The covid pandemic changed the world in so many ways. For businesses, it completely changed the way they conducted their daily activities. Even with the pandemic being over, business activities have not gone back to normal. There is now a “new normal,” called remote work.
Remote work brought a lot of challenges at first. It was very hard for people to adjust because it was normal for people to go into the office to do their job. Now, everything can be done via technology. Employees are even getting work-from-home equipment provided by their employers.
For marketers, it led to new challenges on how to reach their target audience. The more time people are spending indoors means they are less likely to see the stereotypical billboard-type ads. Therefore, marketing operations and strategies had to be overhauled and adjusted to fit this new culture. Even though it was hard, it greatly advanced the field of marketing.
The change to remote work has had some great benefits to the marketing industry:
Digital Transformation
The working world has gone through a digital transformation. Working from home caused companies and employees to utilize technology to do their daily activities. This also caused technology to quickly advance to keep up with the demand of the working world. For marketers, it made them have to look to technology tools to interact with their customers. With limited physical interactions, businesses have turned to digital marketing channels to communicate their messages. Online advertising, email marketing, and creating content to post on social media have become the main ways to reach a desired audience.
Virtual Events and Webinars
The cancellation of in-person events led to the rise in popularity of virtual events and webinars. This hasn’t gone away. Marketers have shifted to online forums to host conferences, product launches, and webinars to connect with their audience. These virtual events give marketers the ability to expand their reach and connect with new people. The ability to work from anywhere allows people to hop on these calls all the way from a beach in Tijuana to a coffee shop in Chicago. There’s no longer the need to come up with excuses to work from home or take a vacation. Just take your laptop and log on from wherever you are. Remote work has made people’s work-life balance a lot better.
E-commerce Growth
With people always on their computers, e-commerce has grown in popularity. I’m sure we’ve all taken a break from working at home to go browse for some clothes or place a grocery order. I’m not even going to lie, remote work has made this a lot more common for me (hopefully my boss doesn’t see this). Marketers have adjusted their strategies to this trend and have gotten creative about where they place advertisements online. To increase sales through e-commerce platforms, marketing strategies have incorporated CRM and marketing automation tools to make customer experiences better. E-commerce is way easier for consumers and isn’t disappearing anytime soon.
Social Media Engagement
Ahh social media. In case you haven’t noticed, social media is very popular nowadays. If you are that much in the dark, click here to watch one of the most popular dogs on the internet and you’ll see what I mean. With people spending more time at home, social media usage has skyrocketed. Remote work has just increased the time we spend scrolling. Therefore, marketers have strengthened the social media presence of their business.
They also expanded the ways they engage with customers on social media platforms. It could be things like posting great content and responding to people in the comments or using customer service chatbots to assist in customer questions. Influencer marketing is another popular tool that has changed the marketing game. Popular online personalities are able to drive business to your brand by advertising it on their platforms that have thousands and millions of subscribers. All of this enhances the customer experience and generates a loyal customer base.
