2021 Marketing for Small Businesses. What are the trends to consider? What assessments need to be made?
The recent transition to a world in which your prospects operate increasingly remotely and are almost always connected, means you need to do some deep marketing thinking.
After all, hoping for a sort of Christmas miracle that takes us back a year is now a pure utopia and we must therefore consider how understanding the dynamics of digital marketing has become fundamental for any entrepreneur. There are many reasons why too many Entrepreneurs have not taken care of their marketing and their web marketing in a time.
Too busy in their work, a certain modesty or rejection of a certain type of visibility. Again … having the word of mouth that worked or the belief that their potential customers couldn’t make their choices online …Moreover, most Entrepreneurs still start their own business based on their experience and professional skills, therefore thinking that there is necessarily a market demand based on the recognition of their competence, experience, specialization, or on their products or services.
Unfortunately, however, in the digital age, success (at least in the short term) depends more on the ability to communicate than on the quality of the products or services we provide. Now, although word of mouth, traditional marketing, or a simple online showcase may have worked for many years, today they no longer allow us to sustain steady growth in revenues and profitability because we have entered a new era on which people always rely on. more online, rather than human interaction, also to identify, evaluate and choose products, services, and small businesses.
Like it or not, this now applies to everything, from the choice of a restaurant to the choice of a machine, new windows, or a technical service.
2021 Marketing for Small Businesses: Where does it start again?
Online presence, visibility, and credibility are the key to creating a marketing plan for 2021 that can help your micro or small to restart and grow.
To obtain credibility, a fundamental element for increasing contact requests from potential customers, we go through a strong brand identity and a brand presence in all possible points of contact with potential customers.
Hence the need to combine an effective marketing strategy with the best digital marketing techniques and tools.
The first step, marketing strategy
Amid the digital age, it shouldn’t surprise you that your marketing plan for growing your business in 2021 should revolve around digital media and your online presence.
Perhaps, what you don’t know is what are the principles on which to build your online credibility.
Credibility goes through the definition of an ideal target customer, a strong positioning, and elements of differentiation and your value proposition.
All of these elements are the foundation of creating any winning marketing strategy.
Even the creation of a specific identity, of a brand design that is uniform and appealing to all points of contact with potential customers is now fundamental. To create these branding elements, you need to consider the image you want to convey, your vision and values, as well as how to convey them to your target audience.
Mail Marketing
A good email marketing plan should connect you with potential customers who have visited your website but have not decided to contact you or to nurture a lead who may require additional information before converting to a new customer.
However, finding ways to collect contact information for these potential customers is never trivial, so take the time to think about how to capture those leads and how to organize them into specific lists or in your CRM.
Many websites already use exclusive content or other types of “magnets” to acquire leads. It is therefore important to organize the collection of these email addresses to create specific and dedicated communications to make them more effective.
The relevance of communications is now paramount when you engage your potential customers. The quality and value of the contents of your communications decrees the creation of trust and the accreditation of authority towards you and towards your Brand.
Search engine optimization
Once the 2021 strategy and marketing plan has been defined, in addition to mail marketing, SEO is always the next step.
Search engine optimization is the process of “formatting” your web content to make it more easily intercepted by search engines.
This raises the possibility of your content looking when your target candidate searches for topics, answers, information, products, services, and small businesses like yours.
SEO is very valuable for small companies because being able to optimize your web content to take them to the top of search engine rankings always means having a possible competitive advantage over your competitors. In this sense, also properly configure your Google My Business profile. Make sure you make all fields, including bio, merchandise and service information, availability hours, etc.
You should also share the review link on Google and incentivize your satisfied customers to leave their testimonials with you. Their feedback influences your credibility, and Google will also reward you by promoting your site in its rankings.
Content Marketing
Content marketing defines the process of creating and publishing high-value content for your potential target customer perfectly. Content marketing must help your brand recognition and can be part of your loyalty strategy.
Content marketing is never aimed at sales but must aim to make you an authoritative voice in your industry.
Social media marketing
Social media marketing often appears as something boring and ineffective, but the new reality requires you to be present with a certain continuity on the social networks where your ideal target customer is present and active.
In any case, on social media marketing, you can learn more by reading this post: Social Media Marketing: How Small Businesses waste time and money
Advertising on Facebook
Facebook has become a powerful tool for even small businesses and can increase both web traffic and profits when used effectively.
Facebook uses very advanced readers targeting points that can filter your house based on a mixture of circumstances, including age, gender, social location, previous purchase activity, or expression of interest.
By using these targeting methods, Facebook ads improve the possibility that your ad will be connected to the characters you want to see it.
Facebook also helps define the goal of your ads, and you can then choose the kind of focus you want for your ads. You can also choose an ad position based on the event you want your opportunity to have.
Advertising on Google
Pay-per-click advertising is an advertising strategy in which search engine results pages display ads relevant to what the surfer is looking for.
Researching the keywords used by your potential target customer is crucial. The SEO that we have already talked about, is therefore also important for advertising on Google.
2021 Marketing for Small Businesses: What Trends and Trends to Consider in 2021?
Well, given the elements from which to start again (let’s say… the bare minimum…), let’s now see which trends we can further exploit.
2020 has accelerated many trends already in place in the digital arena to form a new online marketing landscape.
Digital marketing is changing faster than ever, and small businesses must learn to adapt to these changes to stay visible and grow.
Implementing some digital marketing trends can help your small business keep up with the times and create a more effective marketing plan for 2021.
So let’s look at some of the small business marketing trends to consider in 2021:
Video
Video content consistently dominates as a digital trend. In fact, by 2022, 83% of the world’s Internet traffic will be video.
So let’s see two types of specific video content that continue to take hold: live streaming and YouTube.
Live streaming is available on multiple platforms, including Facebook, Linked In, Instagram, and YouTube.
With virtual communication becoming the new norm, people still want human connection. Although done virtually, online experiences should add the human touch that everyone is looking for. Live streams allow you to connect with your audience on a more personal level and in real-time.
Data and statistics tell us that 68% of YouTube users watch videos to make choices and purchase decisions. Informative videos, review videos, tutorials, and even paid ads can therefore be the start of contact with new potential customers.
YouTube has a huge reach, a large number of users who are looking for information, tips, entertainment, and reviews.
Small businesses can use YouTube in several ways. You can postpaid ads that are played on video content of others to increase your brand awareness, or, you can start a YouTube channel for your business, using it as social media, to post relevant information for your potential target customer.
Marketing Automation
Automation in marketing uses digital tools to carry out repetitive tasks. You can then trivially automate the posting of your content on social media so you don’t have to do it manually.
More effectively, you can set up fully automated communication funnels that send an email flow to prospects based on the specific interest list they are on.
This way, as a small business, you can save valuable time and reap much more results.
Marketing Automation serves to maintain a stable line of communication with potential customers. This is one of the reasons why more than 50% of small businesses see an increase in conversions after starting to use marketing automation platforms.
Voice search
Like videos, voice search is another growing trend. Voice search is an increasingly essential element of search engine optimization.
Did you know that 20% of smartphone searches are currently performed with voice search?
Voice searches, unlike text searches, are often asked in the form of comprehensive questions.
For example, instead of “ small business marketing consultancy ” the search key becomes “ which are the best marketing consultancy firms for small businesses? ”Or instead of“ finding new small business customers ”the search key becomes“ how to find new customers for small businesses? “
To work on this, you need to think about the natural language your potential customers use.
Interactive content
Interactive content allows your target audience to feel engaged, as part of a conversation.
Interactive content can be as simple as asking questions with quizzes and surveys or using more complex features like configurators.
Conversion Pages: Landing Pages
Landing pages are a vital resource in digital marketing because they are web pages designed to convert.
Every graphic element, word, and layout are conversion-oriented. The texts are not descriptive or self-referential but explain advantages, benefits, usefulness, or results.
Texts induce desire or a sense of urgency and make the right use of references or testimonies.
If well designed, following a correct definition of your marketing and positioning strategy, landing pages allow you to see not only an increase in contact requests but also in the quality and profiling of contacts.
With the increase in technologies and tools dedicated to digital marketing, all Entrepreneurs can accurately measure the return on their marketing investments.
Measurement of ROMI (Return on Marketing Investments)
In 2021, more and more small businesses will understand how to directly use measurement and reporting tools that are already widely available today.
Sales letter
We said about the need to adapt very quickly to the rules that the digital age imposes, however, with more potential customers operating in smart working, even direct marketing, through well-structured sales letters, will pick up again and could help you communicate effectively. with your potential target customers.
Credibility
It is not at all easy to demonstrate why you should be the first choice for your potential customers, given the high competition you are surrounded by but in this field, you will necessarily have to measure yourself in 2021.
Customer testimonials, Google reviews, or success stories can be very compelling and help you stand out.
2021 Marketing for Small Businesses: Where to Start?
Recent events, the ones that characterized 2020, have led millions of people to make choices, make decisions, make acquisitions, and close deals only through online interactions, using only digital tools … and many will never go back. The first step, that is, from the creation of a marketing strategy that produces a strong positioning, a clear differentiation from competitors, a proposal of high value, and a perception of high credibility.
Why from this?
Because it is on these parameters that an effective marketing plan is created, in which the platforms and the best online tools are consistently chosen to intercept, interest and acquire one’s, ideal target customer.
