are seeing is increased security features online (4). Internet security has been deemed a necessity with the amount consumers spend online and companies have been capitalizing adding new security features which are becoming standard. The last major change to expect for the future is the increase in technology in homes. Tech is coming in all shapes and sizes and is here to stay with products like smart lights, thermostats, and entertainment systems to just name a few are integrating across our new at home habits and are here to stay

What do you think? What trends from the pandemic will stay in the future? What has your experience working from home been? Let us know in the comments or DM us on our social media.