12 Post-COVID Marketing Statistics (& How to Act on Them)

There is no shortage of statistics from during the pandemic, showing drastic drops and soaring growth rates as our behaviors shifted so rapidly. But we’re now halfway through 2021, well into the (dare we say it) new normal. It’s time now to look at which changes have stuck and what we can do about them as marketers.

That’s why we’ve gathered these post-pandemic marketing statistics for 2021 to help you come to a safe landing after a turbulent 2020. In this post, we’ll provide

• 12 post-pandemic marketing statistics to know for 2021.
• Explanations for what they mean to marketers and advertisers
• 39 specific actions you can take to align with these statistics and keep up with competitors.

With a better feel for how consumers and advertisers have settled out after the pandemic, you can make the best decisions on meeting your audience’s expectations.

Post-pandemic marketing statistics for 2021

These marketing statistics span across search, social, video, and programmatic ads.

1. The average daily time spent with digital media is now almost 8 hours

This is a seven-minute increase from 2020. This is also in contrast to traditional advertising (TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines), which is 5.5 hours and decreasing.

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What this means

An online existence is not enough. If you want to stay in the minds of potential customers, you need a consistent, multi-channel online presence.

What to do

• Set up a professionally designed, lead-generating website with contact forms and use SEO to drive relevant traffic to it.
• Post regularly to your business blog to increase organic visibility.
• Set up complete, accurate, and consistent online listings—starting with Google My Business.
• Invest in paid advertising, like search ads, social ads, or display ads.
• Consider guest posting to reach a wider audience.

TalkSpace has done its online presence homework, appearing at the top of both paid and organic results.

2. Paid search and social were the only two channels to maintain positive growth rates during the pandemic

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What this means

These two channels are clearly the ones advertisers are most confident in—and therefore the most competitive. It’s time to check in and make sure you’re making the most out of the tools available to you!

What you can do

The Google Ads Insights page

3. Digital ad fraud will cause a $15.9 billion loss for US advertisers in 2021

This is a 15.09% increase from 2020 and a four-fold increase from 2011.

What this means

Hackers have become more advanced than ever, using machine learning for fraudulent activities. Advertisers lose money from nonhuman traffic and publishers’ ad inventory becomes less valuable.

How to prevent it

4. In 2021, digital ad spend worldwide will reach $389B, which is 14.6% more than 2020

While 2020 digital ad spend grew by only 2.4% in 2020, that increase jumps to 17% in 2021.

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What this means

As you invest more money into digital advertising to keep up with competitors, it’s important to make sure you’re making those extra dollars count.

What to do

5. US ecommerce sales grew by 20% in 2020

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What this means

Something you already know: that pandemic restrictions and global lockdowns accelerated the growth of ecommerce shopping. But that does warrant an audit of your ecommerce marketing to make sure you’re staying competitive.

What to do

6. By 2024, China is predicted to have the highest increase in ecommerce sales compared to Europe, the US, and the rest of the world

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Why does this matter?

Statista analysts say that many Chinese ecommerce platforms now let advertisers pay for personalized search results within their online stores’ own search engines, and that “This advertising method will become even more relevant on mobile devices and is already creating whole new revenue streams for eCommerce platforms.”

What to do

Not a whole lot. China’s rapid ecommerce growth is not just the result of personalized search results. They have some of the highest percentages in terms of internet usage, online shopping, mobile penetration, efficient logistics ecosystems, and a lack of physical retail stores in lower-tier cities. So this is more of a trend to be aware of. But you can focus on creating a mobile-friendly ecommerce site.

7. One of the top drivers of increased video usage in 2020 was to find information about a brand, product, or service

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What this means

The buyer journey continues to become more research-heavy and independent, and video is playing a growing role for both B2C and B2B marketing.

What to do

Not only is video an effective media type, but YouTube Studio reports can provide insights you won’t get in Google Analytics.

8. US programmatic display ad spend will rebound to 24% growth in 2021

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What this means

After a meager 10% growth in 2020. programmatic advertising is back in the game.

What to do

• Try programmatic video advertising, which is one of the main trends for programmatic advertising in 2021. The main driver of this is 5G connection speed that supports data-intensive video ads, such as 360° panoramas and virtual reality (VR) ads.
• Try private marketplace deals. Some monetization companies like Setupad allow advertisers to get access to premium publisher ad inventory through PMP deals in a programmatic way.
• Invest in automated programmatic campaigns that are more dynamic, with creative and copy variations decided by data.

9. More than 20% of marketers say that the success of their marketing channels in 2020 was measured by the number of leads generated

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What this means

This feels a little bit obvious, since generating quality leads is the first step in increasing other metrics in the chart like sales, ROAS, and conversion rates. But more important to note is that the inquiry forms used for lead generation collect first-party data, which is crucial to have in a privacy-first world.

What to do

Downloadable checklists make great lead magnets.

10. 60% of marketers don’t know about Core Web Vitals

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What this means

Not enough website owners are invested enough in SEO! This is a highly effective and low-cost marketing strategy for your business that only gets better over the years. And the latest page experience update is a big one.

What to do

11. Mobile accounts for over two-thirds of total US paid search ad clicks across Google and Bing

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What this means

You need to be optimizing your ad copy and landing pages for mobile and invest in new ways to get in front of customers on mobile-specific platforms.

What to do

• Make small but important tweaks to create device-specific ad copy. For example, instead of “Shop now,” use “Shop on your phone.”
• Experiment with call-only ads or message extensions.
• Try out new Google Maps ads that rolled out in the 2021 Google Marketing LiveStream.
• Ensure that your banners can be displayed within best performing ad formats like sticky ads and interstitials.

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12. TikTok ad spend is expected to grow 44% in 2021, which is 5% more than Facebook

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What this means

Advertisers are learning that TikTok is not just for zillennials and can be a lucrative channel for their audiences.

What to do

Post-pandemic digital marketing statistics [recap]

Let’s finish off with a recap of the marketing statistics covered in this post:

1. The average daily time spent with digital media is now almost 8 hours.
2. Paid search and social were the only two channels to maintain positive growth rates during the pandemic.
3. Digital ad fraud will cause a $15.9 billion loss for US advertisers in 2021.
4. In 2021, digital ad spend worldwide will reach $389B, which is 14.6% more than 2020.
5. US ecommerce sales grew by 20% in 2020.
6. By 2024 China is predicted to have the highest increase in ecommerce sales compared to Europe, the US, and the rest of the world.
7. One of the top drivers of increased video usage in 2020 was to find information about a brand, product, or service.
8. US programmatic display ad spend will rebound to 24% growth in 2021.
9. More than 20% of marketers say that the success of their marketing channels in 2020 was measured by the number of leads generated.
10. 60% of marketers don’t know about Core Web Vitals.
11. Mobile accounts for over two-thirds of total US paid search ad clicks across Google and Bing.
12. TikTok ad spend is expected to grow 44% in 2021, which is 5% more than Facebook.

About the author

Agnese Repule is a passionate Content Marketing Specialist at Setupad, a monetization platform for publishers. She typically covers topics on programmatic advertising, monetization, SEO, and content marketing. Another passion of hers is art—painting in particular. You can follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.