Will the Way of Marketing Change With Changing Global Situations?

The field of marketing has always been an ever-evolving one. Many successful marketers highlight the importance of learning and adapting, and it’s because they know that marketing changes are the only thing constant. The pandemic has increased digital technology and the internet, allowing for easier access to consumers. That, in turn, impacted the way we market our products to our consumers.

So, marketing change and market changes are unavoidable. In this blog, we will discuss everything about the changes in marketing and other exciting things like chatbots the future of marketing.

Why Does the Definition of Marketing Change Constantly?

Simply put, at the core, the definition of marketing is still the same. It essentially aims to create traction for a product that a business sells. One might ask, “Why does marketing change over time?” The answer is a little elaborate. The essence of marketing is to make the products/services visible to the target audience and bring profit to the business.

The way we do it is the only thing that’s changed. Earlier, the process was lengthy and took time to reach the audience. Now, every marketing strategy brings the product into the audience’s radar as quickly as possible.

The place where we do marketing has also changed drastically. When we go back a couple of decades, marketing happened through physical prints. The next advancement was the digital advertisement that performed outbound marketing through devices like TV and radio. After the advent of the internet, the evolutions sped up.

In 2006, inbound marketing became a term that many companies quickly adapted. It led them to focus on only their target audience using many techniques like SEO. Hence, it is not the very definition of marketing that changes over time, and it is the process, action, and needs that evolve and bring in new requirements for marketers to work around.

How Has Marketing Changed Over Time?

Marketing change is not always about new ideas and new demands, and it can get influenced by many things. Before the 1900s, most of the products were produced in small amounts. So, word of mouth was the most popular marketing tactic then. But, changing marketing strategies are mainly a result of a change in the very approach of marketing. Let’s take a look at various marketing approaches and market changes over the years.

1. Production Approach

This era of marketing focused on producing affordable products in large quantities. Thus, they could efficiently market their products with just one USP: “Affordability.” But, the products were mostly made of less-quality materials to reduce the production cost.

Moreover, it also employed a community of inexpensive workers. Even the packaging for the product was only meant to protect the product, and they didn’t spend much time making the package look pleasing. 

2. Product Approach

Then, when there were abundant choices for customers to make, a new era of marketing evolved. Where customers prioritized quality over quantity. At this point, marketers believed that the product’s innovation would sell itself and didn’t need any promotion.

However, this is a huge mistake many businesses still make. Some startups concentrate so much on their product that they forget to check whether it meets customer needs. This kind of approach only results in a massive gap between the produced and the sold. 

3. Sales Approach

Over time, many brands were selling the same product, which meant competition for the original sellers. Hence, emerged an idea that the product will sell only if the business spends enough time promoting/advertising it. This was the era where companies used advertising to compete against other companies that sold similar products. 

4. Marketing Approach

This is the point in time that changed the role of marketing forever. During the mid 20th century, businesses started to understand that they should find products for their customers and not the other way around.

Unlike the previous eras, this marketing approach focused on customer satisfaction rather than focusing on alluring advertisements. Businesses learned how to adapt to the ever-changing market just by keeping tabs on customer needs. 

5. Holistic Marketing Approach

The marketing approach that we have now is the holistic marketing approach, and it basically interconnects and influences all company activities. Every element in the company, right from how they manufacture a product, influences the marketing procedure. So, marketers now design marketing strategies by addressing these interdependencies. 

Four main components together make up holistic marketing. They are:

• Relationship marketing
• Integrated marketing
• Internal marketing
• Performance marketing

The current marketing approach should also illuminate the social responsibility of the brand/company. A few decades back, a company only needed to sell its products.

But, now they need to advertise their values and ethics to get recognition. This is how marketing has changed over the years, from something as simple as word of mouth to globally connected marketing platforms. 

How do The Trends of a Particular Time Affect Marketing?

There are various factors involved in shaping marketing. As we saw earlier, the available technology heavily influences the marketing style. When radio was the only form of mass media, the marketing practice was predominantly outbound. Businesses did not target their audience, and instead, they put the information out in the hope of getting contacted by potential customers. 

Let us move a few years further when MySpace came to be. At this time, there were web banners and other such social media advertisements dominating the industry. At this point, the companies tried to satisfy their audience through social media.

Nowadays, you can see companies investing much of their marketing budget in personalization. Why? In all the above instances, the companies have always tried to hop on to the next best thing. They tend to situate themselves where their potential customers have a presence. 

So, businesses basically find the best possible way to interact with their target audience and build marketing strategies around it. This is how brands stay relevant and how the trends in a specific time period affect marketing. 

What is The Future of Marketing?

The following are some of the future marketing trends that you as a marketer need to be aware of:

1. Highly-conscious consumers

Customers will become more conscious about what they buy. Since there’s a lot of access to information and data online, the general intelligence of customers soar. For example, it will call for changes regarding privacy and other ethical concerns in digital marketing. 

2. Personalization

For those wondering how digital marketing will change in the future, it will just become more personalized. After the announcement of Metaverse, there are bound to be more calculated personalizations than ever before. 

3. Voice marketing

Voice assistants are getting better at Natural Language Processing(NLP). Which has made it a powerful candidate for the future of marketing. Furthermore, voice assistants could help push personalization further. 

4. Virtual Reality

The new Metaverse is all about virtual reality. Since Facebook and Instagram are major players in digital marketing, it is no doubt that virtual marketing will also play a vital role in changing marketing strategies forever. 

5. Micro-influencers

Influencer marketing is already a thing. But, as trendy influencers support dozens of products, their value decreases. Whereas micro-influencers have a smaller follower base, almost all of their followers trust them. It makes their marketing efforts authentic and more efficient. 

These are the predictions of how will marketing change in the next 10 years. It is kind of tough to ascertain what technology will bring in a few years. So, you have to understand that marketing change can happen whenever. 

Conclusion

Apart from just promoting your product/services, marketing has evolved into something that positively impacts society. For instance, behavioral change marketing is all about spreading a positive attitude. So, we can proudly say as marketers that we not only sell products but also influence people to do better. If the pandemic-induced digitalization is any proof, marketing change can happen almost in an instant, and we would just have to adapt and overcome. The best possible way to emerge successfully out of it is to be open to learning!

No one knows what the exact contours of the next normal will look like, plus we do know that things will not return to their previous state. Marketers will need to keep a close eye on trends and indications, make dramatic changes in marketing strategy and investments, and adapt their organizations to the new environment.