Unlocking digital for businesses after lockdown

As some semblance of normal returns to business, those of us privileged enough to now be considering how to build it back up again have a considerable challenge.

With an unprecedented 20% wiped off the UK GDP in April 2020, economic recovery is a nationwide challenge across sectors.  The size of the task is made bigger because of a fundamentally altered consumer landscape.

Through the pandemic, consumers have changed how they use media and how they convert from being prospects to customers.  In both instances, there has been a flight to digital and this will be amongst the things that will not revert to a pre-Covid normality.  The marketing epoch of lockdown will always be when TikTok went mainstream, increasing its reach among adults in the UK from 5.4 million to 12.9 million. Houseparty from 175,000 to 4 million.  Zoom reached 13 million adult internet users in April, up from 659,000 in January according to Ofcom’s Online Nation 2020 Report.  If my household experience is anything to go by, I would wager that the key stat from eMarketer’s latest eCommerce study that “UK retail ecommerce sales will account for 27.5% of total retail sales this year, and that proportion will approach one-third by 2024. The post-pandemic hit to physical retail will be felt far into the future” proves to be an understatement.

As marketers look to piece together their marketing plans for 2020/21 and beyond, a strategy of maximising the utility of their digital touchpoints with consumers should be the tie that binds them. ‘Project Restart’ does offer an unprecedented opportunity to get match fit and is available to local SMEs as much as the biggest brands. There is an old marketing adage that businesses should spend through a recession, the focus of that investment in 2020 should be on optimising their digital estate.

Some sectors felt the implications immediately, travel being the obvious example.  Working with our travel clients on how best to support them in the short term while forming a medium to long term strategy, has been some of our most vital work in lockdown.  On the other hand, anything that provides entertainment direct to the home has seen huge growth in consumer demand.  We will soon publish some of the work we have been involved with to respond to that demand, in publisher subscriptions, gifting, gardening and gaming.

So what are the key questions that marketers should be considering to get ‘match fit’ for the new consumer trends?

At RocketMill we put People First, we consider our clients’ customers as the most important people we serve.  The four questions all marketers should be asking themselves to see if they can put People First in a world of digital consumption are:

• How quickly can you mobilise? – it’s essential to understand demand for your product or service, or how to create it. Prepare the right strategy and be ready to test against it.

• Do you consider media costs separately to service costs? – the people you trust to manage your investment should not be incentivised to spend more than is needed to drive a closely tracked effect.  Indeed, they should be incentivised to tell you when to pull back because performance is exceeding your ability to deliver your product or service or, heaven forbid, not working.  The service you need is understanding digital platforms, what audiences do on them, what to put in front of them, what levers to pull and sophisticated tracking of them within and across consumer touchpoints.

• Can you respond? – insight should not be delivered in a wrap-up, you must be able to respond to consumer signals through your campaigns while they are live.  You must have a framework to test, learn and iterate for audiences in the specific context you meet them in. This demands an integrated strategy across creative and activation with a digital first skillset.

• Are you considering Total Performance? – whether you’re buying reach or a result, getting what you pay for shouldn’t be what is heralded most.  We understand that every connection with a consumer is an opportunity to raise awareness, build preference, increase consideration and drive conversion.  We understand that this journey is just the start in the relationship with your customer.  We bring the discipline of our background in performance to all digital marketing because we consider the totality of your customer experience across all channels.

The events of the last quarter have changed our world.  It represents a transformational opportunity for all businesses.  Some things are not going back to the way they were, so get yourself match fit.

John Shepherd is a Client Partner at RocketMill

John.Shepherd@RocketMill.co.uk

RocketMill is one of the UK’s largest and fastest growing independent digital marketing agencies. We have successfully united old world craft with our digital heritage to provide brands with a full funnel service, using a strategy we call Total Performance. Our services fall into four key areas; analytics, strategy, media and creative.

We have been the top ranked marketing services business for the past two years in The Sunday Times Best Places to Work, which evidences our strategy to put people first. We believe in radical transparency with our team, sharing the spoils with them along the way, and believing that if we put our people first, that they will do the finest work of their careers for you.

www.rocketmill.co.uk