3 Ways to Transform Your Comms Strategy for the "New Normal" Consumer

After the events of the past few months, many of us can’t help but feel a seismic shift in the work we do and the industry in which we operate. While our efforts continue to center around sensitivity, adaptation, and sharing resources, we are starting to see what life may look like on the other side – particularly for communications and marketing professionals.

These transformative changes have also occurred in the personal and professional lives of our customers. This will markedly change the strategy necessary for reaching your targeted demographics. Naveen Wall, Movable Ink’s Associate Director of Client Strategy, recently pointed out: “People typically consume media based on their daily routines, and those routines have been disrupted.”

It is now the job of industry professionals to understand what this “new normal” looks like for their consumers and how best to adapt their business strategies to meet new needs.

As we look ahead, here are some changes to take into consideration:

1. Relationship-Focused Marketing

Brands and companies in the media and marketing spaces will have to focus on building a rapport with their consumers. Relationships have consistently been at the core of meaningful sales and client loyalty, yet our current events dictate an even stronger need for values-based conversations and empathy-driven action plans.

McCann Worldgroup’s CEO Chris MacDonald recently stated, “There is no doubt that the pandemic has resulted in people looking for different and more sustainable relationships in the virtual world that help keep them connected, add value to their lives, and make them feel part of communities.”

Consumers have more time and resources available than ever to research the businesses from which they buy products and services, making the market more competitive. Companies grounded in authenticity, community and social responsibility are more likely to build a genuine relationship with their consumers.

This begins with client strategy sessions where brands actively listen and provide tailored products, charitable incentives, and thoughtful marketing materials. When meaningful connections are the priority, the rest will follow.

2. Grow to Meet Your “New Normal” Consumer

Each demographic and consumer group has drastically shifted in the wake of COVID-19. One business’s target demographic may look entirely different from your own. Knowing what marketing strategy garners the most engagement from the group you need to reach is vital.

Products and content, like MultiVu’s Catalyst, provide an immersive consumer experience, welcome clients into a community, and engage them in the process of both assessing and meeting their needs.

Whether an interactive online look book, infographic or assessment- this type of content is adaptable and brings, on average, 50% engagement rates and 40% lead conversion rates.⁽¹⁾

Catalyst delves into the complexities, nuances and intricacies of interactive marketing campaigns to analyze not just how successful an infographic or campaign is, but rather what details of each campaign were the most efficient, engaging and beneficial.

Understanding the specific and successful components of your marketing campaigns, which Catalyst seeks to optimize, is the ideal strategy for getting to know this “new consumer” and creates the blueprint for successful post-pandemic business solutions.

3. High Volume + Tight Turnaround

With decreased budgets, fewer resources, and smaller teams as a result of COVID-19, it is crucial to be intentional in each marketing endeavor, employ strong time management skills, and maximize already existing tools.

Continuously comparing time invested in a campaign with its potential benefit can help discern which marketing avenues to pursue and which to avoid.

Richard Yanowitch, CEO of Brandcast, recently stressed the shift in rapidity and scale in this new marketing landscape. He noted: “By necessity, marketers are now in the high-velocity digital content business. They’re expected to produce a lot more digital content—faster, cheaper, and more personalized than ever. Most teams will need to do so with far fewer resources than before—making the rapid scaling of digital design, collaboration, and content production paramount.”

Staying competitive in this post-pandemic workforce relies on high volume without compromising quality. Consumers are overwhelmed with content through multiple streams of information ranging from social channels to news media platforms. Generating content authentic to your brand’s core values will make it easier to efficiently meet the volume necessitated by this new market without compromising the quality of your work.

Patience

Beyond understanding the depth and scope of the changes to come, it is important to have patience. These shifts in the way we do business will not happen overnight. It requires trial and error, empathy, and understanding during the difficult moments as we look for a better-informed and equipped tomorrow.

Media and marketing as an industry has and will continue to change in response to COVID-19, yet we can anticipate these adjustments and adapt at the outset.

Our teams at MultiVu have also had to adjust alongside these changes. Remote production, Virtual Media Tours (VMTs), Webcasts, and Multichannel News Releases (MNRs) have all felt the impact of this rapidly evolving media landscape. With each change, our team is here to help you lean into the challenges, brainstorm creative solutions, and prioritize meaningful content and relationships above all else.

(1) “How Customers Think, Feel, and Act: The Paradigm of Business Outcomes” A Forrester Consulting Thought Leadership Paper Commissioned by FocusVision, June 2019. Accessed January 2020. http://cdn.snapapp.com/site/images/marketing/interactive_content_and_the_buyers_journey_snapapp_oracle.pdf

ABOUT THE EXPERT: Charlee Rae Bender

Charlee Rae Bender is a Product Marketing Assistant for MultiVu. She is currently finishing her undergraduate degrees in Communications and Sports Management at Pepperdine University. Upon graduation, she plans to move to New York and pursue a degree in sports law.