Many senior marketers say the COVID-19 pandemic drove lasting strategy shifts, such as spurring them to target new customer segments and focus on digital-first experiences, according to recent research from Salesforce.
The State of Marketing report was based on data from a survey conducted between June 30 and August 8, 2022, among 6,000 marketing leaders (managers, directors, VPs, and CMOs) in 35 countries.
Some 38% of marketing leaders say they targeted new customer segments since the onset of the pandemic (68% of those who did so say the shift is permanent), 38% invested in collaboration technologies (70% say the shift is permanent), 37% invested in digital-first experiences (69% say the shift is permanent), and 37% invested in virtual and hybrid events (63% say the shift is permanent).
Some 37% of marketing leaders say the pandemic changed their company's business model, and 61% of that group say the shift is permanent.
Marketing leaders say that to adapt to data privacy policies and regulations introduced over the past few years, they've they've taken a range of actions, such as providing information-sharing incentives for customers and developing first-party data strategies.
Senior marketers say their organizations track a wide range of different metrics, including those related to revenue (88% track), customer satisfaction (87%), and online performance (87%).
About the research: The report was based on data from a survey conducted between June 30 and August 8, 2022, among 6,000 marketing leaders (managers, directors, VPs, and CMOs) in 35 countries.
