Thinking beyond personas and focusing on the” industries” as a whole is immensely crucial. Now, near and future – all three should be equally prioritized throughout the marketing efforts. Clients are mostly focusing on “now and near” – merely concentrating on survival. But, the ABM leaders feel it’s important to show them the path ahead to the future as well. The industry is the key segment, and it is critical to understand how the pandemic impacts each vertical and segment.

As per the hypothesis, industries will primarily undergo a seismic disruption that we’ve all been experiencing now. Some temporary stabilization will then follow the initial disruption, and eventually, enterprises will experience complete digital transformation. There’s a potential that this process could even be cyclical, at least for some industries.

Focuses have shifted – earlier long-term goals have now changed into immediate needs. For instance, – securing collaboration tools might not have been on the top of the check-list for CIO previously, but it needs the most urgent addressing. With the market being unbelievably dynamic, such as temporary shuffling or priorities is going to be a new reality. To win over such dynamicity – the vision needs to be long-term and futuristic.

Each industry and business will have an individual journey and transformation goals. Different companies will have diverse focus areas and will be at various stages of evolution – so focusing on long-term goals remains of utmost vital.

In industries like IT with longer buying cycles, understanding the entire funnel process is a must to succeed. It is essential to analyze the stage of the buying funnel that clients are currently in – most of them are focusing on collecting data and not really buying now. It is not the right time to go to bottom-funnel marketing as the focus should not get diverted from the real-time customer expectations. In the current crisis, mostly, the focus should be on top-funnel marketing – spreading awareness about what value the products/services can add. In short, the brand should be put forward as the hero to create a stronger presence.

Considering the three R’s – reputation, relationship, and revenue – since revenue can’t be the instant churner in this situation, the focus should shift to the rest two. Just because it’s not the ideal time to be actively marketing your products/ services, doesn’t mean you should take the pedal off reputation or relationship. These two R’s are the real pole stars guiding brands and adding value post-pandemic.