We predicted that by 2020, mobile content such as webinars would become more popular and be seen as a more effective way to reach your audience. It turned out to be more than a trend. Because of Covid-19, this became more of a necessity. But what trends should you keep an eye on for 2021?
Values in focus
We see that the trend of value-driven companies has become increasingly hot, not least as a result of the pandemic.
- How do organisations navigate a reality where their business ideas and services may not be as relevant as before the outbreak?
- How do companies create an employment branding and culture that attracts and retains talent in the company?
- How do you support your workforce without the daily physical interaction?
Many have chosen to manage the transition by repositioning themselves, adapting their offerings, and finding new creative ways to reach their target audience. There has also been a new wave that stands out from the crowd, organisations that have instead focused on finding their purpose and values.
Most organisations have set values. But only a fraction manage to implement them and create a culture where values really permeate the business and influence decision-making.
"For companies that understand this trend, culture and values become one of their main competitive advantages, no matter what they sell today."
A strong culture helps to find and retain talented and committed people. These companies also forge a strong bond with their target audience and find it easier to create ambassadors among their customers.
Businesses that are good at managing and developing on the basis of culture and values have much to gain. Perhaps even more so in today's world.
Agile Sales & Marketing
According to the CollabNet VersionOne State of Agile 2020 report, 58% of organisations have seen improvements in customer experience using agile change.
The shift from physical to digital channels has been going on for some time. But it has been given a big boost in the last year due to the current pandemic. This has created enormous pressure on businesses, which have had to adapt quickly to meet consumers' new expectations.
Navigating a rapidly changing market requires new ways of working and processes that enable it to quickly understand, act and adapt to new conditions. All this without losing momentum in the parts of the business that are working as they should. An agile way of working, quite simply.
An agile approach turns an entire organisation into a fast and reactive unit. It creates an environment that embraces creativity and innovation, empowers employees and reduces unnecessary layers of management.
Agile processes involve work being done at a faster pace and in shorter cycles. It allows for quick adjustments based on signals from the market at large, but also through more specific feedback from customers. The digital customer experience can be quickly influenced and continuously improved. Which is a must in a world where digital technology is changing the fundamentals of how businesses interact with their customers.
Linked specifically to marketing and sales, we see cross-functional teams as key. That's to find new ways to work with customer data, make the most of your marketing stack, and ultimately create better customer journeys.
Want to read more about this topic? Read more here!
Video for sales
A picture is worth a thousand words. But how much are 24 frames per second worth?
It is said that you have around 3 seconds to get your message across. The standard for video is 24 frames per second, so you can imagine how much information even a short video clip can convey!
Many people associate video with marketing communications, but although it originally started as a marketing trend, it is now believed to be making its grand entrance into the world of sales.
It is a new reality where many work from home and physical contact has been minimised, which in turn sets new requirements.
Video is an effective way to present yourself and create a personal dialogue through digital channels.
Interest in information delivered in video format has also increased significantly over the past year. According to Vidyard emails are 8 times more likely to be opened if the subject line contains the word "video". This shows that video is more engaging than long texts.
In the past, a major challenge with video has been monitoring and measurability. With today's video tracking, we have the ability to gain insights into how much of the content a viewer is watching and which parts they are skipping. This provides great opportunities to better understand the target audience and tailor further communications accordingly.
And if you're quick to embrace this trend, your communications can stand out from the crowd. It can lead to converting more leads as well as faster than the more traditional form.
CDP Explosion
CDP, which stands for "Customer Data Platform", is an acronym that is increasingly mentioned in various discussions on marketing technologies. The CDP technology is still relatively new and is predicted to become the "next big thing" in Martech or Marketing Technologies. But what is it really?
We cover the topic of CDP in more detail in this post "8 good reasons to use a CDP", but briefly it is:
A CDP is a customer platform, a system that aims to create a central place where all data about its customers is stored. This is to bring together a complete and unified customer picture.
Today, many feel they have a fragmented customer picture as they collect customer information and store it in a variety of systems. This can range from web/CMS and CRM systems, to customer service and billing systems. Customer information ends up in so-called data silos.
By having the data in one place, you can create a unified customer picture. But also make that information available to all parts of the organisation. The idea is that whether you work in marketing, sales, or product development, for example, it should be easy to get a picture of the customer and understand their needs in the best possible way.
A CDP allows you to analyse and get to know your different customer groups in order to create relevant and coherent experiences, services, communications, offers and campaigns. Companies using this technology have the potential to become extremely relevant in terms of communication, channel, and timing!
Digitalize or die
It's no surprise that digitisation has received a big boost recently.
The digital space has become an important part of our daily lives. It places new demands on organisations, but also creates new opportunities.
For Swedish companies that have fallen behind, digitalisation will be a top priority. Going digital is no longer a choice, it's a hygiene factor. And those that have gotten started need to make sure they use their digital resources effectively to keep up with the new normal.
According to a new Microsoft study conducted by KRC Research in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group, productivity of companies that have gone digital has increased on average during the pandemic. But what has suffered in return is innovation.
We need to find new ways of working and practices to foster innovation. But also to seek and implement new techniques and technologies internally. Remember, digitisation is a continuous process that never ends!
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