96% of business leaders will prioritize digital transformation when the customer has adapted too well to the pandemic

In the last part of the research paper “Marketing in times of Crisis” (Marketing in a Crisis), run by popular websites Econsultancy and Marketingweek, experts reveal a drastic change in Marketing, as leaders focus largely on digital transformation in the time when the COVID-19 pandemic appeared. The research has been done on more than 1,000 marketers around the world and comes from many different disciplines.

A recent survey conducted by Econsultancy and Marketingweek with the participation of more than 1,000 marketers around the world, showed the interest of organizations – especially large enterprises – in improving the speed. digital transformation in response to the changes in customer behavior brought about by the Covid-19 crisis.

Of the 156 respondents from organizations geared towards customers (customer-facing) Having annual sales of £ 50 million or more, 63% said they were witnessing one “Strong trend” from consumers, in the application of digitalization faster than before, with the emergence of Covid-19. The remaining 33% said they only saw “A few minor trends” demonstrates this.

Another 40% say that the user is “Strong trend” in using digital services as a consequence of Covid-19, and the remaining 55% found smaller trends among older consumers.

Under these circumstances, companies are quickly responding to that trend, by making stronger commitments in digital transformation of all processes. When asked how to allocate budgets and make more reasonable priorities when approaching different businesses in the second half of 2020, more than half of the 288 large enterprises (both B2B and B2C – with revenues of more than £ 50 million per year) say they will increase budgets for strategic initiatives such as digital transformation and restructuring. This is also the sector accounting for the largest proportion of businesses planning to increase their budget.

In addition, more than 29% said they would maintain budgets for strategic initiatives, meaning that only 16% of large firms said they were reducing budgets for this sector. Nearly one-third (31%) of respondents also said they intend to increase their budget for technology or infrastructure-related expenses in the second half of 2020.

This is particularly noticeable when compared to the first phase of the study, which was conducted on March 16. At that time, nearly half (47%) of the major brands in the US and UK (with £ 50 million + annual revenue) already delay or review strategic initiatives like digital transformation.

But the strongest sign of digital transformation after the arrival of Covid-19 came from the Marketing Director leaders working in large enterprises: 96% say that social blockades and exclusion have increased and emphasized the priority of digital transformation at their company. Only 4% of directors from large companies disagree with this statement.

The majority of business leaders (57%) also agreed with the statement that: “We have a clear base on where the industry will go after the blockade ends.”, with 56% of the leaders saying: “The blockade period is the most creative period I have spent at the company.”

Innovations arose during Covid-19

In the previous installment of this paper, Econsultancy and Marketing Week emphasized that the degree of innovation in large enterprises has increased significantly during the implementation of the social gap.

Product and service innovation has shown the biggest jump, with the percentage of marketers at all organizational levels (with £ 50m + annual revenue) saying they’ve seen an improvement. growth in products and services in response to the growing consumer boom, from 22% on March 31 to 57% on July 16 – up to 35 percentage points.

The number of marketers who saw the benefits of message-conveying innovation and branding in times of crisis increased 32 percentage points, from 31% on March 31st to 53% on July 16. Innovations in customer service also increased by 27 percentage points over the same period, from 24% to 51%.

Internal transformation is even more widespread than outside innovation and transformation, with 69% of respondents from large enterprises saying they have observed, new processes within the company. remained in post-production period (up from 44% at the end of March), and 84% say many companies have imposed new ways of working (up from 73% at the end of March).

This shows that at a minimum, the majority of large firms have figured out how to pull themselves out of the Covid-19 quagmire – and more than half of marketers have talked about change as well. product, service, marketing and customer communication (customer communications).

With the majority of respondents holding senior positions at the executive level or higher, the report proves that leaders are increasing their emphasis on digital transformation, and a majority of marketers also support the emphasis. Meanwhile, when budgets have been increased again in the second half of 2020. It will also be a decisive phase in the transformation journey of many large enterprises as they plan for the future and bring them into specific actions – or build on the improvements they’ve introduced.

To Linh – MarketingAI

According to Econsultancy

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