New style of marketing must align to the ‘new normal’

The entire ecosystem of business has shifted – not just company operations, but how we do business and how we attracted new sales. These alterations have been driven by a new set of behaviours across our ecosystem.

In-person events and networking will take a back place for some time to come, as businesses look at virtual events, and we have witnessed a sudden uptake in webinars. Digital content marketing has taken centre stage, as increasingly people have time to share their expertise, and indeed, others have time to read it!

Changing times for business

The tactical shifts highlight the changing needs of business and the market. The overhanging question of whether we will have a recession has been settled in many minds, as most have resigned that it is now inevitable.

With unemployment rates rapidly rising, and businesses still not returned to maximum capacity, company strategies are being redrawn. However, marketing should not be the biggest casualty of your business.

Absolutely right that business should scale back and prioritise, yet marketing will be essential to encourage customers, both new and existing, back to spend their budgets. If you were about to invest in marketing and haven’t. Or have made some tough business decisions to scale back. You need to consider how the business environment has shifted and marketing will play a critical role in helping to settle your business and re-lay new foundations.

Digital marketing supporting a new era of marketing

Evaluating how we communicate with our audience is key as behaviours have changed. The use of technology for collaboration, for example, has exploded and ways of working, finding information, and networking online is the ‘new normal’.

These changing dynamics are critical if we want our message to both resonate and be noticed. This is where digital marketing really plays to its strengths and will become the underpinning foundation to all marketing strategy.

We must recognise that it is not just about taking our old message, sticking it in an email and hoping sales will soar. And our business needs have changed. Aligning a comprehensive digital marketing strategy to our new business goals will be top of the agenda.

We have to face facts that with the state of the market, core considerations will include budget and resource. Outsourcing marketing will become increasingly popular, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. Why? Mainly because it offers flexibility.

Not only budget friendly, outsourcing marketing, or parts of your marketing function, ensures it aligns to both the changing market and business demands. Agencies also support a multi-tactical digital marketing effort – providing access to experienced experts with an array of skills.

Uncertainty in the market has already driven some tough decisions for businesses and how they navigate through this time will impact on how successful they will be on the other side. Marketing will play a critical role in success but must address, ‘How have audiences’ behaviours changed?’, ‘What are the new core goals of the business?’, and ‘How can we utilise outsourced marketing to enable us to be more effective?’.