Content’s role in tackling 2021’s biggest marketing challenges and trends

In its report, Deloitte says that successful marketers are those who invest in agile marketing strategies. As we emerge from the pandemic, companies will succeed by embracing imagination and innovation instead of staying the same. In the report, 58% of respondents were able to name a brand that was able to quickly pivot its offerings to better react to the “new normal” induced by COVID-19. 

There’s agility in getting the right content to the right person quickly, as today marketers need to reach an average of three audience segments. The Deloitte report supports the segmentation approach, saying that “the art and science of delivering relevant content relies partly on the creative direction of marketers, and largely on data-driven insights—understanding your customer, keeping track of what’s trending, and having the real-time delivery capability to craft relevant customer messaging.”

Modular content is a new and innovative feature that can help deliver content to audience segments with agility. With this approach, you can build content pieces like blocks that are reassembled to deliver the right experience for each user based on the target segments and audience behaviors you've identified.

The report says that trust comes about when what you promise is what you deliver. Messaging should be transparent, and delivery of those messages should be consistent and reliable. According to Deloitte, "when delivery doesn’t meet expectations, trust breaks down." Consistent messaging and timely delivery promote trust.

In order to compete in the digital age, organizations need to publish at the "speed of news." Your customers need to hear from you quickly when they need you, and your messaging needs to be consistent. According to Deloitte, when brands are routinely reliable, customers are two times more likely to recommend the brand to a friend.

To achieve consistent messaging, modular content ensures you’re relaying the same message across channels appropriately. To facilitate timely delivery, it’s good to have a single hub at the heart of all your operations, one that can bring together internal teams through workflows and seamless publishing as well as third-party integrations to provide additional data, services and innnovation.

For example, a corporate communications team could push the same earnings update to five different country newsrooms at once, and get the news translated for the countries that need it. This builds trust with customers and investors, who know they will receive the earnings updates on time so they can stay informed. 

The report says that the fusion trend refers to the power of innovative business partnerships that go beyond a customer-vendor relationship. Deloitte argues that in 2021, "organizations have an opportunity to completely reimagine partnership strategies that open the aperture of solutions for the people they serve."

This means that when onboarding a new client, you need to look at their whole ecosystem and all stakeholders. Brightspot sees everyone in a client's ecosystem as a partner. We embrace all stakeholders in order to understand our clients' business from the inside-out. Brightspot makes it easy to work with partners and add new ones, since our CMS is API-first and can integrate with almost anything. Businesses can easily and deeply integrate additional third-party and proprietary systems into their publishing workflows. These integrations support fast digital transformation, and there’s no limit to future enhancements or integrations. 

The report says that marketing teams need to differentiate themselves in the ever-evolving digital environment, developing new talent models and welcoming flexibility. It's important to inspire people so that they create inspired work. Employers need to "brand" themselves as a company that employees like. According to the Deloitte report, more than 70% of respondents value digital solutions that deepen their connection with other people.

Culture is a big focus for Brightspot. The company aims to attract the right people, inspire employees, and build talent. For Brightspot and other companies, a well-thought out intranet with great content can help with employer branding and retention. Using interactive, timely, personalized content, you can foster "community and culture experiences" in any environment. You can also educate people and help them sharpen their professional and interpersonal skills.