Marketing in the post-pandemic world

Whether motivated by awareness or by the crisis itself, your customers will experience a new pattern of consumption. Are you prepared to help them in this new phase?

‘We must place the customer in the center of our strategy.’ You have probably heard that countless times. Using the customer as a motivator – and a guide – for corporate decisions is a well-established concept that has been included in the organizational mission and values for several years. However, the reality is not quite there yet.

 Amid a public health crisis of gigantic proportions and facing what must be the worst economic crisis our generation has ever seen, we reached a turning point. Corporations will have no option but to treat the customer as what they really are: the centerpiece of business.

Much has been debated about the “new normal,” the reality we will live in with the end of social distancing measures and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The expectation is that people will be more aware and, therefore, we will see a reduction in consumption habits; environmental issues will become more pressing, and people will find new meaning and care less about possessions.

 I do not know if I agree with that, but I am confident that we will live in a different world. Whether due to conscience or practical matters related to financial losses and economic uncertainties, people will have to reassess their relationship with consumption. And in this context, where should marketing go? How to ensure that your customers reduced resources are directed to your products and services? How to prove yourself to be essential?

 Considering the new scenario, I am sure the only way to stay relevant to the consumer in the “new normal” is to know them genuinely. Knowing their tastes, understanding who influences them in their different networks, having the sensitivity to find the best time to position an offer or charge, being perceptive in identifying competitors – even if unusual or unexpected – and then acting before them. These will be the critical points for successful marketing actions in the coming years.

 In this context, data analysis systems, especially customer intelligence solutions, become essential for marketers in all industries. Only technology enables you to exploit the information available about your customers from several different sources, convert mountains of data into business insights, coordinate online and offline services, and deliver adequate communication in real-time.

 Using the right tools and consistent data, you can: identify the risk of losing a customer or see the best competing offer in real-time; identify the leading causes of exposure and act on them before they result in churn or decrease the Net Promoter Score; deliver the best experience to your customer across all channels, through an omnichannel approach on the backend; and have enough information to offer the best service, in any situation, always at the most appropriate time.

 In a post-pandemic world, consumption patterns will dramatically change. In this scenario, marketing actions must be accurate and sensitive to bring positive results. To act before you lose your most valuable customers, analytics tools can help – a lot.

By Kleber Wedemann

Marketing Director, SAS Latin America, and the Caribbean