Throughout the course of 2020, Covid-19 has progressively leveled corporate expectations worldwide. Over the course of the pandemic, we’ve seen executives pay great attention to the Sales, Supply Chain, and Technology segments of their respective businesses but comparatively there’s been a failure to action the Marketing Division and the competitive advantages therein.
How then, does a modern marketing division justify both the funding that it receives as well as its own existence? Namely, by Inspiring Trust to Build a Resilient Brand Strategy, Creating Moments that Matter by Harnessing Digital Experiences, and by using Data & Analytics to Drive Visibility into Marketing Effectiveness.
Harnessing Digital Experience
It is clear then that the more consistent your messaging, the more likely you are to attract and maintain loyal customers, however, this is not the only metric that bears consideration. According to Walker, 2020 is the year that customer experience will surpass both price and product as the most important brand differentiator. Additionally, retail figures published during August by the Commerce Department found that during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers spent $200.72 billion online with U.S. retailers, up 44.4% from $138.96 billion for the same quarter in the previous year.
This necessity of buying online has made consumers significantly more open to digital offerings and experiences – a shift that marketing executives believe will persist even after the pandemic recedes. It seems that digital marketing efforts will command a greater share of total marketing spend moving forward, the question that this raises is ‘how can you get creative with your digital marketing strategy to harness the power of digital CX?’
Meeting your customers where they are is pivotal when it comes to marketing and the acceleration of digital options, as well as their availability, has seen a marked change in how consumers approach purchases. As McKinsey reported, this has already begun to play out in China, where there has been a 55 percent increase in consumers looking to move permanently towards online grocery shopping, and an increase of three to six percentage points in overall e-commerce penetration in the aftermath of COVID-19.
For a world currently uncertain about face-to-face contact, the digital experience represents the best of both worlds, namely, receiving the product without the risk that a physical interaction may bring with it. For marketers, this new digital world is prime real estate.
The captive Covid-19 audience represents a significant opportunity, but it is not as simple as pushing solely into digital and waiting for a revenue spike, it is a balancing act. Digital Customer Experiences should utilize the best of the technology that defines them, whilst also providing the human qualities that face-to-face interaction allows for.
How does Utilizing Digital Experience Create Moments that Matter?
- Better and more efficient customer engagement
- Increased customer loyalty and retention
- Reduced cost of service and marketing
- Improved Crisis Management
- Increased customer conversions
However, this is just one of the three key solutions mentioned above that a marketer might employ to quickly respond to the threat posed by the coronavirus whilst also future-proofing their business for years to come.
Continue the debate at the CMO Brand Insight Summit NA, a GDS Summit, where we bring together senior marketing executives who are actively seeking to share, learn, engage, and find the best technology solutions.
GDS Group hosts experts to help experts. We strive to provide an atmosphere for our attendees that enable them to confidently lead their companies through major transformation projects. For information on upcoming events, view our Digital Summits. To remain current on our activities, visit GDS Group on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter.
