–
–
–
December 21, 2020 – At the end of this special year 2020, not only marketers are faced with the questions: What is different? What remains? And what are the top priorities for the coming year? A marketing forecast for 2021 by Salesforce Manager Johannes Diebig.
by Dominik Grollmann
The good news first: Companies and organizations with many customer contacts have great opportunities to raise their data treasure and to use it intelligently – if they regain data sovereignty.
Away from the watering can – but really now!
From brand to target group to customer focus, the history of marketing is a constant intensification and individualization. Brand-centered advertising was initially very self-centered and was distributed via a manageable number of channels – from print ads to billboards – using the watering can principle. Orientation towards target groups followed with the digital channels, whereby segmentation and targeting were left to the large platforms, which also optimized their algorithms. As a result, customers remained unknown despite the interaction. As a result of the changed purchasing behavior, 2021 will be all about intelligent marketing in order to adapt branding to it and establish customer proximity – even at a distance. Especially companies with many points of contact with their customers should ask themselves how they can gain their own insights from their interactions with their customers.
What belongs together must grow together
While analog and digital channels were previously used largely in isolation from one another – as long as sales were right – silo thinking is no longer an option. If on-site contact is no longer available or changes permanently, customers expect dynamic interaction across all marketing channels: They not only want to recognize the brand, but above all to be recognized as a customer whose concerns are known and who are accordingly valued . There is increasing pressure for companies to be present on the right marketing channels and to address their customers consistently and individually across all channels.
Top priority: Control over your own data – from the third to the first party
Many companies – from banks to publishing houses – are sitting on a huge amount of data from their customer interactions. So far, however, you have left the use of this to other players. By building their own data platforms, these companies are able to create end to end customer journeys. Intelligent marketing picks up users from where they are – and that is not just in search engines, but also, for example, at virtual events, in forums, on news pages or podcasts, to name just a few. In order to gain data sovereignty, companies need a data strategy – and shouldn’t afford to let third-party providers generate their target group’s insights. Marketing organizations can generate their own treasure trove of data – and then use this data to conduct personalized marketing in real time.
Being there is not a strategy
The pace at which new channels emerge and change is exponential. But not only that: New technologies are also changing customer expectations. It’s about more than just using TikTok in addition to the Insta channel. It has to be about moving away from the isolated consideration of every single channel, every campaign or initiative to a holistic view of customers and not-yet-customers. Marketers need to ask: How can I turn new unknowns into known prospects; How do first-time buyers become multiple buyers; and what does it take for them to become loyal ambassadors for the brand and the company?
It’s not just pipeline and sales that matter
In this respect, it is becoming more and more important for marketing to define exactly which role it wants to play in the entire buying cycle. This also includes measuring and evaluating the performance accordingly. Much more important than the claim ‘Campaign x generated y sales’ are statements such as ‘Campaign x brought us y new prospects and made z existing customers loyal ambassadors’.
Customer experience is the new marketing
In the end, the customer experience becomes the new measure for marketing. This is where everything comes together – the creative department to create relevance with the right messages in the right context. The demand-gen machine that uses this context in intelligent journeys to raise every single customer and not-yet-customer to a new level.
The transformation of marketing is urgent
The best marketing organizations are in the process of initiating a huge transformation of themselves. Everything in marketing will change. But marketers have it in their hands to shape this transformation themselves and to change the customer experience of their brands – but also their own position in the company – sustainably.
– .
