Marketing lessons from 2021 for a better 2022

Experienced marketers are no stranger to hyperbole such as “game-changing” or “disruptive”. However, in 2021, methods of engaging customers evolved a lot. To celebrate our impressive results in the past year as we won a total of 35 awards, we’d like to share two lessons from 2021 and three thoughts for 2022.

1. Online experiences are hard to do right

Many brands have launched virtual events, but YSL’s Beauty Records campaign was particularly successful because it created a better brand experience. It is easy to let social media platforms be the centre of virtual events, but that sacrifices messaging control and UX freedom too much. Together with executional details like eCommerce and CRM integrations, O2O linkage, and countless other little things, there is a real difference between “going to Facebook to watch Keung To, sponsored by YSL” and “going to YSL to watch Keung To”.

In short, customers still care about novelty, experiences, personalisation, and star power, but there is a right and wrong way to bring that online.

2. CRM automation is the key to success

Everyone knows that automation is a great answer to a staffing shortage, but what can we achieve by doing so? Fresh had the foresight to modernise their CRM backend while revamping their loyalty programme. 

As a result, the frontline workers can spend less time performing their duties. Fans can enjoy higher convenience and marketers can use new powerful tools to engage customers too. 

Many offices still use inefficient and error-prone manual workflows, such as generating a targeting list. It is because these workflows only take a few minutes each time. However, what if an AI can automatically generate the lists, send messages, make the sale, and help you follow up? By applying AI, marketers do not need to do database management, and they can focus on what they do best - to tell stories and bring delight.

In other words, it’s easy to set up a chatbot here, or a script there, but the benefits of automation won’t come until you fully embrace it and tailor your strategy.

3. Virtual campaigns generate more data than ever before

We conclude this statement from our experience with YSL, Fresh, and other projects. Brands that can fully maximise data will win. If you think your data collection efforts are already world-class, think again. Virtual campaigns give us more opportunities to gather data, which means it’ll be easier to find patterns of behaviours. 

For example, you can see how many times shoppers have tried on your products. By comparing it with actual sales, marketers will know if there is a gap that they need to close. Analytics like this would not be possible at an offline event. Marketing segmentation will be replaced by mass personalisation, in the sense that traditional consumer segments will not be specific enough to support experiences that consumers have come to expect.

4. Content is still king

While expert and celebrity endorsement is probably still a safe bet in 2022, consumers will demand more than simple entertainment from their beloved brands. Modern consumers demand meaningful and guilt-free experiences, which could be as simple as carbon offsets or charity donations, or as complex as providing supply chain transparency that can persuade them that your brand is “worth” supporting. This will be doubly true for the most lucrative top-end of the market, which we expect to lead the way in popularising consumer ESG to everyone.

5. Wildcard: Can metaverse madness reimagine AR/VR activation?

Consumer AR has come a long way since Pokemon Go. We can now put immersive brand experiences in every consumer’s hands, and tech giants’ push towards the metaverse should accelerate adoption. Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is spending billions of dollars on metaverse being the next big thing. The rise of NFTs - regardless of their environmental footprint or other issues - shows that a gold rush is happening.

It’s important to remember that both AR and VR don’t have to involve bulky headsets: in these early days, the most impactful applications of metaverse technologies will come in the low-end. Customers can visualise a bookcase in their living room, put on virtual makeup, try on clothing or accessories at home. A lot of these technologies already exist, but new devices and software will improve user experience. In other words, it’s time for marketers to think about accessibility, borderless targeting, and on-demand scalability.

We had a lot of fun helping our clients achieve success in 2021, and if you also want to be on the cutting edge, get in touch and we will help turn your vision into results.

This article is contributed by Pontac.