Do you feel like 2020 and 2021 are just bad dreams that the whole planet is trying to wake up from; or is it just me? It is hard to deny that the coronavirus pandemic changed our lives. How we do business changed. The ability to access healthcare has changed. How we interact as people has changed. The way we advertise changed significantly too! “How” you ask? Let’s explore that together.
Marketing got personal.
Nowadays, more than ever, businesses are forming emotional bonds with their customers. Trust, a sense of security and emotional connections are the key emotions that need to be invoked by advertisement in 2021. Looking at examples from my own clients – staying customer-centric was a key to success through 2020 and the first half of 2021. It is unlikely to change anytime soon.
Everything is online.
Nowadays it is extremely important to be available for your customers online. People shop through Facebook, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Amazon, and Instagram more now than ever.
Having your website or online store always available puts extra pressure on your business backend, creates extra financial pressure on the purchase of web services, webpage hosting etc. The “always on” approach is transforming business and its workers. Cutting costs on renting office space, moving workers to remote work and excessive use of Zoom – all of these became the new normal.
Being in business became more political.
Many customers now expect a business to share the same values as they do. It is not easy to advertise to such a crowd – a lot of businesses scored big by sharing their opinion while others crashed their marketing campaigns due to expressing their view incorrectly or having the ‘wrong’ view. Be very sure of your audience when expressing your company values and be careful in your wording.
People miss shopping in-store.
According to a recent study of customer’s purchasing habits, 91% of customers miss in-store shopping. That’s good news for the brick-and-mortar companies! However, until the pandemic situation is resolved businesses will have to be more transparent and proactive in their policy to keep everyone safe.
Privacy?
With the increased amount of online shopping happening all over the world, companies are forced to retain more personal information of their customers than ever! Because of that, most of the industries are facing a customer-led fight for their private information. Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft are all racing to secure their customer’s data and declare themselves as winners of the “privacy race”. Look out for a new shift in how we will be handling client’s information in a near future.
Do you have any thoughts on this? let us know.
