B2B marketing in the new normal

Anoop Karumathil Melethil, Associate Vice President – Marketing, Maveric Systems, outlines some shifts expected across several aspects of marketing – be it strategy, channels and content.

The business landscape is changing at an unprecedented pace that none of us expected. The onus now is on business continuity rather than exponential growth. An organisation whose marketing is agile in outlook will do well, driven by the ability to quickly change tactics, align to the new reality and innovate based on what works best.

The current situation will have extended impact across several aspects of marketing, be it strategy, channels and content. While it is too early to future gaze, I have outlined some of the shifts that are likely in the offing.

Strategy:

Were one to consider organisational strategy in the new normal, this would be defined by two aspects – protection of that which existed and acquisition of the new.

On the one hand, there are organisations that are focused on engaging with a specific set of customers, building multi-level stakeholder relationships and serving clientele over the long haul. Here, frequent and consistent communication across stakeholder levels assumes critical significance. Delivery readiness and commitment to customer success will drive the bulk of messaging, with the focus of narrative being as much on maintaining the strength of relationship as on being a trusted partner who can stand with, by and alongside the customer.

On the other hand, there are organisations aiming to capture a greater market share or acquire new customers. Here, the focus of messaging is more on what you are offering to your target audience. Narrative around solutions needs to be far sharper and more contextually aligned, given most organisations are focused on business criticalities. For example, collaboration platforms are emerging as the need of the hour, and campaigns focused on these are seeing an increase in number.

For solutions not as relevant today, focus will be on awareness building campaigns executed in drip mode, so that by the time things start curving back on track, requisite mindshare has been established among the target audience.

Campaigns aimed at increasing captive audience in terms of both numbers and attention span will work well for both retention and acquisition. It makes sense to use this time to do extensive data analysis to fine tune customer personas, navigation paths, buying behaviour in order to prepare for a time when socio-economic purchase parameters have evolved to suit the new normal.

Channels:

In a time marked by tradeshow cancellations and remote working, marketing teams with heavy investments in digital channels will fare better than ones focused on ‘in-person’ networking events. Those who follow account-based programs need to exercise flexibility to transition to digital channels.

Virtual events, though an early entrant into the marketing scene, had not managed popularity due to the lack of ‘in-person’ appeal. Since virtual reality is the new ‘normal’, they are now making a strong comeback. The need for digital events is to creatively orchestrate human interaction.

Virtual mode will also apply to advertisements, driving the shift from physical to digital. Budgets that were erstwhile earmarked for physical branding will be reallocated to digital branding. Mediums such as webinars, live streaming will continue to increase as part of marketing mix.

According to web analytics provider Similarweb, traffic to travel and tourism websites have suffered a massive hit. On the contrary, streaming services and social networking sites have witnessing increased volumes. Search volumes are also muted at this point, which might result in a lower focus on SEO led paid campaigns. An informed decision on the ROI from such modes needs to be made before embarking on any digital campaigns.

Email campaigns will continue to see traction and success rates can be much higher in the present situation. Here, marketing organisations with accurate, regulation compliant database stand to gain. For others, this might be a good time to build a robust subscriber base through focused and impactful content. This time is ideal for drip email campaigns for awareness and thought leadership.

Marketing organisations using IP address-based targeting would face challenges as bulk of the population is working remotely.

This time can also be used to relook at the kind of influencers that form a part of your influencer marketing ecosystem. Those influencers who are behaving responsibly and posting responsible content are the ones brands need to go after, as right influencers can help to develop trust for your brand.

Content:

With digital channels being key, the amount of content in the online space is seeing an exponential increase. The need to make your content stand out is therefore more important than ever. As a thumb rule, it is worthwhile to analyse the relevance of content in the current context, as well as applicability in line with the challenges faced by clientele. Creation of content in an impactful manner followed by delivery through the right channel comes next. Quality and relevance of content rather than quantity would be the way to go.

Equally important is the messaging that you drive through the content and communication initiatives. A brand should be sensitive, concurrently focusing on contextuality, maintaining a balancing act.

Finally, this is a good time for marketing organisations to look at their own teams and evaluate what capabilities need to be built. Analysing the effectiveness of your team also enables you to put in place a set of fallback mechanisms. In the new normal, you need to ensure that you built resilience mechanisms to help your brand succeed.

It is worthwhile mentioning that it is easy for marketing teams to go overboard on two counts in the current context. One, where you are seen to be exploiting the situation – crafting your messages with a high proportion of COVID-19 related information. The other, where you are giving the impression that its business as usual with no empathy. A balanced approach, irrespective of strategy, channels, content and execution will thus be the need of the hour.