As the one-year mark of COVID-19 becomes a reality, many businesses are shifting focus to what doing business will look like in a post-pandemic world. Today, Shift7 Digital, the modern digital agency for manufacturers, is sharing insights on how manufacturers can put their best foot forward and keep the momentum in digital they’ve built over the past year. The must-have nature of digital marketing, specifically a strong ecommerce presence, became impossible to ignore virtually overnight this time last year and Shift7 has helped several high-profile manufacturers transform and accelerate their digital presence; the agency is reporting 110 percent growth in their ecommerce services year-over-year.

“Manufacturers have undergone aggressive digital transformation over the past year, making smart investments in their customer experiences, ecommerce, and digital marketing and it has paid dividends,” said Andrew Walker, CEO of Shift7 Digital. “Even those who only had a baseline knowledge of digital have upped their games significantly, but the key is going to be continuing to move forward. Innovation isn’t going to stop and the way they connect with customers is going to continue to evolve. Getting up to speed out of necessity last year isn’t going to be enough for long and we’re the critical partner these manufacturers need to continue to evolve in the digital space.”

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Though it’s starting to feel like a post-pandemic world may no longer be that far away, with it will come a post-pandemic way of doing business. Digital isn’t going anywhere; as we’ve seen over the past year, the manufacturing industry is moving toward digital not being just an option for a customer’s experience, but the preferred customer experience. Here are three ways for brands to lean in on digital and carry the momentum into a post-pandemic landscape:

Spend Smarter, Not More: Last year, over two-thirds of manufacturers have moved marketing dollars from traditional to digital channels, but the world of digital marketing is vast and wide. Set your priorities and spend your funds wisely. Make sure you have the right internal and external (agencies, vendors, etc.) support to the vision, automate what you can, and get your high-touch content in order. Expect that you’ll have to make significant investments in this area to see an impact, but know that the time of these things being “nice to haves” is well in the rearview mirror.fCRM