It is generally accepted that change is the only constant in today’s business environment. Unless companies develop marketing strategies with built-in flexibility, they will not be able to adapt and respond to this change.
You can have the best marketing strategy in the world, but if you can’t seize an opportunity in near real time, or change your messages based on fluctuating market conditions, it won’t be successful for long.
Changes in consumer behavior or new competitive offers can make any good marketing strategy obsolete, but the ability to adapt enables companies to respond to problems and seize new opportunities as they arise. Modern communication platforms help companies to identify opportunities and react flexibly in order to give them a competitive advantage.
Marketing with mobility
Given that around 20% of consumers check their cell phone more than 50 times a day, we cannot underestimate the value of mobile marketing in today’s business environment. With so many customers using their phones to communicate with people and brands, to search for products and services, or to make payments online, many companies are taking a “mobile-first” approach to meeting users on their preferred communication channels.
But marketing on mobile platforms is constantly changing, and companies that don’t have flexible marketing strategies won’t be able to take advantage of the new features. For example, WhatsApp recently released a new feature that allows businesses to add a “Send Message” button to their ads that opens a conversation on WhatsApp when prospective customers click on it.
This gives customers the convenience of starting conversations that are directly related to a specific product, helping businesses get better leads and faster customer interactions.
Businesses also need to understand that customers are not just on one channel. Their customers are used to an omnichannel experience, and brands that have the flexibility to seamlessly communicate with those customers across all channels are the ones that deliver the best customer experience.
Regardless of whether customers prefer email, SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or Apple Business Chat, they expect companies to meet them there. Managing customer interactions across a variety of platforms is essential, but it can quickly get too complicated. Intelligent tools such as a mobile marketing cloud bring multiple communication streams to one user-friendly platform on which companies can easily manage customer interactions and offer all the advantages of flexible communication without having to worry about managing different channels.
Respond to customer needs
The pandemic has certainly taught us to plan for unpredictability, and those who respond first to change will often be the most successful.
For example, when Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) made it difficult to attract young artists to a program due to lockdown restrictions, the organization turned the challenge into an opportunity. They turned to a WhatsApp chatbot solution and received 207% more high-quality applicants over the course of the recruitment campaign. The solution was more comprehensive and less expensive than their previous recruiting methods, which shows that there are real benefits to offering solutions that cater to the needs of customers or users.
With the right insights, companies can achieve flexibility by quickly adapting marketing campaigns. A customer data platform (CDP) links various sources of customer data and gives you an overview of customer behavior and preferences. You can change your marketing strategies based on emerging trends or current events related to specific customer profiles.
Now that PoPIA is enforceable, companies need to ensure that their marketing strategies remain compliant and only communicate with users who have chosen certain types of communication. Tools like a Mobile Marketing Cloud make this possible with the ability to collect opt-ins from customers with attached time stamps – a requirement of PoPIA.
The Impact of PoPIA on Advertising and Communication
The day has come when we must comply or face the consequences. The amendments to the Personal Data Protection Act (PoPIA) came into force on July 1, 2021 and aim to protect companies from data protection breaches and the misuse of personal data …
Musa Kalenga July 5, 2021
Because the performance results of each campaign are fed back to the CDP, companies can instantly see which campaigns are successful and use those insights to tailor marketing efforts. If companies cannot do this, they will absolutely miss out on marketing and optimization opportunities.
Automated agility
It may seem like automation and flexibility are at odds, but the right marketing automation software should be able to give you the best of both worlds. Organizations can turn data into actions and create hyper-personalized, automated campaigns at every stage of the customer journey. From welcome programs to lead generation campaigns, marketing automation gives companies the flexibility to adapt to change and respond on a large scale.
Branching workflows allow marketers to create different paths for customers based on unique filters or interactions, such as people who haven’t opened an email for a period of time, are interested in a specific topic, or have an upcoming birthday. Marketing teams can also increase customer loyalty with reintegration workflows and improve conversion rates by making sure no customer is left behind.
Adaptable customer support
Flexible marketing is required to reach modern customers, but companies also need to be able to retain these customers with flexible support services. Most customers today expect excellent support service. In fact, a 2020 survey showed that 96% of people consider switching to a competitor after receiving poor customer service.
Chatbots give companies the flexibility to serve any number of prospects and customers at any time and on any channel while keeping costs low. When multiple customers encounter the same problem, support teams can quickly become overwhelmed by the sudden and unpredictable influx of support calls. Chatbots take the strain off support agents by processing millions of conversations at the same time and providing instant answers to frequently asked questions. But they also allow flexibility and seamless handover to a human agent when things get complicated.
Long term goals, short term victories
Long-term marketing goals should focus on the bigger picture, but it’s important to remember that any short-term gain will also achieve those goals. With all of the innovative marketing tools out there, businesses no longer need to make bad marketing decisions or have their campaigns set in stone.
Modern communication platforms allow us to change and optimize our marketing efforts in real time and offer opportunities for improvement at every step. With this kind of flexibility, success is just a matter of identifying opportunities and making some smart changes.
Comments are closed.