How the pandemic has changed marketing trends forever November 17, 2021

How the pandemic has changed marketing trends forever

The past 18 months have been tough. Stay at home orders turned consumerism on its head, and although digitalisation was already gaining pace, the pandemic accelerated the speed at which businesses went digital in order to keep up or risk falling behind.

With the growth of digitalisation, trends in marketing have naturally changed. So, how have they evolved during the pandemic and what does it mean for businesses?

Here, the experts at London TFE have assembled two of the key marketing trend changes and how they can help inform marketing strategies going forward.

Consumer expectations

Consumer behaviours changed a lot during the pandemic. Already, we were seeing a new generation growing up with digital fully integrated into their lives and then, with more people at home, and staying in, internet usage increased. Shopping online sky rocketed and it isn’t showing signs of slowing down yet.

Having an online presence is more important than ever before. But more than a website is needed to uphold brand reputation and the loyalty of customers.

Customer experience needs to be prioritised too. Consumer’s expectations have grown during this time, and they now expect a lot more in terms of deliverables.

People want an easy digital experience, backed up by solid customer service, fast delivery times, and more importantly a connection with the community.

Brands that did well during the height of the pandemic, quickly pushed out campaigns around supporting their local community or the UK wide change in focus, bringing it closer to home. For example, thanking NHS staff, offering support for school lunches whilst education was home based and tying in with working from home habits.

In addition to adding human touches to your content marketing, it is also key to tie into broader trends such as sustainability, hygiene and localisation.

Marketing agility

As consumer behaviour adapts and responds to the changing environment, it is also crucial to develop marketing agility.

We know during the pandemic, things can change - and change rapidly. This means a company could quickly finds its key message wrong or its supply chain not in a position to deliver, immediately creating an advertising or public relations disaster.

Businesses need to rethink what they think they know about their customers, and how they can reach and engage them. They also need to build in contingencies, so that they are ready for the unexpected.

Multichannel marketing is the route for future strategies as the marketing landscape is likely to continue to shift and change as the ‘new normal’ settles in for the long term.

If your business is looking to find new ways to marketing in the new normal, join us for our five days Developing Marketing in a Post-Pandemic World course, 15 to 19 November in the beautiful location of Singapore.

As well as offering 20 CPD hours, the course will cover a range of tactics you can learn and integrate into your marketing activities going forward.

Find out more about the course, and view the other locations, such as Milan and New York, where this popular course is being held this winter - and complete our enquiry form to receive the full course outlines.