Every business owner today must know that online marketing is a necessity. It has been for decades and its importance has increased drastically during the COVID-19 crisis. Digital sources of information are literally the only thing that matters now. Therefore, to succeed in this changed world, you need to be more aggressive and thorough with your marketing campaigns.
The competition has grown as well, so you need to focus completely on your niche and increasing visibility. You also need to understand the changing trends in the formats through which people consume digital information. Following these trends is not merely optional today, it’s your only chance.
Develop a Social Media Strategy That Targets Sales
The main purpose of social media in marketing used to be serving as a channel of discovery. Simply put, business owners mostly relied on these networks to make people aware of their businesses. The other important use of it was to build customer loyalty through “humanizing” your brand and maintaining relationships with customers.
Both these goals are just as important now. However, the role of social media in the online business model has evolved greatly over the last year. At the moment, it also serves as one of the main channels for making purchases.
Therefore, if you want your social media accounts to be truly useful in 2021, your strategy must reflect this change. Encourage buying through your ads and messages. But also, it’s essential to establish a process that will take social media users from seeing your post to making a purchase fast. The more straightforward is their path, the more sales you should be able to make.
Giveaways and promotions through social media now rock like never before.
Take Personalization to a New Level
This trend seems to be consistent over the last decade at the least. Every year customers’ demands for more personalized service grow. The capabilities of data analytics solutions you can use in marketing campaigns also improve. Therefore, you need to use these solutions to gather and process even more data so you can make better personalized suggestions.
The consumer of today expects the brand to “remember” what they bought and offer more than a repeat purchase. Instead, you need to offer personalized information, like personalized newsletters with information relevant to the topic of the purchase. Also, go beyond the “people who bought this also bought” feature. You should take a more personal approach and suggest “these products will complement the one you bought in different ways”. Then, offer a list of products and each should have information on how it will work best to enhance the effect of the original purchase. All this should be delivered through a personal message.
You’ll need to invest in good digital marketing software to achieve this level of personalization. Data analytics is vital for marketing success in 2021.
Embrace Live Streaming
Over the last 12 months the number of active streaming channels on Twitch went from 4.5 million to nearly 9.3 million and it keeps growing. And while it is the most popular right now, one shouldn’t forget that Twitch isn’t the only streaming platform. In fact, some of its top streamers recently migrated to Mixer and other platforms. They were also vocal about it, which brought more attention to Twitch competitors.
In addition, streaming Live Videos through social media is also a must today. Overall, live streaming is the top way to communicate with the world, especially during lockdowns. You can see the clear success of this communication method by the dizzying rise of streaming services in 2020.
Now, you might not be aiming to launch the next Netflix, but any online marketing strategy today must include live video streams. Remember that brand trustworthiness must grow to retain customers. Therefore, one of the best things you can do is launch regular streams with different niche experts. This will improve your reputation with customers and remind them that they should trust your products or services.
Establishing yourself as a niche expert can be one of the best things you can do for your business today. Consumers are no longer caught by loud but insubstantial promises of “miracle products”. Fact-checking is easy and everyone does it now. Therefore, you need to make sure that when people go to research your claims about your product, they find solid evidence. Eventually, this will lead them to take your brand’s word as true by default. This is what a business should strive for at the age of insane competition.
