Economic Sentiment Evolving Fast in 2022!

The good news is that more of the population has become vaccinated, and there are more medicines on the market to combat the virus's lethality, including pills. Nevertheless, the next couple of weeks and months could push more sectors to implement voluntary lockdowns across a range of industries. Today, several universities and grade schools have moved to online learning.

Our Quote of the Day: 
"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new." — Socrates

To Lockdown or Not
Depending on the surge rate in the first weeks into the new year will ultimately decide how lockdowns may come into play. Voluntary lockdowns are already underway, and some organizations and states are reinstating mandatory mask-wearing, mainly for indoor access. Businesses should be aware that lockdowns could hamper economic conditions, and therefore must have alternative measures in place by providing easy access points to ensure that the customer experience does not suffer.

The customer engagement platforms are vital to keeping the brand in front of the purchasing mindset. That said, as we stated in our last post, "The marketing insider group has placed a stake in the ground to suggest that marketing trends that will rise to the top of class over the next year will focus on the Customer Experience, Employee Engagement, and Content Visualization."

Domestic Growth Over the Next 12 Months
The McKinsey Company just came out with a study depicting how various global regions are concerned about potential risks regarding growth in their respective domestic economies over the next twelve months. For brevity's sake, we'll limit the focus to North America. The following list is what the North American respondents highlighted as the most significant risks:

• 51% - COVID-19 pandemic
• 52% - Inflation
• 40% - Supply Chain disruptions
• 33% - Labor shortages
• 12% - Geopolitical instability and/or conflicts

Keep in mind that these results are concerns and overall sentiment of what potential risks may lie ahead. Of the percentages shown, Inflation ranks the highest at 52%, and that area could become the tipping point for profitability. In the event of another wide-scale lockdown, pricing and availability will play significant roles for those who will remain competitive. In turn, these events will also play a role in sales and marketing.

Marketing Concerns
The pandemic shifted marketing budgets to incorporate more digital in the early days of the virus spread. Lockdowns created the work-from-home economy, hybrid work models. As a result, when customers and prospects were sheltered, the marketing strategies were turned upside down.

Multichannel and Omnichannel strategies blossomed under the notion that brands and advertisers would need to increase their presence across multiple digital channels, and to a lesser degree, some traditional channels. On top of those ideologies, adding to the emergence of e-commerce channels and online delivery apps, the digital overload exists in full force.

As the years progressed, marketers discovered that their online budgeting increases failed to reach at least 50% of their respected target market segments. Why? The sheer number of online users bogged down online traffic access. As a result, marketers have been under the gun to discover and implement a better balance in the overall media mix. This process bears even more weight, particularly with marketing budgets continuing to shrink. In light of that trend, marketers and brands that sustained some level of success share a common thread, and that is the capability of engaging customers and prospects with a more personalized, seamless, and immersive experience.

You may be surprised to discover that three essential ingredients must be present in a multichannel marketing campaign's superior customer experience delivery. They are a complete data assessment, including accuracy, organization, and cleansing—next, an in-depth understanding of the audience, including their needs and pain points. And of course, branding, which in and of itself is not selling, but more importantly, an effort to establish who the brand is, what the brand stands for, and how the brand is concerned with helping communities and relevant causes to help build better communities.

Further, those three areas should be the backbone for creating engaging customer touchpoints, with correctly identified audience segmentation and the resulting personalization efforts. Interestingly enough, the best channel determined to deliver such a complete customer experience is direct mail marketing.

Several organizations halted their direct mail in the wake of attempting to adjust to the best ways to reach customers and prospects when the work-from-home economy emerged. Those same organizations reported a decline in response and engagement rates, some to the tune of 99% of prospects failing to book meetings when reached by emails and phone calls.

Some of these same organizations will add direct mail marketing to the mix. Sales and marketing are essential pillars in helping to boost the economy and will play a pivotal role in the weeks and months ahead. Digital will continue to hold a most significant role in reaching customers and prospects in the upcoming year. The question of the marketing mix will become the most important strategic element when it comes to delivering a profitable, efficient marketing success story.

The Net-Net

As we stated in our last post of 2021, we contend that year-end analyses are generally aimed at business concerns, both internal and external, including the state of the economy and the conditions of the pandemic on the ground; it also makes sense to understand how the US economy is fairing around the world. This post is but a snippet of what's being discussed in larger economic circles, with JP Morgan Chase, European Central Bank, Deutsche Bank, and other prolific global economic analysts and financial institutions; therefore, it's a good idea to have a basic understanding of the nuts and bolts underpinning the global economy. We implore you to contemplate these economic and marketing trends for 2022 as you navigate your perceptions and plans throughout 1Q2022. Thanks for reading "Economic Sentiment Evolving Fast in 2022!"


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