2020 has served as a revelation of the marketing practices to adopt in order to make a shop, whether physical or online, last. In addition to cross-channel mechanisms, mentioned in our previous article we can also remember some fundamental marketing trends.
Taking Into Account Evolving Consumer Needs
First, the pandemic has significantly changed purchasing behaviours and habits, including the boom in supermarket purchases during the first quarantine and the rise of e-commerce.
But for Scott Kelliher (Director of Brand Advertising and Partnerships at Ebay), the equation is not so simple, as the needs of consumers are evolving in correlation with the health and economic situation.
In particular, he describes the shift from functional expenses (cleaning products, food, masks, etc.) to more diversified expenses (car parts, home office accessories due to telecommuting, puzzles, creatives, etc.).
These are trends to follow and take into account in the development of your marketing strategy!
Moreover, these changes in terms of purchases are changing the hierarchy that existed between shops (from a consumer preferences perspective). Indeed, a study by Joko, looking at the impact of Covid-19 on spending by 18-35 year olds (online and in stores) shows that Zara has lost 40 places among the brands where young people spend the most. Maintaining only 16% of its sales thanks to e-commerce, the brand is now relegated to 62nd place.
In this changing environment, the key to developing your business is agility.
The Need To Adapt: Agility And Marketing Creativity
We have already talked about the value of agility in dealing with uncertainty in previous articles. This trend is confirmed for 2021 according to Jo Pettifer, Salesforce’s vice president of marketing.
He explains in a recent interview for ClickZ that Salesforce has had to reinvent itself on many fronts: “our products, employee experiences, customer commitments and events”. All this, “with performance and speed.”
On the other hand, creativity is just as essential to adapt to an uncertain and ever-changing environment.
Indeed, we saw this year that containment does not mean end of creativity: during the first episode of the epidemic, many brands continued to produce visuals, images. For example, by asking models to take pictures of themselves at home.
Thus, the crisis has not, and should not discourage, innovation, whether in terms of communication or business strategy. To inspire you, we’ve put together an article on the best practices of 2020 in terms of cross-channel strategy.
Focus On Ethics
It is a fact that the health crisis has found its roots partly in the ecological crisis.
Therefore, since the Covid-19, customers are always expecting more and more out of brands, including a sincere ethical commitment (according to Camille Olivier, co-founder of the communication agency CTZAR).
The advice of I Feedback Now : have a clear ethical line with both your consumers and your customers, and feel free to conduct satisfaction surveys to take the temperature from them! Why not test our software for your first campaign? Find out more here!
Another topic in vogue among consumers : the collection of personal data and online privacy. To meet this challenge, IBM Watson is banking on a long-term goal of impartiality and confidentiality, including taking advantage of the relative neutrality of AI.
Personalizing The Customer Experience: A Consistent Trend
This trend has already been present for several years among marketers, but continues to strengthen.
Offering personalized shopping paths, relevant messages at specific times, while creating an optimized customer experience, is FILA‘s bet, for example. In partnership with Capgemini, the firm has implemented optimizations in terms of digital marketing and referencing, to better understand the profile and behavior of its online customers.
On the other hand, the challenge is to reconcile customer data collection (to provide the most appropriate services and products) with a focus on privacy and confidentiality.
To get around this problem, you can use satisfaction surveys (where data is delivered freely by customers, and with RGPD-compliant software).
In addition, to know the expectations of its customers, what better way than to ask them the right questions directly?
Contact us to discover our tools for analyzing and collecting customer or employee reviews, and give a boost to your marketing strategy!
The JDMA Editorial.