New channels for
a new normal

With face-to-face interaction off the table, marketers turned to new channels – and digital experience was an advantage.

Scroll down for results

Q1.

Which channels have you had the MOST ‘brand awareness’ success with during the last 12 months?

Enterprise / SME comparison
UK / US comparison

Q2.

Which channels have you had the MOST ‘demand generation’ success with during the last 12 months?

Enterprise / SME comparison
UK / US comparison

Q3.

Which channels have you had the LEAST ‘brand awareness’ success with during the last 12 months?

Enterprise / SME comparison
UK / US comparison

Q4.

Which channels have you had the LEAST ‘demand generation’ success with during the last 12 months?

Enterprise / SME comparison
UK / US comparison

Expert view

“As well as trying new formats, I’m in favour of going back.”

Barbara Moreno
Head of Marketing, Amadeus NDC

Time to experiment?

We have experimented with new channels as a result of lockdown, including the use of polling to make virtual events more dynamic. We’ve also started to do some podcasts and they were very well received.

As well as trying new formats, I’m in favour of going back. For instance, direct mailing may be a simpler way for clients to receive information. It’s direct communication with more of a one-to-one, personal feel.

Pick another chapter

Did COVID make tech marketing braver?

Changing attitudes to creativity and risk

Does martech limit creativity?

How the pandemic changed engagement

Tech marketers have switched priorities

New channels for a new normal

Which channels are working now?

What marketers want from an agency

Key lessons and takeaways

Conducted in February 2021 by Opinium, Perspective 2021 is a survey of over 200 senior marketers in medium to large tech companies in US and UK.

Analysis

New channels for a new normal

Adapting to digital: experience has its benefits.

When the pandemic eliminated face-to-face interaction, it’s no surprise that tech marketers looked to digital alternatives. But those who already had wide digital experience got a real head start.

Online events and webinars were the go-to replacements for their offline equivalents, with around a quarter of tech marketers using them for the first time this year.

But when we looked more broadly at patterns of channel usage before and after 2020, we noticed another trend. Specifically, marketers who didn’t already use a lot of digital channels were playing catch-up.

Overall, the most popular channels pre-COVID were online advertising, social media, and press advertising. However, enterprises were using a much wider channel mix – especially on digital. Compared to smaller counterparts, they were twice as likely to use online advertising and digital events, nearly three times as likely to use social media, and four times as likely to use SEO.

As a result, marketers in smaller businesses were far more likely to use digital channels for the first time this year. 26% started using online events, 25% began online advertising, and 23% commenced social media.

With their digital channels already in place, enterprises were able to experiment with radio advertising (28%) and advocacy (24%), as well as renewing their focus on webinars (24%).

Back to results

43%

of marketers said online ads had been the most successful for brand awareness over the last
12 months.

34%

of marketers said online ads had been the most successful for demand generation over the last 12 months.

25%

of marketers said ABM had been the most successful for both brand awareness and demand generation over the last 12 months.