[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/08\/13\/digital-strategy-covid-19\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/08\/13\/digital-strategy-covid-19\/","headline":"CMO survival guide: Digital strategy amid and after COVID-19","name":"CMO survival guide: Digital strategy amid and after COVID-19","description":"Even before COVID-19, reliance on digital strategy was growing \u2014 the pandemic only accelerated this trend. Learn how execs are adapting.","datePublished":"2020-08-13","dateModified":"2022-12-08","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/katherine-calvert\/#Person","name":"Katherine Calvert","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/katherine-calvert\/","identifier":447,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2d5040b935057f4afc7b2b15b65381f4d97d81195477d97fc893824919e69a0b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2d5040b935057f4afc7b2b15b65381f4d97d81195477d97fc893824919e69a0b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/digital-strategy.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/digital-strategy.jpg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/08\/13\/digital-strategy-covid-19\/","about":["COVID-19 and Business",{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/customer-engagement-marketing\/","name":"Customer Engagement","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_engagement","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q5196451"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/","name":"Marketing","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marketing","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q39809"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/marketing-general\/","name":"Marketing","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marketing","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q39809"]}],"wordCount":1285,"keywords":["Brand Management","COVID-19 | Coronavirus"],"articleBody":"2020 was tough for brands, but many found amazing ways to support employees and customers alike. Figuring out how to respond to the pandemic, support customers, and employees is hard enough, let alone thinking about updating your digital strategy – how do you take on one more thing amid unknown territory?Even before COVID-19, reliance on digital marketing and communications was growing \u2014 the pandemic only accelerated this trend.There are three ways to improve your digital strategy that will also increase agility, improve execution, and help you better plan for the future: Leverage AI and machine learning Use social listening to continually adjust your digital content strategy Tap an online community to provide scaleable supportHow to leverage AI and machine learning for your brand digital strategyNo matter your industry, your brand is likely facing a host of new complexities: spiking call volumes, closure of brick-and-mortar locations, a newly remote workforce, worried and stressed customers, and customer care agents who are now under much greater pressure from multiple sources.It\u2019s crucial that your brand adapt its care model to support customers as well as your care agents. But how?One powerful way to support both customers and care agents is to harness the power of artificial intelligence. Chatbots are one of the most popular options for today\u2019s top brands, and consumers are showing an increasing appreciation for their services; 53% say that they don\u2019t care whether a bot or a human resolves their issue, as long as it gets resolved.Chatbots and other AI cannot replace the approachability and intuitive response of human agents, but they can help automate your digital care process, deflecting inquiries away from your contact center and prioritizing the most important ones. This lightens agent workload, allowing your brand to provide better customer care without increasing personnel, even during times of crisis like COVID-19.Automated workflows, offered by many of the best digital care solutions, are also important for handling increases in call volume. These solutions aren\u2019t always cheap, but they can help your brand find the right balance between human and bot care, alerting contact center managers about increased volumes in real-time.Expectations for customer service don\u2019t decrease during a crisis, so it\u2019s important to make sure that your system can handle increases in volume without breaking down.Legacy systems like call centers and asynchronous chat platforms won\u2019t cut it in 2020; you need a more flexible solution that will help you manage crises without overwhelming your staff. Modern chat, automation, and advanced workflows are worth the investment precisely because they can do just that.      Modern marketing: The fundamentals have changed – have you?                The definition of marketing is moving goods and services from the source of tools, channels, and mechanics to the consumer, but most marketers haven't adapted for digital - and that's a BIG problem.      Using social listening to continually adjust your digital content strategyIf things changed quickly before, they\u2019ve moved at the speed of light during COVID-19. Your brand has to keep up. Many brands start with the goal of disrupting and standing out, but that\u2019s not always the best strategy, especially during a crisis.For digital content of any kind, one of your first priorities should be sensitivity. Disruption is great, but a faux pas or misstep on social media can be catastrophic.That\u2019s why, as soon as COVID-19 hit, top brands cut down on images of crowds and content about spring and summer activities, focusing instead on responding to the pandemic. Timelines in April and May filled with posts about how brands were offering help to their customers \u2014 and, of course, Tiger King and sourdough.July saw another major shift, as national attention turned toward racial and social justice and brands scrambled to respond. The point here isn\u2019t to discuss which strategies worked; it\u2019s to underscore the incredible agility that content teams had to have over the first half of 2020, and how they adapted to meet the demands of consumers, from equality to sustainability, purpose is key to every business in the future.      Sustainability in fashion: Industry teeters on ethical catwalk                Sustainability and fashion appear to be on opposing catwalks destined for collision. Fashion is a $2.5 trillion industry, producing 10% of global carbon emissions, 20% of global wastewater, and vast biodiversity loss. Consumers are demanding change, forcing sustainability in fashion as a requirement, not a trend.      Agility is one of the digital marketer\u2019s most important tools, and brands that displayed it this year have done well.So, how can you craft top-notch content during a crisis?Listen.The best social media and brand teams know their limits; they know they can\u2019t hear about an issue once and craft a perfect response.The best teams don\u2019t start on their response to crises by writing; they start by taking the local, regional, and national pulse. They use social listening tools to create deep, incisive analysis about the conversation surrounding whatever issue they\u2019re talking about \u2014 and only then do they write.Your brand should do the same. Use data from the latest trends to inform your content, assuming consumers will scrutinize every word. For example, when posting, use social listening technology to stay up-to-date on real-time conversations.Above all, remember that your customers can be valuable advocates and sources of information. If you\u2019re unsure of your brand\u2019s place in the current social media landscape, use social listening to see brand mentions on social media, or use an organic post to invite feedback about what kind of content customers want to see.      Account Based Marketing: 3 Ways an ABM Approach Pays Off                B2B marketers now engage with more decision-makers, across more channels, and more deeply into the buying process than ever before. To be successful, marketers need to simplify the buyer\u2019s journey - which is the superpower of ABM.      How an online community can provide consistent, scalable supportAs much as artificial intelligence and machine learning can help your care team, an online brand community is an indispensable part of many brands\u2019 support strategies. These communities, typically hosted on the brand\u2019s website, are places where customers, employees, and support staff can:Ask and answer questionsShare ideas and feedbackAdvocate for your brandInteract with one anotherCommunities are much more than just customer support channels. They’re also scalable in ways that contact centers simply aren\u2019t \u2014 and that\u2019s a crucial characteristic during times of crisis.They\u2019re not vulnerable to the same levels of strain as contact centers because as the number of people asking questions grows, so does the number of people responding. Community members can answer questions for each other, decreasing the amount that employees need to do to help customers.Community growth is therefore not just sustainable, but organic, as it\u2019s driven by real customer need.What comes nextNo one knows for certain when (or whether) things will return to normal. Complicating this is the fact that states and countries set their own regulations, so reopening a physical presence can be a logistical nightmare, and, as we\u2019ve already seen, reopening will not necessarily go in a straight line as infection rates ebb and flow.Though this moment is unlike any in recent memory, the key to success is timeless and authentic: stay engaged with your customers\u2019 \u2014 and employees\u2019 \u2014\u00a0 feedback.The best brands communicate openly and honestly with their customers and create long-term loyalty through that authentic, human-centered connection. Make them feel heard, respected, and appreciated, and you\u2019ll create customers for life.  What happens in Vegas …\u00a0creates connections + drives results.Join hundreds of customer experience experts at CX Connect Oct. 6-8. Register\u00a0HERE."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2020","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"08","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/08\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"13","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/08\/\/13\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"CMO survival guide: Digital strategy amid and after COVID-19","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/08\/13\/digital-strategy-covid-19\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]