12 Best Ways to Future-proof Your Digital Marketing Company

Businesses nowadays are struggling to adapt to the current post-pandemic economic crisis.

In today’s COVID-19 aftermath, you might ask yourself: how will your digital marketing company survive even more daunting global challenges, in an unknown and unexpected future?

The answer is by future-proofing your company using technology.

Technology has always shaped the way businesses work. With future-proofing, it can also help to improve how your business operates when marketing on digital platforms today.

Want your brand to survive in today’s post-pandemic world? Then discover how to future-proof your business with technology using this guide written by industry experts right now.

What’s the purpose of digital marketing future-proofing?

Future-proofing refers to the strategic planning that businesses do to protect their long-term stability and wellbeing. Every company future-proofs a little differently, but all businesses execute this kind of planning to prepare for events and crises ahead of time.

The purpose of digital marketing future-proofing, therefore, is to ensure the years-long success of your brand’s online promotions, even throughout crises like technological shifts and global pandemics. So if you’re looking to protect your promotions for the long run, then you need to apply this strategic planning technique to ensure your marketing success in the years to come.

12 ways to future-proof your business digital marketing

Anticipate the future and develop methods that minimize business loss today. Check out these 12 best practices to futureproof your business throughout every possible crisis right now.

1. Pay attention to customer feedback.

As trite as it might sound, the first thing you should do right now to future-proof your business is to listen to your customers.

Customer needs and feedback can define how you strategize plans for your business. By paying close attention to online feedback, you can build more customer-centric strategies that provide an excellent customer experience for every user.

This ensures the success of your products and services, no matter the crisis. Whatever the future holds for your business, listen to customers and evaluate your strategies accordingly. This will let you address their needs and earn their long-term loyalty - for your brand’s benefit.

2. Rethink the company framework.

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged everyone’s assumptions about in-person, remote, and hybrid work. Now, in today’s increasingly technological world, we’re discovering new and more productive ways to approach company frameworks and drive marketing wins for online brands.

In a digital-forward reality, we need to accept that not all jobs from the pre-pandemic world are as effective as they once were. As the world continues to grow from the COVID-19 crisis, companies like yours need to rethink their structures and digital frameworks, to see which ones will still help your brand survive and thrive in the long term.

3. Find out what tomorrow’s workers want.

Tomorrow’s workers include today’s emerging generation of zoomers, also known as Gen Z. By 2030, Gen Z will take up around 30% of the worldwide workforce. Given this rapid growth, it’s important to know what these future workers want from companies right now.

According to McKinsey associate partner Elizabeth Mygatt, this emerging workforce seeks two things: flexibility and meaning. For the former, they seek remote or hybrid models in workplaces for flexibility and increased productivity. For the latter, they seek purpose and meaning in what they do. If they don’t find it in their workplaces, they’re willing to quit and shift jobs as needed.

So if you want to ensure your company still has employees by 2030, you need to take these needs into consideration and adapt your business model as necessary.

4. Reassess your success indicators.

Want your business marketing to be successful in the long term? Then you need to reassess what “success” means for your company today.

Your criteria for digital success will have changed after the COVID-19 pandemic. What might’ve been considered as a win a few years ago will have transformed in light of the economic and technological changes that occurred post-pandemic.

The good news is that there are tons of new analytics techniques and tools available for you to redefine business success. Leverage these tools to rediscover what works for your brand. Whether that entails reskilling employees or utilizing more tech, remember to align your success criteria with the results from your analytics for data-driven business strategies today.

5. Practice an agile workflow.

An agile workflow is a type of strategy framework wherein you perform tasks in iterative phases, with short and individual deadlines. As a skill, agility is essential in today’s unpredictable climate. When you’re preparing for the unknown, having these shorter and more iterative phases will help you adapt to sudden changes and crises in your industry today.

This sense of agility is essential if you want the ability to adapt to the new normal of business marketing. So try dividing your work into iterative phases, and prepare for the possibility of pivoting at any given moment too.

6. Reskill, don’t “fire and hire”.

In tough economic times, it can be tempting for companies to downsize their employee count or cut employee training and development budgets. Businesses might even be tempted to “fire and hire,” that is, fire old employees and hire new ones that fit the bill for post-crisis company roles.

But according to a study by the Harvard Business Review, all of these are the wrong moves to make today. More than 60% of a brand’s post-crisis roles can actually be filled by current employees, assuming that appropriate training programs are in place. The “fire and hire model” can also actually cost more, versus training old employees to tackle new responsibilities.

In a post-pandemic world, reskilling is the way to go. By training old employees and equipping them with better skills, you’re saving on the costs of layoffs and preserving your precious human capital too. When you reskill employees well, you save on company costs and fill more business-critical roles for future-forward success.

7. Draw on the power of technology.

If the worldwide pandemic lockdowns showed companies anything, it’s that technology has the power to make or break any business. It’s critical for all brands to draw on the power of technology; you can, for example, leverage new tools to develop employee talent and support their professional growth. You can also use tech to become a better digital marketer and automate big tasks like lead generation or data collection.

The possibilities for leveraging tech are endless, so remember to draw on its power to ensure long-term success for your company today.

8. Incorporate tech into human resource functions.

In addition to drawing on the power of tech, you can also futureproof your company in the long run by incorporating tech into company human resource functions.

Hear us out: if your company has a large workforce, then you need to manage them all accordingly. Now, imagine managing your workforce when they’re dispersed in various locations throughout the country, with remote, hybrid, or in-person setups. How might you manage all of these people if you can’t do cost-effective human resources management in person today?

You can manage them all accordingly by incorporating tech into your human resource functions. This will enable you to do a better job of managing, developing, and retaining employees, all at a lower and more cost-effective level this year.

9. Encourage employees to engage with tech.

Once you’ve drawn on the power of tech and incorporated it into your HR, the next development trend you can do is to engage the human side of your company with these aforementioned tech leverages too.

Now more than ever, companies and employees are upping their digital skills by engaging with tech and AI-enabled processes. By encouraging employees to engage with tech, you’re getting the best of both worlds, with data-backed tools and human-centric executions.

When people and technology work together, everyone benefits. So make sure to engage employees with tech in strategic and coordinated ways to drive success for your company today.

10. Save up for times of crisis.

This should be a no-brainer for any revenue-driven business. If you want to protect your company from unknown future risks, then you need to save up for times of crisis in every way possible.

The best time to save on resources is when you still have a lot of them. For example, you can secure your finances when your business’ revenue is flourishing to ensure you’re financially stable in eventual crises. You can also reinvest your resources into talent, equipment, or acquisitions, to weather new downturns and ensure smooth business operations even in tumultuous times.

Determine where you can save on costs, or maximize resources through reinvestment. This way, you’ll be prepared for any unexpected economic, social, or health-related crisis in the long run

11. Partner with new brands.

By partnering with new brands early on, you can ensure a wider web of support for your company should any devastating events occur in the long run.

Community support is essential to survival, especially in business management. If, for example, you need the support or services of an expert digital marketing company, then it’s highly encouraged for you to seek out their help ahead of time today.

With a mutually beneficial brand partnership, you can expand your reach and ensure a wider web of support for your work. This will give you more stability in the long run, even in the most difficult of circumstances.

12. Practice sustainable digital transformation.

According to the World Economic Forum, it is imperative that businesses undergo sustainable digital transformation to survive impending crises. This doesn’t just entail the utilization of tech. This also includes decarbonization and the company’s transition to more sustainable business models.

Digital marketing transformation obviously makes companies more efficient and profitable, while also making them smart and agile enough to survive changing market conditions. But how can brands expect to survive future events when a global climate crisis also hangs over their heads?

If you really want to futureproof your company, then you need to rethink your business model and embed both digital and sustainable transformation in everything you do. This ensures that your brand can both survive and thrive in difficult climate conditions in the long term.

Future-proofing tips for your marketing strategy

Now that you’re equipped with 12 new ways to futureproof your business, it’s time for some additional tips to futureproof your marketing strategies as well. Check out these quick tips to prepare your digital marketing for any impending outcome:

• Follow the data. By driving marketing with data, you can produce executions that are both strategic and scalable.
• Test everything. When in doubt, test it out. This is how you’ll learn from your mistakes and develop more insights for newer strategies.
• Upskill your marketing. Digital gets more diverse with each passing year. Take time to learn new skills like web design or chatbot marketing to add more tools to your arsenal.
• Leverage feedback. Take note of what online users say about your company and leverage it to improve your marketing in the long run.
• See what competitors are doing. By listening to what they say online, you’ll have an industry-wide understanding of what does and doesn’t work for your target audiences.
• Go customer-centric. Customer needs define what the fate of your brand will be. By focusing on customers, you’re focusing on what to prepare for the future of your brand.
• Experiment. With an experimentation mindset, you’ll always be open to learning, growing, and improving - and those are the best ways you can futureproof your marketing today.

Step into the future of the digital marketing industry

The future of your business can be bright and exciting if you take time to prepare yourself beforehand. So take today’s tips on digital transformation to heart, to build your strategy for tomorrow’s growth.

Learn to look forward to the future of your digital marketing company with the tips from this expert guide. We’re so excited to see you step into the future of the digital marketing industry, with confidence and pride in your online brand.

Key takeaways

Think you’re ready to build your strategy for tomorrow’s growth? Remember to bring these three key takeaways with you as you begin your futureproofing journey today:

• Consider the future of tech today. As intimidating as it might be to leverage new tech, remember that these innovations will be the future of your business operations. So it’s best to consider them as early as now so that you aren’t blindsided in the long run.
• Never forget the human aspect of digital. Whether you’re thinking about your employees or your customers, never forget that you’re working with people first. Tech should simply serve as a helpful tool in bringing business success for everyone.
• Start strategizing sustainably. In order to do business in the future, you need to transform how you perform said work in light of today’s pressing climate crisis. This can be done with tech. Digital and sustainable transformation, after all, should always go hand in hand.

If you have any other questions, send us a message via our Facebook, X, and LinkedIn accounts. Let’s chat.

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