Practically everything shifted online during the COVID-19 pandemic, including how people work, shop and interact with others.

The crisis forced companies to accelerate digital initiatives that would have otherwise taken years to complete. Many are adopting new tools and evolving their tech stacks to reflect user behavior online.

For example, many retailers are able to service customers only via online ordering. That has created a shift where retailers are now forced into digital transformation and have to focus on their web and mobile app experience. Ones that adapted quickly have thrived and stores that were slow have struggled.

Advertising is another area that has changed. Companies have embraced digital advertising tools, despite concerns at the start of the pandemic that demand for digital advertising is on the decline. A new report from Segment, the customer data platform that helps companies collect their data from all their online and mobile properties and route it to various tools, uncovered that Facebook and Google advertising tools were the fastest-growing during COVID-19.

Segment analyzed the growth of tools within its catalog — not the total number of users — to understand which tools were most important for companies since the pandemic started. Segment then compared how the numbers stack up against data from 2019. None of the tools analyzed during COVID-19 appeared on the 2019 list, except Google Tag Manager.

Facebook Pixel grew the most between March and April, accounting for 6.7% of all integrations on the Segment platform. Companies can embed Facebook Pixel code into their websites to collect data on conversions from Facebook ads and create targeted audiences for future ads.

Mixpanel was the second fastest-growing tool with approximately 6% of total integrations, followed by Google Ads in third place. Google Ads integrations increased in March and April faster than in 2019, when it made the top 10 list for its analytics tools.

The data show that companies are being proactive in response to people spending more time online. Rather than increasing their overall ad spend, companies are cutting wasted ad spend by moving to digital advertising. Many are also becoming more sophisticated in how they track the performance of their digital ads. The pandemic is the catalyst driving these changes in digital advertising, which are likely to become permanent post-COVID-19.

Another related trend Segment observed in its report is increased adoption of customer success tools. Although these tools are not new to the list, larger players have taken over a broader ecosystem because companies are consolidating their stacks or technologies used to build web and mobile apps.

Customer relationship management tools Salesforce and Zendesk, as well as customer experience monitoring tool New Relic, were the leaders in Segment’s catalog between March and April. Compared with last year’s numbers, Vitally, Kustomer and FullStory were the most widely adopted customer success tools in 2019.

The shift indicates companies are choosing to merge sales, success, and customer support capabilities into a single platform instead of using separate solutions. Such tools can help companies grow their revenue during an economic downturn. Even when companies are forced into survival mode, delivering value to customers remains a priority.

The right stack of tools can improve customer loyalty and reduce churn rates — both of which are especially worrisome for companies during the current crisis. Those that can adapt to change and unpredictability will continue to thrive, no matter what the future brings.

Zeus Kerravala is a principal analyst at ZK Research, a division of Kerravala Consulting. He wrote this article for SiliconANGLE.

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