2021 provided the world with a new set of challenges in already-challenging times. From supply chain delays to huge growth in ecommerce, marketers were forced to pivot quite literally overnight in many instances throughout the year. Although these changes and adaptations were difficult, they created opportunities for innovation like never before.
As we wrap on another year of unprecedented events and circumstances, we’ve collected our favorite blog posts that reflect on some of the biggest changes the marketing space encountered in 2021.
VentureBeat’s coverage of Apple’s elimination of IDFA
With the initial release of iOS 14 in April 2021, apps had to ask for permission to share data with third parties with the intent to grant users more control over their privacy. The update struck fear into the hearts of marketers that heavily relied on third-party data collection and cookies to fill out their marketing strategy. Without IDFA, marketers began to learn how to function in a post-third-party data world.
iOS 15 introduced a slate of new privacy policies and updates that allow users more control over their personal data and its use by apps. By the time iOS 15 launched publicly in September 2021, marketers had already begun to adjust their strategies around the loss of third-party data. First party data, or self-reported data, became the name of the game. Catastrophic though the loss of third-party data may have felt, the new reliance on first-party data has forced marketers to get creative and adapt overnight.
Retina AI’s COVID-19 supply chain shortage and inflation series
In addition to devastating communities around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed global economics on a huge scale. 2021 brought another difficult holiday season of drop shipping, supply chain shortages, and delivery delays.
The supply chain slowdown began in early 2020 when factories and manufacturers stopped production and temporarily closed their doors to help stop the spread of COVID-19. This resulted in their shipping partners delaying shipments and deliveries to accommodate the lack of production. These delays and shortages have continued to roll downhill over the last 18 months, and we have struggled to catch up.
From the beginning of the pandemic, the world has worried about inflation. It has finally arrived in full force, and businesses are now forced to choose how they want to tackle the issue. Some businesses assume that raising prices quickly is the only option. In some cases, this is the right move. Businesses adjust their prices all the time; under the air cover of inflation, it’s technically the perfect time to raise the price of a product. However, there are multiple ways to handle inflation, and businesses must ask the following before acting: should they raise prices now, or can the business afford to wait it out based on the estimated profitability of their customers?
United Nations Conference on Trade & Development’s take on COVID-19 and global ecommerce
The pandemic has increased the demand for ecommerce on a global scale. In countries with developing and established economies, ecommerce boomed overnight, in some places doubling year-over-year. In less-developed nations, ecommerce did not have the same hold.
This adoption and/or lack thereof has inspired movement toward closing the digital divide around the world and asking governments for funding and regulation in order to promote equity of access to the resources ecommerce can provide.
Retina AI’s CEO Emad Hasan on Facebook and NFTs
Facebook is the backbone of many brands’ customer acquisition strategy, and after its recent regulation change allowing cryptocurrencies to advertise, the future of Facebook advertising is an unknown quantity.
Retina’s CEO Emad Hasan provided context as a former Facebook employee and predictive analytics expert on how the introduction of NFTs, blockchain technologies, and cryptocurrencies into Facebook advertising could affect customer acquisition strategy moving forward.
Forbes’ predictions for growth marketing trends in 2022
The growth marketing space is an ever-changing, ever-evolving space, and 2022 promises to push predictive data and analytics to the forefront. Understanding your customers’ behaviors and their unique relationship to your brand is crucial to creating a successful marketing strategy.
This data is then used to help understand retention rates and deep dive into how businesses can maintain their current, loyal customers while continuing to grow and scale. Customer data provides invaluable information about buying behaviors, motivations, and indicates future patterns.
Leveraging CLV and predictive analytics is a gamechanger. Predictive analytics like CLV provide the context needed to help businesses understand their customers and how those customers evolve throughout their relationship with your brand.
Retina’s CLV Academy provides you with a crash course in all things Customer Lifetime Value, including how to calculate it for your business and how it can be used to optimize your current marketing and retention strategies. To learn more about how CLV can improve your business, talk to one of our experts today!