Happy New Year to all our clients and followers. We made it! Despite a challenging 2020, we’re feeling excited and eager to launch into 2021 with a positive attitude and excellent marketing strategies to maximise our clients’ marketing success.
What can we learn from 2020?
COVID-19 changed the way consumers researched, connected, and purchased their products and services. This change in consumer behaviour forced businesses to pivot their marketing strategies in order to stay in front of their potential customers online.
This forced adaptation was truly a blessing in disguise. Businesses who had only ‘dipped their toes’ in the digital marketing pool before were forced to jump in and learn how to swim. While some businesses just managed to keep their head above water, many thrived and are in an even better position than they were before.
READ: 5 real stories about adapting to do business online.
Last year was tough but the good news is, a new year means new opportunities to improve and maximise your marketing. So without further ado, here are the top 2021 B2B digital marketing trends for your business.
Social media advertising
Some things never change. Social media advertising is always on-trend.
With the sheer amount of time people spend on social media, it’s no surprise that advertisers are seeing a return from their advertising spend. People use Facebook and Instagram to connect, consume content and make their purchase decisions.
Pro tip: If you are investing in advertising, it’s wise to first optimise your Facebook page. Complete all the page info that’s required, address all your settings and decorate the page with a branded cover photo. Reviews and content are important too. Arriving at a barren Facebook page can put people off your brand.
Pro tip: Create engaging advertising campaigns using Facebook Instant Experiences and Instagram Shoppable posts
Facebook’s powerful advertising platform
Facebook’s advertising platform offers more features than ever before opening up a world of possibilities for businesses to promote their products and services.
Running social media ads in 2021 is a good idea. Running ads without a strategy behind them is not. A comprehensive strategy helps ensure your messaging is clear, your creativity is on point and your targeting is bang on. More importantly, a social media marketing strategy helps ensure that your marketing dollars are not wasted.
Focus SME specialises in social media strategy and advertising for small to medium-sized service-based and B2B businesses We help our clients connect with their most valuable customers online. Contact us today to see how we can help you.
B2B content marketing
Content marketing in 2021 will be just as important as content marketing in 2020.
Being useful is one of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal. Publishing useful, relevant and engaging content on your social media and/or website nurtures your client relationship and improves your SEO too.
Blog articles, videos, social media content, regular newsletters, emails and even hardcopy publications keep your brand top of mind with customers and provide useful information that your customers can benefit from. If you can help them, they’ll like you and if they like you, they’ll want to work with you.
Start building your content marketing strategy by mapping out your customers’ journey.
- What steps do your clients take before they make a decision?
- Where do they go to find information?
- What platforms do they visit?
Asking yourself these questions will help you map out their journey and the platforms you’ll use to reach them.
Once their journey is mapped out, create a series of questions a potential client might ask themselves during this journey. Those questions or topics will be the launchpad for your content.
Create content that answers your potential customers’ questions, and then publish that content across your selected marketing channels.
Pro tip: Use Instagram stories and reels to maximise your social media reach. Reach is a key metric of the awareness stage of the purchase funnel. Increasing your reach means that you’re putting your brand in front of cold, potential leads – which could drive traffic to your business.
Chatbots
A chatbot is a software application used to communicate with your customers on your behalf. Chatbots improve customer service and help businesses scale communication by answering questions from website visitors 24/7. It’s your very own support staff member that will never call in sick.
Chatbots like Mobile Monkey and Intelliticks are free to use and easy to integrate into your website. They can also be custom-built to accommodate more advanced features and functionality.
Be there in the micro-moments
Google coined the phrase ‘micro-moments’ a few years ago. Micro-moments are intent-driven moments of decision-making and preference-shaping that occur throughout the entire consumer journey.
The power of the internet means that everything we need is only a tap or click away. If we want to know something, find something, buy something, be somewhere – we Google it. For this reason, we recommend mapping out your customer’s potential ‘micro-moments’ and optimising your marketing channels to make sure you come up when those moments occur.
Social media channels to manage customer service
Social media channels like Facebook are constantly evolving in an attempt to make themselves a ‘one-stop-shop’ for businesses. Automated messages, messenger chatbots and inbox management are just some of the features Facebook has launched to help businesses manage customer queries.
Why should your business consider managing customer queries through a platform like Facebook?
Convenience. People want to interact with businesses with as little effort as possible. Using a platform like Facebook to meet and greet your customers can create a positive brand experience and even convert them quicker.
Must have tools in 2021
There’s a lot to look forward to this year! If you’re seeking advice or social media support for your business in 2021, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us HERE to get started.