2020 was an interesting year for all businesses and proved that going online is the key to survival for businesses of all sizes. Man brick-and-mortar stores opened online shops in order to stay alive, some doubling down on their profits, while others struggled to make it through the year.
2021 will be the year that will make or break many online businesses, and we’re hoping that with this guide we will help your business pivot in the right direction. We’ve compiled a couple of online marketing trends that should help your business survive if not thrive untder the current circumstances.
Increase focus on social media marketing
For years, social media marketing has been important for many businesses but now, in 2021 it is more than likely to become a major trend. As of mid-2020, marketing budgets were spending a quarter of their money on social media marketing.
Once the pandemic shifted consumer habits online, the focus on social media as a way to reach potential customers grew exponentially. We do not expect this trend to change in 2021 – thanks to the fact that we are still on lockdown and that we spend most of our time on social channels.
Local SEO
If you did not focus on local SEO in 2020, now is a better time than ever to start investing time and resources into it, especially for brick-and-mortar businesses. Google My Business offers an excellent way for consumers to find your business more easily based on the geographic location.
This was a previously under-utilized marketing tactic that we will see pick up in 2021.
Redesign your website
If you don’t have a website for your business yet, then you should definitely consider getting one. If you already have a website, then you should consider giving it a redesign.
UI design has changed a lot during the past year, and you have to make sure that you use a lot of visual content that engages people and captures their attention. Also, make sure that your website is mobile-friendly – since the number of mobile users outnumbers desktop users.
Focus on Interactive Content
This is the content that keeps people engaged with your business, whether if it’s on your website or on your social media page. Interactive content can be a quiz, a game, a poll, an interactive video, survey, or contest. Interactive content is an affordable way to get more leads, people change their attitude towards your business if they enjoy your content.
Greater customer segmentation
As every marketer knows, keeping a customer is much cheaper than getting new customers in. In fact, it could be five times less expensive! When you keep your customers happy, they are likely to keep using your services or continue ordering your products. Segmenting customers allows you to offer a more personalized experience when it comes to newsletters. This more targeted approach to marketing can help you save more on your advertising budget and keep customers happy.
Fine-tune your ad targeting
Creating more highly targeted ads is going to have greater importance for two reasons. One is that it will save you money when it comes to advertising. When you create user-targeted ads, you are factoring in age, gender, location, and preferences of your target audience.
People are more likely to click or tap on an ad that is personalized and more relevant to their interests.
Content optimization for SEO
For years SEO has been one of the main sources of traffic for many websites, and 2021 will not be different. There is a lot to know about SEO, especially since Google’s algorithm is regularly updated to factor in more and more elements. Today, there are around 200 variables that affect your site’s SEO. Content writing is still the main generator of organic traffic, so you want to create content that is original, engaging, and easy to understand while optimizing it so that it reaches the top of the search results.
Final Thoughts
In order for your business to survive and thrive in 2021, you’re going to need to re-think your digital marketing strategy. Focus more on how your users engage your website by providing unique and quality content, whether you’re writing blogs or product descriptions. If we’ve learned anything from the past year, it’s that hard work and effort pay off.
If you are not familiar with digital marketing, you can always rely on agencies such as JusttemplateIt to do it for you. We’ve been in the business for over a decade and we have a team of dedicated specialists that have been helping out businesses of all sizes with their digital marketing. We can help identify the right strategy for your business and help you implement it with great effect.