Developing a Digital Marketing Strategy After the Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has made many changes in the form of communication. Not only personally, the pandemic also has a very strong impact on the business sector. You must be able to focus on the market in order to survive in the midst of very fast changes. It is undeniable, marketing is also very dependent on the use of technology (digital).

Even in the midst of limitations, digital market competition is becoming increasingly difficult. All industrial sectors try to read the market needs and innovate quickly. In order to survive the changes that occur during the pandemic, here are the marketing strategies that you need to pay attention to.

1. Get to know customer segments

The Covid-19 pandemic has proven that a business must be able to communicate its brand very locally and on target. It's not just a matter of geography, the message conveyed through a marketing strategy must be personally relevant, aligned with the situation and individual values. This differs from demographics such as age and gender.

It is important to be able to create a personal and human connection in every commercial message. Consumer segments need to be described through psychographic personas to their attitude characteristics. Leveraging segmentation and personas can bring deeper insights into media strategies and creative marketing approaches.

2. Compete with the best experience

When the coronavirus strikes, digital transformation can happen very quickly overnight. In time, this can send consumer expectations skyrocketing in everything a product with a more digital experience has to offer.

That is, in this case a business is no longer just competing with its competitors. Everyone now hopes to have the most comfortable experience with the best product quality. For this reason, the use of data such as personal data and customer journeys will be very useful for segmented marketing needs.

3. Brands must stand behind great values

The pandemic is really challenging the loyalty of every brand. The EY Future Consumer Index found that by category, up to 61% of consumers are willing to consider white label products. That dynamic is coupled with the increased consumer awareness fueled during social machinations during 2020 that brands need to be very focused on the values ​​they express.

A key theme of EY's research shows that while quality, convenience and price are still very important to consumers' choices, factors such as sustainability, trust, ethical sourcing, and social responsibility are increasingly important in how consumers choose their products and services. For this reason, the value that a brand believes in in terms of differentiating the post-pandemic market has changed consumer preferences.

4. Approaching customers is like online dating

For a long time, marketing was mostly about mass-driven reach or targeted reach at the best price. Basically, the marketing strategy is done like going to as many parties or bars as possible to find someone who fits. It was a world of spontaneous, frankly, and lots of face-to-face encounters.

This is different from online dating by swiping through the application. Now, finding the perfect match may be less about chance and more about data and algorithms. In terms of marketing, we can see the shift from brand marketing to performance marketing that can generate prospects. The digital channel's pandemic acceleration has only exacerbated that trend.

5. Customers expect brands to have what they want

If standards continue to rise, brands will need to aspire to new values ​​around the customer experience in both B2C and B2B contexts. Consumers expect that any experience will be seamless. Consumers only care about getting what they want when they want it

Creating this experience requires companies to put data and technology at the core of their business. It's no wonder that it's possible for big businesses to build machine learning and/or artificial intelligence into the mix.

Data enables businesses to create more relevant experiences across one or more of the dimensions of the four C's:

- Content: can be provided in experiences such as email or mobile apps

- Commerce: physical retail, e-commerce, or a combination of both

- Community: gather B2B shoppers at virtual trade shows or host webinars on home improvement for consumers

- Convenience: offer coupons or benefits from a loyalty program to consumers

It is important to be able to align the attractiveness of a brand with the way it is communicated to consumers. For this reason, Prasmul Eli developed an Integrated Marketing Communication and Strategic Brand Management program to combine the two. That way, you can keep your business growing despite the pandemic.