Data Driven Marketing in “The New World”

It’s abundantly clear that companies need to go back to the drawing board and rehash their brand messaging and managing their brand image in the different phases of a crisis. It is essential that companies tread carefully during these trying times. I notice 2 kinds of brands in crisis: those who wait and watch, and then there are those who view the scenario and realign their reach to the audience

Traditional media and f2f interaction with customers is not an option any more, 50% of the marketing budgets are now available or moved to digital channels.

Let’s explore how the digital channels have remorphed in response to the crisis and what brands can do to build and sustain customer confidence and their brand image.

Social is no longer dominated by entertainment or simply to track the images posted by Kardasians. Forward thinking brands use the social channels as an extension of f2f interaction with the customers. I can hear you think, nothing will take place of a f2f customer interaction, but I assure this is a close second. Simply put, if a channel has a captive audience, don’t just spend your ad dollars on it, but use it to reimagine your brand communication and to build new revenue channels.

So what do you do with all the ad dollars? According to IAB, 60% of buyers have already adjusted or paused their planned ad spend, while 16% is still determining what actions to take. Some part of these budgets will move to Audience Targeting and to the OTT platforms for the third and fourth quater and even some part of 2021 and the marketing messaging is moving to cause related and mission based marketing

What these times need more than ever is to stay connected and sustain customer confidence. Marketing Automation will create the difference between the have and have nots in these times to come because the brands that have audience nurturing process in place without overheating their marketing engine will win hands down

Next, look at your brand’s content strategy. This is not just a tactic for crisis management, this is hygiene. According to an article in SCMP, research suggests mobile users now spend over 6 hours every day online — that’s almost 2 full days a week. Mobile engagement across the globe shows no sign of slow down. It’s become more important than ever that brands create a content plan and whether you choose to outsource content to a digital marketing vendor or have an inhouse core team, make sure you can measure what is working for you. In the age where there is an ocean of content on every subject focus on interactive content vs static content to stay ahead

With ever changing search engine algorithms it time to tirelessly work to keep you ranking high on search engine

Last and THE most important — Let data drive your decision. Track Track Track how your audience is interacting with your brand. I cannot emphasize enough that companies that don’t know their customer behaviour and are shooting in the dark and losing their market share to those who have data driven marketing strategies in place. Let data show the strengths and weaknesses of your brand and predict the future behaviour of your audience

Majority of businesses will experience slow down. The more you do to retain your brand presence now, the quicker brands will recover and bounce back when the world moves to the complete new normal. Spend this time to sustain customer confidence and build long term trust.