In 2021, the majority of digital marketing experts are talking about rapid innovation in terms of AI, VR, and AR. While they all agree that some of these trends will be huge in the near future, being a pioneer in any industry will cost you an arm and a leg. It is also quite risky, seeing as how you can only speculate on the potential yield or how long it will take you to reach the break-even point.
In other words, while something may sound amazing, before committing to this investment, you need to ask one question:
- Is this cost-effective for my small business?
If the answer is anything other than a resounding “YES,” you need to move on.
There are so many incredible methods that have proven to have an incredible ROI year after year. While you may have already invested in some of these methods, there’s always some room for improvement.
With that in mind and without further ado, here are the top four methods to help you market your small business in 2021.
Growing Your Social Media Presence
The chances are that you already have some sort of social media presence. You probably already have pages and accounts on all the major social media platforms, but this is not the end. Sure, it’s true that, based on their age, income, education, and some other factors, your target audience may have networks that they are more likely to use. While the majority of your efforts should go towards these networks, you can’t afford to neglect all the rest.
In order to grow your social media presence, there are several minor objectives that you need to complete. These are:
- Setting relevant goals
- Interacting with your audience
- Adequately linking to your profiles and websites
- Leverage your social media to influence
A social media environment is where your audience interacts with each other, giving you unique outreach opportunities. Instead of reaching out through a formal email, you can just share their content, comment on their posts, etc. This feels more personal and is, therefore, more effective.
Improve Your SEO Efforts
Because of the nature of online businesses, people in 2021 are far more marketing-savvy than they ever were before.
What does that mean?
It means that they can sense when someone is trying to sell them something. Their defense mechanisms kick in as a reaction, and they become less susceptible to your brand message. One way to bypass these natural defenses is to improve your online visibility with the help of a strong SEO marketing campaign.
With the help of a specialized digital marketing agency, you can get your SEO and web development in sync. This will make you more competitive for most industry-relevant keywords, making it easier for potential customers to find you.
You see, some people are just not in your potential customer pool, and they’ll not buy from you/do business with you, regardless of your marketing efforts. This is clearly not the case with people browsing your industry and using keywords for which you qualify.
Why is this so important?
First of all, it will allow people to find you on their own, even partially convince themselves that doing business with you was their idea all along. Now, since they were the ones who reached out, they’ll feel in charge every step of the way. This makes them feel more comfortable doing business with you.
Start a Podcast
To increase your brand value, you will have to get quite creative with your content marketing strategy. One of the ways to do so is to experiment with different formats. Podcasts are an incredibly popular format that you may have, so far, underused or failed to use altogether.
Why?
Well, because it requires an investment of time, money, and effort. It requires specialized audio equipment and knowledge of how to use it. Also, it requires a certain continuity. You should at least make an episode every week, which means you have to produce, edit, and upload on a schedule.
Why is this so popular, and what does your audience get from it?
- A sense of community
- Multi-tasking friendly content
- Accessibility of content
Every podcaster has their own personality, topic, and guest type. This means that people following you already have common interests. Such a unique set of circumstances creates a great opportunity for internal jokes and running gags in the comment section below. All of these will enhance the sense of community.
Also, in a world where the majority of people prefer to multi-task, podcasting is an incredibly convenient format. People can listen to podcasts while driving to work, performing household chores, studying math, etc.
Email Marketing
A lot of people underestimate the power of email marketing; however, even in 2021, this marketing method yields an insane ROI. In fact, it goes as high as 4400%, which means that you gain approximately $44 for every $1 that you’ve invested.
How is this possible?
Well, to understand this, you first must come to terms with all the benefits of email marketing. Some of these are:
- Great for customer retention
- Increase in brand awareness
- Personalization of outreach
- Higher CTR (click-through rate)
When it comes to making people return to your brand, there’s really nothing more effective than email marketing. This way, you can send them customized offers (based on their customer profile) and improve your post-sale follow-up. Keep in mind that return customers tend to be your most profitable demographic. According to some estimates, only 8% of regular customers make as much as 40% of your entire profit.
Also, by using the data gathered during their previous visit, you have a chance to capitalize even on your shopping cart abandonment. This is what getting the most out of a bad situation looks like.
In Conclusion
While other techniques and methods are worth your time and money, the above-listed four should serve as the foundation of your digital marketing strategy in 2021. They are relatively easy to implement, give consistent results, and, most importantly, they’re scalable. So, with a bit of research and professional help, it shouldn’t take you too much time to elevate your digital marketing presence to a whole new level.
