Everything is different in the times of crises. Global pandemic and lockdowns gave a realization to many companies that they have to return to the basics of marketing. In this post, we will go through the digital marketing strategy trends that are important in today's business world.
Human Experience – the human dimension
One danger of the new digital world in times of COVID-19 is that it can make people feel isolated, underrepresented and emotionally unfulfilled. Brands have to find answers to this if they want to remain relevant. For example, by giving the interactions between brand and customer a “human touch” and empathically taking the user into account when designing services and products.
Part of this new humanity is to solve real problems that concern concrete people in their lives. For this, the company must create value-based offers and also tackle a redesign of the infrastructure in response to the most urgent needs of society, for example through the development of platforms.
In addition, it is important to gain data and knowledge about what values and ideas the customers have. The social and ecological dimensions must also be taken into account. After all, “human experience” is about lived meaningfulness in exchange with customers, employees and society as a whole.
Trust – trust is everything
Like any other crisis, the corona pandemic focuses on the relationship between brands and trust. That is, the perception of a brand is determined by the connection between what is promised (brand messages and advertising) and what is delivered (customer experiences, products, services).
Brands should focus on what people really value. And they need to make sure their promises are in line with their ability to deliver on them. If there is a discrepancy here, the trust that consumers have in a brand suffers. And this has a direct, negative impact on business success when customers turn away from a brand.
Participation – participation creates added value
Digital technologies transform customers from passive consumers into interacting partners. You take an active part in the development and creation of a brand. No matter what's your priority, you have to participate in every possible way. For instance, you can increase the engagement on your Instagram page by commenting and replying to your customers’ questions and requests.
Where and how this participation can be implemented in the customer journey and in product design is in many cases not an easy question. But it is worth answering, because nothing is more important for a brand than committed customers, who become brand ambassadors, influencers and innovators – and sometimes even employees: This brings clear competitive advantages and strengthens the brand value.
Fusion – merging of industries and ecosystems
Cooperation and exchange are new models. In the digital world, there are no traditional boundaries between industries. Companies make new, more intensive connections with their stakeholders. They create ecosystems to which competitors as well as companies from completely different industries, but also social groups can belong.
Brands with a strong future take part in such movements in a proactive, creative and customer-centric way. They break away from their industry origins and reconfigure their brand content on the basis of data-supported analyzes, towards an openness to new customer groups, worlds of experience and business areas in order to transform themselves holistically and thus to discover and develop new markets.
Talent – the employees make the difference
The focus on the human must definitely include your own workforce. Employees are a company’s most valuable asset. For a faster pace of change, the qualifications and skills of the employees must be improved and the organizational flexibility created for a faster reaction to market needs.
Satisfied employees are more motivated and improve the brand’s image. Employee experience data supplements customer experience data and provides the company with important new insights for talent development.
