With many businesses strained as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic downturn, marketing will be more important in 2021 than ever before. In order to undergo a revival, businesses will need to seek out new clients and customers in a way that helps them stand out from the competition. So, what can you do to step up your marketing efforts going forward? Here are some pointers.
Start planning now
You need to be ready to tackle the market full force when the new year finally rolls around, so take some time now to plan and prepare. Reflect on which approaches have proved profitable in 2020 and which have failed to deliver the expected results. Competitive advertising spend analysis is critical so turn your attention to your competitors and assess their failures and successes, too.
Finally, engage directly with your existing customers to find out what they are missing, what their expectations are, and whether their ‘pain points’ and daily challenges have changed during the course of the pandemic. You can update your marketing goals, efforts, and messaging from there.
Update your SEO
Your website is at the heart of your digital marketing. Therefore, you need to ensure that it is easy for potential customers to find and navigate. Your website should also support and echo the messaging communicated in your campaigns, provide fast loading times, and feature a variety of different types of content, from videos and blogs to infographics and downloadable e-books. A reputable SEO agency, like clickintelligence.co.uk, can assist you in tweaking your existing SEO to adhere to changes in best practice since the start of COVID-19.
Embrace marketing automation
Look out for new advancements in marketing automation technology next year and be ready to take full advantage of them! Experts predict that the new tools and software will facilitate enhanced personalization and customization when it comes to marketing, helping you to better connect with your target customers.
If you aren’t already embracing the power of marketing automation, now is the time to change that. According to invespcro.com, marketing automation software solutions often lead to a 14.5% increase in sales productivity. They can also aid in reducing marketing overheads by just over 12%!
Stop worrying about results
The majority of marketing campaigns are results-driven. This is understandable – after all, why would you want to bother undertaking a campaign if it isn’t going to lead to anything. Results are important, but they shouldn’t be the sole reason why you make contact with your potential customers. Shift your focus a little bit and try your best to generate authentic connections, to communicate openly and honestly, and to truly do your utmost to make your potential customers’ lives easier. In doing so, your brand automatically becomes more relatable and genuine, which instantly translates into the results that you hoped to achieve in the first place. Put your customers first in everything that you do – and especially in your marketing efforts – and you simply cannot go wrong.
Now that you know how to make marketing work for your business in 2021, all that’s left to do is take action. Best of luck!
Image Credits: Nathan Dumlao
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