One of the key challenges identified for businesses during the last year has been “digitalization.” For a decade or so business gurus have been “warning” that if your company is not online you will not survive or be competitive in the future. The pandemic has exponentially forced sales-and-marketing digitalization on companies, as “offline” and direct contact became impossible. The explosion in marketing online is also translating into it becoming even more difficult to stand out on the platforms and is costly. With changing customer behavior it is crucial to map the customer journey and make further analysis of who are the ideal customers and what makes them your customers.

One of our customers is one of Poland’s leading pharmaceutical companies. For a decade now, we have been the advisors and the marketing agency working with them. When the cooperation started, the target was to create a media that built trust and educated their customers (or people influencing the sale of OTC medicines in pharmacies). Since we began our cooperation a decade back, together we have built an omnichannel of media – print, online, social media and newsletters – while constantly developing the content, services and values provided through the media.

Why do we do this? Well, our client has clearly identified that the best way to have success is to constantly be in contact with the customer. Not by selling but by building a relationship based on trust and value. Having direct contact also allows them to get direct feedback, track and evaluate data and create tests and provide Q&A online.

They have built an audience, who knows that when they get mails or magazines from this company, it adds value. There are personnel benefits – either in the form of education or inspiration or simply professional advice and recommendations.

You too should think about your audience. It is so much easier to sell your product if you have a relationship with your potential client. Digitalization has made the insights available about your audience so much more valuable. You can have data about “nearly everything” – how they behave, how they consume your information, what steps they take before they shop and so on. It is definitely not easy to build a loyal and trusting audience. But if you make a concerted effort and a concentrated and planned execution in providing an attractive informational communication, you will create a powerful tool for yourself in years to come.

In other words, companies and brands should think like media companies. They should own the niche they compete in and bring attractive, relevant and educational information on a regular basis to their buying and potential buying audiences. If you are not convinced yet, then the last argument I have for you is: 20 percent of your customers usually contribute to 80 percent of your sales. If you can make sure that this 20 percent is constantly updated about your company’s development, new products influence their improved businesses, then you don’t risk your competitor taking them away from you.