Whether you are a small hardware store in the Midwest or a corporation based in LA, brand positioning matters. Where you show up in the search results matters. The type of customer reviews you are generating matters. What people are saying about you online helps to define your brand. Recognizing that is the first step to smart online marketing.

It’s been a tough couple of months. And the weeks and months ahead don’t look a whole lot better.

In addition to the health crisis, there have been work stoppages, bankruptcies, plant closings and sweeping cutbacks.

Then, you put customers in quarantine and suddenly, communicating with them becomes a real challenge.

That said, now, perhaps more than ever, it is critical to communicate effectively.

You certainly don’t want to come across as tone-deaf during this time. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still address your brand initiatives. So how do you do it? How should firms communicate during the COVID-19 crisis?

 Marketing and sales teams have the same goal: sell. But too often, they're not on the same page. The content created by the marketing team doesn't always align with the type of conversation the sales team wants to have with a potential customer. And this disconnect holds companies back. 

The solution is called “Togetherness,” a concept created by alignment expert Jeff Davis.

They say we’re all in this crisis together. That is true. But what we do with this time is what will separate “us” from “them” when things calm down.

That’s why, during these surreal times, smart marketers are taking a long, hard look at their marketing strategies. They’re making adjustments and changes now.

A recent Adobe study found that 63% of financial services organizations ranked customer experience as their number one priority. To keep up with the competition, you need to put your customers first… or they’ll find a provider who does.

Today, customers expect a seamless digital experience across channels, personalized advice and a financial partner they can trust. Take a look at this infographic to see why customer experience matters to the financial industry — now more than ever.

When it comes to the financial services industry, customer loyalty needs some attention. Because in this business, the name of the game is customer experience (CX). But what does that mean in today’s world?

Today marketers need to take steps to close the gap between raw data, meaningful insights and real-time action, including:

To begin with... put your audiences first.

Why? Because the digital world thinks audience first, not media first. Grouping online audiences by demographic produces very narrow targets that do not necessarily represent a brand's most productive audience. We call potential consumers who do not fit a rigid demographic profile "valuable wastage."

People-Based MarTech relies on people-based targeting, replacing the need for and far exceeding the power of cookie-based data. Brands unlock a singular view of consumers, one that anchors all of the data discussed to a single email address.

From email marketing to automation, data analytics and innovative uses of artificial intelligence, marketing technologies are helping brands become stronger by engaging and communicating with their target audience on a whole new level.