B2B Brands Go Digital-First

As we can all attest to, 2020 has been quite a year. Our personal lives were turned upside down overnight, while our professional world continues to take a significant nosedive.

We’ve seen governments issue unprecedented stimulus plans in the trillions, unemployment climb to all-time highs, companies on the verge of bankruptcy, and adults scrambling to keep peace at home as stay-at-home policies stretch into 2021 (and beyond). 

It has also left many companies scrambling to figure out how to market and sell their products and services in a world rift of lockdowns and closed borders and racial equality protests.  

In times like these, what’s a marketer to do? 

In a recent Contently article, one marketer of a sizable company had – pre-pandemic – set 80 percent of the marketing budget for in-person events. Now that most events are either canceled or postponed, marketers have the inevitable task of designing a digital-first (or only) marketing plan. For the lucky few, they are already entirely digital, so it’s just business as usual. But for the vast majority of companies, a digital-first (and only) go-to-market strategy is like an interstellar voyage into the unknown. 

As the pandemic transforms the face-to-face economy, it also narrows the divide between work and home for many workers.

In the Digital-First World series, we’ll look at how companies – both large and small – are pivoting and serving their customers better. We’ll explore how content creation is changing, how visual branding is evolving, how virtual in-person can build strong customer bonds, and how marketing technology is helping remote teams.

How companies and individuals adjust to and view their new world will be seen in the months ahead. In the meantime, instead of talking about a new normal, let’s aim for a new better.