Traditional marketing strategies faced challenges in delivering planned results in 2020; but the worst is not yet over. Developing a new strategy in the coming year will be even a bigger challenge
The daily lives and routines of nearly every client and customer have been disrupted for an extended period in 2020. The traditional marketing policies and strategies that generally require only minimal optimizations and tweaks to progress in the next year will not work this time. Many such practices have been modified immediately or wholly put on hold.
The age-old thinking of “this is the way it is always done” will be very problematic as we advance. Marketers who resisted changes earlier will see that such a practice will dramatically result in underperformance of their strategies and campaigns.
As 2020 progressed, marketing leaders found methods to evolve with the updates in the industry and the general world. Testing of new channels and ideas was done along with updating of pre-existing programs to adapt to purchasing behavior changes. With 2021 fast approaching, marketing leaders have to start planning and strategizing for 2021.
CMOs say that planning a marketing strategy for the next year is a challenge even in normal times. They have to come up with hypotheses and estimates about how businesses will grow and change.
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They need to chalk out what marketing strategies will work best for addressing those changes. The only advantage that CMOs have is that not all changes have been game changers and massive shifts are at least partially predictable in recent times.
It is expected that 2021 will deal with uncertainties regarding business outlook, global economy, and remote work realities. Despite not having answers related to purchasing and the general behavior of people in the coming year, CMOs have started building strategies and making plans for 2021.
Marketing strategies will be built with a dynamic mindset to be adapted easily to any change thrown at it. Avi Savar, President at Suzy, says,” 2021 will see the further evolution and necessity of real-time marketing. 2020 brought real-time marketing to the forefront with COVID-19, social justice movements, and the presidential election. These events have highlighted how important it is for brands to harvest real-time insights, so they can change quickly and respond appropriately and with agility to shifting consumer sentiments.”
Building a foundation based on existing knowledge
CMOs point out that despite the uncertainties, there exists a sure-fire knowledge about every industry that can be relied upon to occur. Marketing plans should be built on the scenarios that they are confident will occur. While 2020 has taught enterprises about disruptions, it has also helped them detect the foundational elements of the business. This knowledge should be taken up and blended with the basics of the marketing strategy.
Building a strategy based on adaptability
The main take away from 2020 for all enterprises regardless of the industry, is that things can change drastically with minimal warning. CMOs say that when building new strategies, it is critical to ensure that it is a plan for decisive and quick adaptation to either take advantage of a scenario or addressing a market challenge. Leaders say that effective and successful 2021 marketing strategies will not be set in stone. They should have in-built agility to make it easier to adapt to market conditions, in as near to real-time as possible.
