From the seriousness of the pandemic, politics and civil rights, to the lighter moments of baking bread and binge-watching Tiger King, 2020 is a year that will go down in the history books.
Personally, I have learned a lot from this year's challenges (including countless new recipes). While there are many moments I'd like to forget, there are 5 marketing lessons from 2020 that are sure to stick around for 2021 and beyond.
Humanize Your Marketing
Every marketer in every industry should take this advice. Simplify your messaging and make it more human and conversational. At the end of the day, you are marketing to actual people who are facing their own challenges both at work and at home. Adding empathy and personalization into your marketing will help you to build trust and stronger relationships with your customers.
Digital Marketing is Essential
After in person events were cancelled, the only way to network was online. Because of the reliance on digital devices, digital marketing became invaluable.
With everyone at home and spending more time on the internet, digital channels became the most effective way to reach your audience. We became even more reliant on technology and 2020 helped to solidify digital marketing as an essential part of every business.
Use Targeted Marketing to Reach Your Audience With consumers having an even greater reliance on technology for their daily routines, programmatic advertising can help you target your audience on the channels and devices they use the most.
Adding programmatic to your strategy helps to improve your audience experience in an authentic, more meaningful and personal way.
Marketing Automation Enables Success
Utilizing marketing automation platforms (like HubSpot) can truly transform your business. Automation will save your team valuable time and help to build better relationships across your sales and marketing teams. This technology will support your company's ability to grow and scale, all while providing in depth reporting and attribution.
Stay Agile and Adapt to Change
This is arguably the most important lesson of 2020. As the world turned upside down, I couldn’t help but think of the book “Who Moved My Cheese”. This story reveals how individuals react to change and the importance of being agile. As I thought more about the story's lessons (listed below), I related it to the amount of change during this year and the many ways marketers had to adapt.
Change Happens. We have all experienced change in the marketing industry. Social media and SEO are great examples of changes that have made us stronger and better marketers.
Anticipate Change. While there was no possible way to anticipate or prepare for the level of change in 2020, it's important to know that change is coming.
Monitor Change. As a marketer, you can rely on data and analytics to help you monitor changes to your business.
Adapt to Change Quickly. The sooner you realize that your old strategies are no longer working, the sooner you can get to work on new strategies and tactics that will work.
Change. Try new strategies and methods. Whether it’s adding programmatic to your mix, or offering a freemium product or service, if you don’t change, you’re going to fall behind.
Enjoy Change! While we all faced challenges from changes this year, it's still important to take a moment and celebrate your quick wins.
Be Ready to Change Quickly and Enjoy it Again. While it’s impossible to know what changes are ahead, having the ability to quickly adapt to those changes will make you a better and more effective marketer.
We are here to help your business grow with the most innovative and effective marketing strategies. Schedule a meeting today to see how we can work together on your 2021 marketing plans.
From our family to yours, we wish you a healthy, happy and successful New Year.
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