Recovery in 2020? Professionals about advertising and optimistic about the digital industry itself

The Covid-19 pandemic and the confinement decreed in its wake continue to take its toll on the digital industry. This is confirmed by the data of the second wave of the Digital Thermometer against the Covid-19.
According to the professionals surveyed, the recovery will be slower, especially in the economy, where only 15% believe that we will emerge from the crisis this year, while almost 60% believe that the economy will not recover until 2022 as a minimum.

Pessimism has also increased regarding the area of ​​society, where it has gone from 43% who believed in recovery in 2020 in the first wave of the study to 32% in this second wave. In advertising, only 38% are confident of overcoming the crisis in 2020 (compared to 46% in the first wave) and there are already 4 out of 10 professionals who believe that it will be necessary to wait until 2021 to see the light.
Finally, the digital industry continues to be the sector where there is the most confidence : 55% believe that the recovery of the industry will come this year, in 2020, although a reduction of 4 points is seen with respect to the first wave (59%) .

Ecommerce, Research, and Content Marketing, the most promising disciplines

Looking to the future, there are a series of disciplines that for professionals are going to emerge from the crisis especially reinforced. The teleworking remains the most bet, given the reorganization of work patterns that have occurred during confinement, although it passes 90% in the first wave to 87%.

Regarding the previous wave, one of the areas in which the greatest increase in the importance received is seen is eCommerce: almost 70% of professionals believe that e-commerce will end the crisis very strongly. This is yet another proof of the change in purchasing habits and the digitization of the behavior of consumers during the pandemic.

On the other hand, the value of research (Research) is backed by 33% of professionals, also registering growth compared to the first wave. In the words of experts, “Given the uncertainty, we are registering an increase in confidence in research, at a time when using data to anticipate and improve decision-making is crucial.”

Finally, the third discipline in which its projection is improved after the Covid-19 crisis is Content Marketing, according to 27% of professionals. After the devastating economic impact on advertisers and the drop in advertising investment in many countries, content marketing will be reinforced and will be an option for companies to impact users again through quality content.

A future based on collaboration

Although the prospects for recovery are not very encouraging across the board, professionals agree on the need to take urgent measures, where the most valued initiatives are the granting of lines of credit to the self-employed (7.3) and the commitment of advertisers for maintaining advertising investment (7), among others.

Even so, the average score of the proposed measures falls in general, although a new one bursts into force: coordination of recovery actions with other sectors, valued at 7. Therefore, for professionals, union is strength, and they clearly demand inter-industry collaboration.

In addition, when asked what would be the first step they would take if they were Ministers of Digital Industry, the respondents have opted especially for public investment in the digital transformation of the economy, the digitization of society and education, and the declining tax in the digital industry.

Ultimately, it seems that professionals rely above all on a collaborative model and on the power of digitization as an engine for change and recovery. We will have to wait to see if the demands are met and if we indeed emerge from this crisis stronger, more united, and in a more advanced stage of digital transformation.

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