Life during a global pandemic has been nothing short of a roller coaster. The initial wave of fear had given way to a sense of relief when vaccines became readily available to the nation, however new variants of COVID-​19 seemingly are here to stay. It’s a difficult world to navigate and even trickier if you’re trying to advertiser to consumers during a time of financial uncertainty. Though, according to a 2021 Consumer Intel Report from Valassis, if there were two words to describe how consumers feel now, it would be “cautious optimism.”

Consumers are cautious and staying home

Not surprisingly, people are adjusting to a more cautious, at-​home life. Whether that be working from home, or participating in a hybrid work schedule, now more than ever, people’s living rooms and couches are doubling for an office space. According to Valassis:

• 63% of all consumers are content with staying home more
• 69% of millennials are content with staying home more
• 71% of millennials with children are content are staying home more

The rise in people spending more time at home more than likely correlates directly to the rise in TV consumption.

• 61% of all consumers are watching more streaming TV
• 71% of millennials are watching more streaming TV
• 64% of Gen Z are watching more streaming TV
• 75% of millennial parents are watching more streaming TV

“This is good news for marketers,” wrote Valassis. “Our previous research into Connected TV (CTV) found that 64% of 25–34-year-olds are willing to view ads on their streaming TV service for a lower monthly subscription cost. And 69% of 35–44-year-olds consider products advertised on streaming TV to be more relevant than those advertised on traditional cable. Your most interested audience just became more engaged.”

Consumers still want buy!

With everyone is staying home more, one of the aspects of the cautious optimism Valassis found was that most are intending to purchase comfort items for their home.

• 52% of consumers intend to purchase home comfort items during the next six months
• 68% of millennials intend to purchase home comfort items during the next six months
• 71% of parents intend to purchase home comfort items during the next six months
• 73% of millennial parents intend to purchase home comfort items during the next six months

Given this purchase intent situation, you have a great opportunity to market your services to advertisers who want to reach out to audiences looking to improve their homes. That’s where AdMall, powered by SalesFuel, can assist you. Multiple AudienceSCAN profiles focus on people who are looking to buy a home, upgrade a home, watch home shopping networks and much more. The three sections of each AudienceSCAN profile show you how to best market to an audience, what their lifestyle habits are and what their expected purchase intent is for the next 12 months

Cautious Optimism is on the minds of consumers

So where does this leave your clients in terms of advertising to consumers in 2021 and beyond? Probably the best sign of consumer confidence Valassis found was that optimism is on the rise.

• 44% of consumers are optimistic about the economic health of their local city/​state.
• 39% are optimistic about the national economy.

“There’s real opportunity to capitalize on this inflection point and amplify consumers’ optimism while tempering and addressing their caution,” write Valassis. “People want to go out, spend money, see loved ones, shop and discover new things.”

Getting your advertiser’s message right is critical to the growing sense of consumer optimism. You should push to position your client as showing that they’re aware of the world’s caution surrounding the global pandemic, but that they can be trusted as a safe place for consumers to shop and enjoy themselves. It’s going to be a long road back to pre-​pandemic levels of consumer optimism. However, keeping your advertiser at the forefront of consumer thoughts as a place of positivity and warmth will build back their trust quickly and efficiently.

Photo by Fernando Arcos from Pexels