• by Michael McLaren , Op-Ed Contributor, September 11, 2020

After a relatively tumultuous summer, we’re seeing a slow comeback for advertisers as the drop in ad spending brought on by the pandemic is starting to shrink. Looking at long-term trends, we’re noticing interest in “brand building strategy” and “customer communications” on the rise among brands. After several months of responding to the pandemic, both topics indicate that companies and leaders are ready to reset for growth beyond coronavirus. 

Especially in today’s environment, context is everything. What works one week in one place can completely miss the mark the next week. Since early July, according to Bombora, agencies have turned their attention to “customer journey analytics,” which give agencies the ability to track a customer’s many interactions with a business for real-time, cross-channel analysis and visualization. For brand marketers and agency teams trying to get their footing, customer journey analytics tools and software offer an invaluable tool to discovering, influencing and surpassing your customers' expectations to keep customers happy and build brand loyalty.

When it comes to making a purchase decision, security is valued above all else. This will only continue to be the case. From cures for coronavirus to phishing emails and phony websites, online scammers are looking to profit from continuing fears around the coronavirus. After experiencing a dip between the months of July and August, searches around “spam” have increased dramatically towards the end of August. 

On a very basic level, “spam” is defined as ‘irrelevant or inappropriate messages sent on the Internet to a large number of recipients.’ It’s the antithesis of the kind of intuitive, opt-in marketing to which we all aspire. But not all spam is created equal. For this reason, we will need to treat our online lives with the same care and attention to detail as that of our offline lives. In some rare instances, there is value to be found in the unknown — a world in which personally desirable contact is rewarded, and personally undesirable contact is penalized.

With mobile still accounting for more than two-thirds of US ad spend according to eMarketer, it’s surprising to see that “mobile app conversion” is experiencing considerably low levels of search intent among marketers. Despite their intent, marketers can and should seek to leverage the growing app ecosystem. This will result in more refined campaigns, more effective spend and greater returns.  

As preparation begins for the critical fourth quarter to end the year, advertisers will have to manage the balancing of both long-term strategies and shorter-term ones. This involves being reactive to new trends and behaviors while elevating the role of the brand and customer. But it’s worth remembering that there are multiple dimensions of emotion that can affect today’s customers, and, in some cases, offline competition is re-emerging. So, while the consumer adoption curve still holds value, we just have to be aware of it constantly changing.