Life in the New Normal

A few weeks ago we launched a blog on the ever changing shape of UK Plc, authored by our MD, Tim Holt. That blog looked at the constant change the UK economy goes through and how the challenges of COVID10 will effect data marketing in the months and years to come.

In this blog, we hear from the front lines as one of our Account Managers, Aisling Livingstone, shares her experience of lockdown and how it’s effected both her and her clients. It has been an interesting time with campaigns being suddenly paused in the early days to new opportunities arising as her clients adapt to the changing situation.

Adapting to change

For most of us, the times we find ourselves in are unprecedented, scary and thought provoking. If you are anything like me, it was hard enough to switch your mind off from work mode to life mode in the ‘normal’ times I vaguely remember.

In the current climate our work and home lives have become so intertwined that it’s hard to distinguish them from one another! I often find myself brushing my daughter’s teeth and simultaneously thinking about ways in which I could get my client’s new email marketing out to an audience in a way that gets noticed amongst all of the additional noise.

Email Campaigns, Mailing Lists and Data Cleansing

Prior to lockdown, when we knew there was a potential threat of a pandemic which albeit at the time seemed far away from our shores, I had a healthy pipeline of campaigns from new and old clients. I was busy rebuilding my plans for 2020 and beyond after returning from 10 months of maternity leave.

My role as an Account Manager is fast paced and whether it be email campaigns to launch, advising on the best audience for a mailing list or running data cleansing for my clients, the role is pretty hectic. As someone who values long-term relationships it’s very rewarding to see those campaigns result in success for my clients and this was my ‘normal’ experience at the start of the year.

The impact of COVID19

When there began to be whispers of a ban on public gatherings, a new client working in the corporate event space pulled their campaign and immediately I began to worry about the impact the pandemic would have on my clients and in turn, my career and my company’s future.

Over the past few months I have had to put a pin in a number of projects that I was working on. What I didn’t account for was the amount of determination, innovation and energy my clients and new prospects have.

Although times are different, both I and my clients have been able to be successful by collaborating on new ideas and action plans. As a business we have been adapting our offering and I have received great feedback on this.

The new normal for Data Driven Marketing

I have been inspired by the businesses turning their trade to meet demand in new areas of business from providing new digital solutions through to manufacturing PPE and cleaning products. One of the ways we have adapted our offering is to make available new ways of selecting mailing lists; specifically to target prospects these solutions will apply to.

There is of course an air of uncertainty, I find sometimes people get in touch and we have some really interesting conversations and then I don’t hear back from them. But that is ok, because we are all the same right now give or take, and we are taking a tentative approach.

I really hope we don’t lose sight of the fact we are still all in it together though and we do have a responsibility to keep things moving and play our part as best we can.