Why digital must be at the top of every CMO's agenda
Digital plays an increasingly important role in our lives, from shopping to working, entertainment to keeping fit
The appetite for shopping online has been a long time coming — the pandemic has merely hastened it. In 2019, e-retail sales accounted for 14.1% of all retail sales worldwide, a trend that has brought about the demise of multiple high street stores. Covid-19 has piled yet more pressure onto bricks and mortar retailers.
A US study from Adobe Analytics showed that ecommerce grew 25% from March 13th-15th compared to the baseline period of March 1st–11th, driven primarily by online grocery shopping.
It is a global trend. In China, online car sales went up in the first weeks of the crisis, despite overall car sales declining.
Brands must invest in a digital future
If digital wasn’t front of mind for CMOs before, it must surely be now. As former CMOCO at Unilever, Keith Weed, told Campaign: “15 years’ worth of people have come online in the last 15 days. Post-this [pandemic], the amount of online shopping will go down, but the amount of people who have now had an online experience will never go back.”
CMOs are in the driving seat, and they must think about how they engage with this shift, and how they act on it. And fast.
Covid-19 is not just hastening adoption of ecommerce, but creating a long-term behavioural change in the way people shop, consume media, and live.
According to McKinsey, early indications from China, for example, are that new customers and markets — specifically people aged 36 and over, and residents of smaller, less-prosperous cities — have begun to shop online in greater numbers. In Europe in early April, 13% of consumers said that they were planning to browse etailers for the first time.
Digital has changed the way we live. US exercise company Peloton saw app-class attendance rise 40% during the last week in March, while the maximum number of daily meeting participants on video conferencing platform Zoom rose from approximately 10 million at the end of December 2019, to over 200 million in March 2020. Change is happening all around us.
Consumers want to be delighted, not just fulfilled
But not only do today’s brands need to be set up for digital, they need to meet consumers’ increasing expectations in the Amazon age. This includes a consistent experience regardless of channel, personalised content and recommendations, and an engaging and entertaining presence on relevant social channels, effectively humanising the brand. After all, consumers crave brands with true purpose and meaning — now more than ever.
Brands must work hard in the digital space to not only deliver on the basics, but to exceed expectations. As a recent Hubspot blog post reported, “Although satisfied customers are good for your company, delighted customers are more likely to become loyal customers and brand advocates.”
Talent and technology hold the key
According to Forrester, brands that lead in retail customer experience also grow much faster than laggards. To invest in customer experience in the digital age, and to meet the continuing flood of online shoppers, brands must invest in both technology and expertise. After all, consumer expectations of brands are growing in line with their appetite for all things digital: they demand frictionless digital experiences that serve great content in an app or website that is quick, intuitive and easy to use.
Some of our clients have brought forward digital and content marketing plans to meet pressing consumer demand, as well as to prepare for a ‘new normal’. Others have called on the expertise of our digital agency to work with them to develop platforms that will meet this marked shift in behaviour, ensuring they are ready to serve their existing audience and continue to grow their customer base in future.
We are seeing a phased return to a new normal, and many of our clients are currently identifying digital tactics that will reduce face-to-face contact. As history attests — life goes on. And digital capability is imperative, for every brand.
Talk to Mediablaze, the digital marketing specialists.