The year 2020 pushed marketers to their extent and beyond
their limit to change, rewrite, redesign, rework, and reconsider strategies,
stories, and (even) themselves along the way. That said, the opportunities that
came with those challenges taught us many valuable lessons. A singular theme,
"OUR AUDIENCE HAS CHANGED", emerged at the core of those lessons, and
along with it, their expectation from a brand has changed.
So, as the dust settled in 2020, how do we, as brand
leaders, use what we've learned to reach the 2021 buyers? How do our brand
strategy and voice evolve into what our buyers want to hear and engage with?
How to establish trust with the market today and leave a legacy of
transparency, credibility, and value in our present daily business? There are
three fundamental lessons below we have learned in 2020 and ways to put your
brand in the best window possible to connect with your buyers in the future of
2021.
The 2021 buyer wants different experiences. The buyers
are skeptical and informed more than ever. Where they search, how they make
purchasing decisions, what budget remains, whom they trust to help, all of it
has turned on its head, and that's only how they were impacted professionally
and personally. Our audiences were in no doubt left exhausted-yet-reflective,
constantly taking stock of what is important.
Meet your buyers where they already are - Many B2B tech
brands realize that their website isn't the only destination their buyers'
visit (or reference) to learn about their solutions. And they are not coming to
your trade show, your office, your conference, or your dinner party due to
COVID-19. They turn on to their peers via social media for interaction and
marketplaces for reviews and online purchasing. So instead of fighting the wave,
ride it and adopt the changing wave and ensure that your brand is right at the
traffic.
Engage with your buyers, human to human - It took almost
a year of being locked up at home for us to complete the digital-social cycle,
but we have finally arrived. All of us, and especially your buyers, miss
people. We miss handshaking, hugging, laughing, and meeting at a party. We miss
meeting up and being inspired by each other in close contact. So rather than
cooking up the same storyline and tagline for your brand campaigns, assign a
face value to your content. Build social media presence with more POV posts,
interacting with buyers in the comments and posts, and elevating top employees
to do the same from their accounts. Build marketplace profiles by showing love
to the imagery, messaging, credibility, and experience for what your customers
love about you most. Ensure you are constantly updating the content, engaging
in FAQs, featuring customer testimonials, and collecting new reviews so that
buyers don't just stumble upon your product but feel like a part of the
community.
The 2021 buyer has a voice - Remember, capturing customer
sentiment is like trying to find a hidden treasure chest, except that when you
finally find the treasure chest, you are not aware whether there would be gold
coins or spiders in it. The task of collecting customer feedback is not easy.
It has become essential for B2B and B2C brands to compete, from protesting
injustice to demanding accountability and boycotting the brands that didn't align
with their face values. The modern buyers in 2021 are passionate,
compassionate, and have the proper knowledge to make their voices heard.
Find what your customers care about - Find ways to
capture the customer's sentiment. There are layers that truly satisfy them,
ranging from product fit to brand engagement, customer service to loyalty and
morale alignment - all of these are elements buyers are eager to share, and
they are all easily available. Posting helpful questions and discussions on
social media will help understand your buyers' day-to-day challenges, tones,
and desires. And recording calls can pull out intangible insights like what
power your brand incites in your buyer and where they may be frustrated or
forgotten in their endeavor.
Place their voice at the heart of your brand - Once that
feedback is captured, all that is left to do is to amplify it. Sharing video
testimonials about your product, adding customer-vote badges and awards to your
social and marketplace profiles, hosting customers on your podcasts and
webinars — all of these methods give buyers the stage and establish the relationship that is no longer transactional but build on trust, partnership
and transparency.
Figure out exactly what your company values - It is
necessary to start down this path, and it is time to solidify it because
indifference will be firmly rejected in 2021. Start to establish these:
- Causes that your company supports and what does that
support looks like - financial or service or promotional.
- Standards and expectations will hold your employees,
customers, and vendors in 2021.
- How to enforce those standards when broken.
- Areas of growth to hold on to your business and
accountability.
Once a set of brand values is established, it will become
necessary to effectively and fearlessly advertise them — internally, and of
course, to the market.
Buyers of 2021 have made it clear that they intend to
align their purchases (and wallets) with businesses that align with their
values, even at the expense of a better deal or brand. But standing up for
something better may not be as risky as you think. But buyers don't expect you
to say how you feel, they expect you to act on it, and there are plenty of
actions to be taken by tech brands in 2021. Whether it is opening a new office
in a diverse area or holding users and customers accountable, following your
principles may be costly in the short-term but assuredly invaluable overall.
We have never felt the pressure currently being placed
upon the brands we represent. But with that pressure comes an incredible
opportunity to establish authentic trust with buyers, achieving true brand
loyalty, and building a legacy of which we can be proud for long.
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