What The Last 2 Years Have Taught Us

It’s 2022! Or is that 2020, too?

While we might be feeling a bit of déjà vu, the world has changed significantly in the last two years. From a business and marketing standpoint, this means more flexibility and adjusting the approach.

The last two years have reinforced what we already know – brands must communicate in very local and precise terms, targeting specific consumers based on their circumstances and what’s relevant to them. This involves understanding their current situation and how it’s changing. Messages need to be personally relevant, aligned to an individual’s situation and values, and create a personal, human connection.

The old adage was that you are competing with your competitors. In today’s day and age, the new truth is that you are competing with the last best experience your customer or client had. Digital transformation has accelerated in the last two years, which sent consumer expectations skyrocketing in terms of what companies could do for them with a more digital experience. Customers also now expect you to have exactly what they want or need, exactly when they need it. Data allows for the creation of more relevant experiences such as:

• Content (that can be provided in experiences like emails or mobile apps)
• Commerce (such as physical retail, e-commerce, or a hybrid experience)
• Community (such as convening B2B buyers at a virtual trade show, hosting a webinar on home repair for consumers, etc)
• Convenience (like offering consumers coupons or benefits from a loyalty program)

Your customers/clients must sit at the heart of your customer journey – not just at the heart of your marketing strategy. It’s important to remember that marketing is often just the beginning of a relationship with the customer. For example, the journey starts with engaging them, converting them to a sale directly or indirectly, and then hopefully retaining them so they become advocates and potentially open to upsells and cross-sells. Marketing must be viewed in the context of the full end-to-end journey and, where possible, work to connect the dots.

The last two years have created in irreversible trend to embrace a nimble mentality with marketing. This new mindset is likely a permanent change and includes continuous consumer listening and demand sensing to adjust messaging or supply chain issues quickly. It means faster decision cycles and more flexibility across all areas like creative, budgeting, and media placement.

Embracing these new truths for business and marketing represent the path to both post-pandemic and long-term success. There may be an adjustment period, especially for those accustomed to the ways of the past, but we can find familiarity and confident footing in knowing that the perspective of the customer must be the main priority now and in the future.

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