Digital engagement emerges as the top priority for marketers in 2021, according to a new study.
Several brands have thrived in the age of social distancing, benefitting from opportunities triggered by home-bound consumers and the workforce. Companies that adapted to life revolving around the home have seen major success over the last several months.
A new study from CMO Council found that from 2019-2020, consumers actually embraced this digital-only environment. In 2019, only 10% of consumers said they preferred interacting with brands in a digital-only environment. In 2020, 21% of consumers said they no longer needed in-person interactions.
Also read: B2B SaaS Marketing Trends 2021
CMO Council’s 2021 survey demonstrates that marketers took stock in what was happening in 2020, whether that meant shifting consumer behaviors and preferences or the adaptation and embracement of digital interactions. Whether they thrived or barely survived, they’ve refocused and felt ready to tackle 2021.
Martech Spending To Hit New Highs in 2021
The marketers surveyed said that despite a challenging year last year, almost two-thirds are planning to increase marketing spend in 2021. But they’re taking the learnings from the past year and focusing their spending on key areas that will help embrace automation and a digital-first environment.
Of course, the ability to do that relies on martech, and nearly 70% (69%) of marketers said that their martech spend would increase in 2021. After forced introspection, marketers admit they have several areas where they need to improve.
Also read: 6 Consumer Marketing Trends Brands Must Look Out for in 2021: Data Out Now
They plan on focusing their martech investments on filling gaps in their customer journey, improving their digital engagement, and better targeting their audiences with relevant campaigns. The ability to leverage technology to fill in gaps along the customer journey enables marketers to focus on the art of their craft, the relevancy of their messaging, and the ROI of their investments. It allows them to pivot as new data emerges, allowing marketers to optimize their strategies quickly.
Interestingly, many of their targeted areas of improvement are operationally focused. They are more confident in areas like pricing and promotions, media buying, and social media voice and creativity, demonstrating that they feel their marketing brand, voice, and value proposition is strong. Meanwhile, their ability to better understand the customer journey, automate and engage is lacking.
Martech is the key to help them gain customers, get personal and automate. Their investments this year demonstrate a priority to streamline operations while implementing effective targeting and engagement at the same time.
Despite the push towards automation, only one in four marketers expect to downsize or restructure their team. Instead, they’re focusing on efficiency, hoping to find that tricky balance between efficiency and effectiveness. They’ve outlined their top organizational priorities as working more effectively with lines of business (50%), lowering costs by increasing efficiency in all areas (40%), and doing a better job of both globalizing and localizing their marketing campaigns (36%). Indeed, finding the balance between efficiency and effectiveness is the tightrope marketers need to walk as they seek to prove their value in 2021.
Conclusion
Embracing a digital-first environment requires taking a hard look at operational models and processes. Smart technology investments will help marketers aggregate, analyze, and action on data. They also need to think about the technology that bridges cross-functional gaps across the customer journey. This will enable efficiencies that extend company-wide.
But as marketers look to transform and embrace this digital-first reality, they need to keep in mind what really makes their brand resonate with their audience – human connection. The ability to balance digital advancements with authenticity is the holy grail for marketers in 2021.