2022 is destined to be a year of continuing transformation for business.
According to Alan Murray, CEO of Fortune Magazine, these changes will be fueled by three major things:
- a technology revolution.
- a post-pandemic imperative to reinvent office work.
- a continuing drive to put purpose at the center of business.
The most successful companies will be those that embrace these three interlocking waves of change. And the performance gap between those that do and those that don’t will grow.
Technology
Technology will continue to revolutionize how we work. From a marketing perspective, think about the printing advances that enable direct mail to be more cost-efficient. These include digital inkjet printing and hybrid print technology.
In terms of digital marketing, we will see new privacy restrictions on Google Chrome. (no more cookies). As a result, advertisers would lose the ability to serve up highly targeted ads based on tracking consumer activity on Chrome. That means advertisers will need to focus more on using their own lists. When you use your own lists, we call this using first-party data.
That means businesses need to make sure they are maximizing their own lists. From the list perspective, we will see a higher availability of email names in the marketplace. This gives businesses new opportunities to reach out to their clients via email. On the other hand, the major list compilers will be sharpening how they work with consumer privacy regulations. This includes the California CCCP as well as other state regulations.
The Post-Pandemic world
Alan Murray’s comments focus on the need to reinvent office work as part of the 2022 transformation. In-person, zoom, hybrid – there are lots of options to consider for the more typical “office-type” businesses.
For businesses in the home industry, it’s important to focus on what would allow you to go back into consumer homes. What will make people feel more comfortable about your staff entering their homes? Branded masks, white uniforms, “touchless” payment options?
What new products can you introduce that have been made popular (relevant) by the pandemic? In the water purification industry, have you introduced UV protection, air purification, generators? Can your home security company branch into media / home theaters? Does your pest control company marketing focus on non-toxic options? Does your Solar energy company offer alternatives for homeowners who don’t want to go the whole route? (i.e. solar tunnels, solar lights or solar shingles)
Businesses need to continually assess and reimagine themselves.
Putting purpose at the center of the business
I am looking at this statement from 2 points of view: marketing and resolve.
From a marketing perspective, we call this offering content. Every business needs to make sure that it stays relevant to its customers and prospects. The way to do this is by providing valuable, relevant, and consistent content that touches our customers and makes us important to them. Content marketing enables us to engage with our customers. This assists in both or our lead generation efforts and customer retention.
When it comes to resolve, does this mean all companies need to be like Bombas socks? To be successful, does our company have to have a dual purpose? Do we need to resolve to make the world a better place because that helps us drive profit? Does purpose help our businesses succeed? It’s an interesting question. We know that both our lead generation and retention improves when our company is respected. How do we channel that purpose?
Sure, we say that 2022 will be a year of transformation. As we move into 2022, we have lots of food for thought. Bottom line, businesses that embrace and react to the challenge of change can position themselves for a banner year.