The coronavirus pandemic has paused every economy in the world, and naturally reduced companies’ financial forecasts for 2020 and 2021. Many brands are now being forced to work with reduced marketing budgets and the challenge is figuring out how to do this efficiently. Now when everything is settling in and we are finding ourselves in the new normal, every brand must be ready to bounce back and return stronger and smarter which requires a rethinking of their marketing strategy.

We are now entering the new era of digital marketing - where CRM and customer loyalty are crucial for brands and companies to survive. Looking back through the dust of the crisis, email is the only channel to have held its own, though pricing pressure has cut margins while social, search, and digital display all have posted drops from 25% to 40%. Companies have been, until now, focused on growing and recruiting new customers while not putting enough effort to keep those recruits loyal. This crisis has really emphasized the importance of customer loyalty and making sure more efforts go into your existing customers. Now that we know that everything can happen overnight, rewarding loyal customers is a must and while marketing budgets are being cut and we need to find more cost-efficient ways to market, retention is the way to go.
As the need for online shopping grows, so does the number of retailers stepping into email marketing and CRM for the first time, while others try to squeeze even more out of the channel. So how will this new era affect your marketing strategy and how are you going to adapt to the new climate? CRM is now in an exciting time where a lot is happening, new opportunities lies ahead and the customers’ expectations for personalized communication are even higher than before.
Digital marketing after COVID-19 will require brands and companies to change their marketing strategy and to place great emphasis on managing their existing customers. The priority for all future activities must be to increase the lifetime value and customer experience, as well as to deliver a purposeful and meaningful brand. CRM has never been this hot before so make sure you are in the race and put efforts to improve the way you communicate to your customers.
Do you need help kicking off your CRM work or further optimize your current strategy? Don’t hesitate to contact us at Beyond Retail! We can help you in recruiting the right resources, with interim solutions and-/or work on a project basis to advise on your next steps.