Business owners and leaders are already planning for 2022, but what does the future hold for? What should be your strategies and tactics when there are still plenty of uncertainties on the horizon?
AMBITIOUS and Insider Media spoke to business leaders in the South West to find out what their approaches to PR and marketing will be in 2022. Which areas will be their focus? Where are they increasing their investment? And, where they’ll be choosing not to spend.
So, what does the future of PR and marketing look like for South West businesses?
The good news is that leaders in the region have recognised that they need to re-engage with customers while looking to bring in new business. There is also the ongoing skills shortage across many sectors, and leaders plan to use online as a resource to find new recruits. Online activity is more important than ever for PR and marketing activities.
Life really did switch from in-person to online during the pandemic. While in-person offices and events are starting to come back, digital has taken the lead on many aspects of businesses. Life will not completely return to 2019 ways of working and this must be accounted for when planning how to reach your audiences.
Phil Smith, Managing Director, Business West, said: “In the past 18 months, South West businesses have wrestled with a unique and complex set of challenges as a result of Brexit and the pandemic.
“Whilst business impacts such as social distancing measures are temporary, labour shortages and inflationary pressures look set to continue (at least in the medium term) and could have a stymieing effect on our economic recovery.
“As the government looks to recoup some of the £300bn+ that it spent during the pandemic, SW businesses will no doubt be anxious about potential tax hikes and rate increases.”
We identified six areas including content, PR and SEO where investment will be made in 2022:
- 81% of respondents focused on ensuring they are more recognisable to potential customers.
- 62% of business leaders are building reputation and credibility through thought leadership activities.
- 51.4% of businesses are focusing on content creation for 2022.
- 35.1% of businesses are focusing on PR next year, leaving a huge opportunity for savvy business leaders.
Companies recognise that PR and marketing can significantly improve a brand’s reputation and increase sales through developing trust and shared values with customers. They are also essential in communicating to audiences about news, products and services.
As mentioned above, there is a talent shortage right now and again PR and marketing can cut through to potential hires here. In today’s market, people are delving deep into a company to discover how they are run, what their values are and much more, as they do with companies they plan to buy from. It is mission critical that marketing budgets reflect this digital shift.
Behaviours have changed. The amount of online content consumed by the average person doubled to seven hours a day. Social media activity increased by 12.3 per cent with the average person spending nearly two and a half hours on social sites every day. There is a clear message from business leaders that collectively, we are going through an accelerated pace of significant change. Leaders need to ensure that they are part of the change.
There’s no doubt that the pandemic hit the fast forward button. Consumer perceptions, expectations, and behaviours changed almost overnight in response to lockdown. We can’t look back, there are no pause or rewind buttons – consumers and the world have moved on. This has profound implications for how we market ourselves. Failure to keep up with the pace of change could mean being left behind forever.
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