While the pandemic continues to evolve on a seemingly daily basis, marketers must return to the skills they have cultivated and relied on over the last couple of years: adaptation, agility, and innovation.
Marketing departments are striving to establish their goals for the future as the global pandemic continues into 2022 and the consumer journey continues to shift. As companies aim to expand, it’s vital that they focus on what they’ve learned over the last two years, which includes embracing the unknown.
The following will be top of mind in 2022, and will be necessary for marketing teams to be successful.
Marketers must be willing to pivot and then pivot again
If the pandemic taught anything, it’s that being able to improvise and let go of past plans is crucial. This year will be about making a plan and sticking to it, but also being ready to change course if necessary. Is the event venue ever going to be the same? Most likely not. Marketing teams should begin reimagining what virtual engagement looks and feels like, as well as how they might redefine success in this new normal. Will they be able to predict how much traffic will pass by their new billboard? Most likely not. As a result, they need diversify their media strategy to secure coverage in a variety of settings.
Also Read: How B2B Marketers can Strategize B2B Omnichannel Marketing
Marketers are in high demand, but they are also worn out
Marketing teams have become accustomed to making a variety of modifications, frequently on the fly. They’re putting together plans for events that are on the verge of being cancelled. They’re putting in twice the effort to develop strategies for both online and in-person interactions. They may never see their work come to fruition, even with all of the extra planning. Marketing teams are putting in more hours than ever before, only to have to start all over again in certain situations, resulting in high stress levels.
They had to acclimate to a completely remote working environment in the midst of all of those hours. Now is the time to focus on team building through entertaining and creative events to increase morale and divert employees’ attention away from their work. Leaders should make sure that their marketing team gets time to unwind and get to know one another.
Keep investing in content marketing
Content marketing remains critical to engage with the audience in a more digital-first environment than the industry has ever known. Marketers must decide which performance metrics matter most early on with an unprecedented amount of performance data at their fingertips. Extraneous data can become noise at some point, therefore they should delve in and make decisions early on the specific goals of certain content assets.
Teams should conduct extensive market research on their target audience and ensure that they receive both qualitative and quantitative data. It’s vital to keep an eye on prospects’ and customers’ needs and alter the approach to get the relationship off on the right foot. Providing fresh content is a way for marketers to keep their brand top of mind, whether it’s a deep technical tutorial or presenting a study report with facts to empower their next business move.
Also Read: Four Ways B2B Marketers can Effectively Visualize Data
Separately optimize in-person and virtual marketing operations
Being one of the few remote people on a virtual call with the majority of the attendees there in person can be a nightmare. One can’t get a word in and will almost certainly miss half of the important visual cues of body language or remark they couldn’t hear, and the meeting progresses at a rate that will make them feel left out. On the other side, being present in person while also serving a virtual audience can detract from the experience of being together.
On a bigger scale, hybrid events don’t serve either audience well. It’s critical to focus marketing efforts to optimize the experience for each group, and if the budget doesn’t allow for two events, marketers should make the difficult decision to go with the one that best meets their needs and the needs of the participants.
For more such updates follow us on Google News TalkCMO News.
