COVID-19 brought a paradigm shift in the way people live. Whether it be business to business or business to consumer, nearly all organisations have had to significantly change the way they operate. As the world begins to remerge, a return to the old ways seems unlikely.
With significant changes to buying habits and, with third-party cookies being phased out, brands are faced with the challenge of how to optimise personalisation and reconfiguring their post-pandemic marketing strategies to remain customer-centric and innovative. Here are a few tips to consider when navigating this strange new normal.
1. Make personalisation a priority
When competition is the fiercest it’s ever been, leveraging consumer data to offer more individualised experiences is one of the greatest tools in any marketer’s arsenal. If you’re an e-commerce business, segmenting your audience based on past purchasing behaviour allows you to send more targeted campaigns and offer personalised product recommendations.
If you sell products using Facebook or Instagram, consider taking advantage of Facebook’s dynamic ads. These ads are designed to offer highly personalised recommendations by showing the most relevant products to users who have previously visited your website, which ultimately makes leads and sales more likely.
In the Future Consumer Index (FCI), a global survey tracking changing consumer sentiment and behaviours across time horizons and markets, 53% of Australians, and 60% of New Zealanders stated that they were prepared to share personal data for healthier product recommendations. This shows that whilst some consumers do have genuine privacy concerns, they simultaneously expect their online purchases and interactions to be frictionless and highly curated to reflect their own interests and behaviours.
Above all else, personalisation is way of connecting more intimately with your audience and making them feel valued and important. Providing them with a tailored experience that shows you understand their interests, behaviours and demographics makes them feel seen in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
2. Adjust the way you measure data
As we head into Christmas, offering your loyal customers or clients a personalised gift with a custom message is also a thoughtful and considerate way to show how much you value these relationships.
Whilst utilising the power of personalisation can give some businesses a competitive advantage, ongoing changes to privacy regulations are making targeted campaigns more difficult. According to tech publication, Built In, the end of third-party cookies means that marketers should prioritise first-party data and invest in machine powered learning solutions such as lookalike audience modelling.
Data obtained through your Facebook pixel, or first-party cookies will not be affected by Google’s policy changes meaning if you are primarily concerned with tracking actions people tack on your own website you won’t be deeply impacted by the change to third party cookies. This means that there are still viable means for marketers to collect valuable data about their audience and tailor their campaigns accordingly.
In addition to Apple’s highly publicised IOS-14 update which has affected Facebook’s ability to accurately report on advertising metrics, the tech giant has also made changes to its email platform. Apple’s new privacy feature changes the ability of marketers to accurately determine the open rate of their campaigns. There’s also a feature that will allow users to hide their IP addresses making it more difficult for marketers to send targeted campaigns based on location.
In light of these changes, when considering their post-pandemic marketing strategies, marketers should place a greater emphasis on their click-through rate as opposed to the open rate as a means of determining how engaged their audience is. Some businesses may also want to consider diversifying the way they communicate with their audience to also include text messages in addition to email.
3. Building multiformat content
COVID certainly dealt a tough hand to B2B businesses who relied heavily on in-person networking events for lead generation. These businesses were faced with the task of reconfiguring their sales strategy during the pandemic. Even after these events resume, B2B marketers would be wise to concentrate on building stronger inbound marketing strategies that emphasise multi-format content.
Writing a detailed and informative blog post (like this one) may be great for your SEO but if your goal is to really increase engagement amongst your audience perhaps a podcast that people can listen to on their morning jog would be a more convenient way for people to absorb information.
Promotional products are a fantastic offline marketing tool. Functional products such as bags and umbrellas not only serve as billboards for your business but have been proven to have a higher recall value than other forms of marketing such as television or internet advertisements. Moreover, unlike a business card which is bound to descend into the abyss of a desk draw or be lost to the bottom of a handbag, promotional products are actually kept by the recipients.
Embracing adaptability and investing in creating quality content that attracts audiences across different channels will be an important post-pandemic marketing strategy.
4. Become Socially Savvy
If you’re a B2B business, it may not be worth your time to spend hours fiddling with Instagram filters. When it comes to social media it’s important to understand which platforms are most appropriate for your business and concentrate your efforts accordingly. In order to do this, you will first need clearly defined audience personas, with these personas in mind you can begin to ascertain where your customers, clients or members are most active. This is crucial when considering where to allocate your advertising dollars.
LinkedIn has long been heralded as the most effective platform when it comes to building genuine B2B relationships. Therefore, if you’re considering social media advertising, LinkedIn may be a good place to start. Don’t forget to be social on social media. This means genuinely engaging with other accounts in a considered way. Focus on providing thought leadership and value to your audience.
Even post-pandemic many people will understandably be hesitant to congregate in large groups. LinkedIn can act as an important means for you to continue to nourish and sustain your relationships with key contacts.
5. Be thoughtful and empathetic
It may seem obvious but it’s important to incorporate a sense of empathy and sensitivity into your post-pandemic marketing strategy. Businesses have long been emphasising automation and digital self-service solutions to support the needs of clients and consumers. COVID exacerbated this trend and whilst embracing new technologies that are designed to deliver a seamless experience are important it doesn’t mean we should forgo human to human connection. Businesses should not undervalue the importance of Integrating human contact into their business. Make empathy a foundational pillar of your customer service model and ensure that people have readily available access to a human when they want to.
With the festive season fast approaching and many businesses in gift-giving mode, brands would be wise to adopt a highly considered approach that takes the recipients needs, interests and lifestyle into account. With so many people working from home, offering gifts for the home office would be a fabulous idea. Use gift-giving as a way to convey a sense of empathy and understanding of each recipient’s unique circumstances. Scotland and Harrisson specialise in creating highly considered gifts and custom corporate merchandise to help businesses achieve their marketing goals.
Are these post pandemic marketing strategies here to stay?
The short answerer is yes. If COVID has taught us one thing it’s the need for businesses to embrace resilience and be open to new ways of living and working. Constantly adjusting and auditing your sales model may seem exhausting but it’s a necessary evil in these unpredictable times.
If, at any point, you feel the need of consulting an expert, SH Promotions is here to guide you with suitable branded promotional products. Talk to us!