The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented chaos to our world in 2020/21. Now the economy is on the road to recovery as we learn to live with COVID-19. As every year, there have been developments in marketing which businesses need to be aware of.
As 2021 comes to a close, our attention moves to 2022 and the changes that businesses might need to adapt to in order to keep growing.
The Hybrid model is here to stay for meetings and events
During the pandemic, the world turned to the digital world for communication, meetings, and events. Very quickly, online platforms like ZOOM become essential.
Even though face to face meetings and events have resumed, there is still a preference for some events like networking to remain online.
The flexibility of online events has helped businesses reach a wider audience as well as being cost-effective for the organiser.
Eco-friendly credentials become important for consumers
More companies than ever have started putting the environment first and are planting trees, reducing their carbon footprint.
Consumers are likely to be conscious of the companies they use and the impact they are having on the environment. Companies that put the environment first are more likely to win the business of the younger generation who are particularly concerned about climate change.
The younger generation has taken on tackling climate change, and more start-ups are based around solutions to help the crisis.
Consumers expect personalisation
Companies like Netflix and Amazon have been personalising their content for years, and now personalisation is something that consumers are insisting on.
Since the world shut down in 2020, people are surrounded by content, they are being targeted by thousands of companies every day, personalising the content they see means they are more likely to engage with it.
This works well for email marketing for e-commerce businesses; sending content and products related to their purchase history will get more engagement than mass emails.
Taking time to segment your audience and personalise content will also help build a relationship with your audience.
Social media and e-commerce become even closer related
The world of e-commerce is changing now that Facebook has created new ways for retailers to get their products in front of their customers. The new Facebook shops allow retailers to build collections and have more control over how the shop looks. Facebook will be adding more features to this new product and will be building on the increase in e-commerce sales caused by the lockdowns in 2020/21.
The world is changing thanks to new technologies and new attitudes towards how business should be conducted. Whilst COVID-19 will be a focus for the foreseeable future, another area of attention is how businesses can limit the damage they do to the environment and how they can position themselves as leaders in reducing carbon emissions.
