For most businesses across the world, 2021 is all about rebuilding and adapting to the “new normal”. After more than a year and a half of fighting a global pandemic, multiple lockdowns, and ever-changing rules, companies everywhere are still struggling to find the best answers to new issues, as well as strategies designed to keep them afloat during the crisis. However, as the pandemic continues and new variants appear, surviving the crisis is no longer enough. Marketers everywhere already know they need strategies that will prove good enough to help them not only overcome the crisis, but also grow and evolve during these difficult times.
However, post-pandemic consumer behaviors differ from normal shopping habits, and savvy marketers should take these changes into account before creating their digital marketing strategies. Maybe even more important is the fact that, as new variants of the COVID-19 virus continue to appear, nobody really knows how the post-pandemic situation will look like, or what shopping habits will continue to be disrupted in the near future. With fall approaching and end-of-year sales not far behind, marketers will need to update their digital strategies, while also making room for more flexibility in their approach. Here are five ways to build a good digital marketing strategy by the end of 2021:
Back to Basics
Before building or redesigning a good marketing strategy for the end of the year, it’s important to remember that consumer behavior and expectations remain at the center of any commerce strategy or marketing plan. Marketers should always try to deliver the best information possible, as soon as possible. According to a new study by OMD and Omnicom Commerce Group (OCG), it’s more important than ever to be consumer-centric. This can be done by talking to consumers and potential clients, and simply listening to what they have to say.
Social media remains one of the best ways of receiving feedback from consumers and potential clients, and that makes chatbots and human operators essential for any business account.
Going Further than the Crowd
One of the best ways of knowing what customers need and want is making use of consumer analytics. While analytics are by no means as prominent as influencer marketing or other digital marketing strategies, they are still the best way of getting the insight necessary to develop offers and promotions that are not only expected by most customers, but also relevant and convenient.
Marketers should know that understanding what consumers want beforehand is essential in building a good digital marketing strategy, but the best way of making sure they stay ahead of their competitors is by taking that knowledge even deeper than competitors do.
Learning from the Best
Businesses around the world were caught in the COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis that followed, but some have proved to be better equipped than others to face these challenges. This is especially true when it comes to good digital marketing strategies. After declaring bankruptcy in 2017, and closing its last two physical shops in 2019 due to the pandemic, Toys R Us surprised its US customers with a great digital campaign. The toy retailer announced it will open new shops inside numerous Macy’s stores next year, and used its beloved mascot to deliver the good news.
Creativity is extremely important when it comes to creating the right digital marketing strategy, but that doesn’t mean marketers should ignore successful campaigns.
Investing in What Matters
Content promotions may seem like a feature designed especially for bigger, more financially stable companies, but it is actually a tool most marketers could and should use. Most professionals already know that “content is king“, and that’s the reason why investing in the best content already made available for customers is not only a good idea, but also a vital one. Marketers should remember that, according to Bill Gates, “the broad opportunities for most companies involve supplying information or entertainment. No company is too small to participate.”
Using Data-driven Empathy
While both marketers and companies around the world know that putting the clients’ needs first is important, many hold back from using technology in doing that. One good solution in doing just that, without losing the human touch, is by using data-driven empathy. This means listening to what customers have to say, establish the standard for end-to-end customer experience, designing a strategy to translate data into actionable insights, but also using technology to fill any gaps.
Data-driven empathy is just one way of making sure that customers are more than numbers, more than the data they provide. After all, empathy might prove to be the best way of building an authentic relationship with them.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the way people around the world work, live, and shop, while companies everywhere were left struggling with worries and uncertainties. Digital marketing is a bridge between companies and clients, and the best way to do that might be using empathy to make sure the client comes first.
