Marketing is always evolving and never standing still. What worked for last year’s marketing campaigns may not have the same effect this year. Heck, practices and procedures that you had in place for last month’s campaign might be thrown out the window by the time it’s time to implement this month’s. Yes, we know that marketing campaigns aren’t one size fits all, but as 2020 winds down there are some trends that have come to the forefront and will carry over into the new year. Here are 5 Marketing Trends For 2021.
Virtual
The world was flipped on its head at the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic, but it didn’t stop. We just improvised. The biggest trend that you will see going into the new year is the continued substitution of virtual events for their traditional in-person counterparts.
While transitioning to the virtual side of things started as a way to stay afloat and keep the ball rolling, we’ve seen that there are definite benefits to doing things online. If you read this 50 years ago you probably wouldn’t believe it, but there are companies that are meeting, interviewing, and hiring individuals all without ever meeting them face-to-face. While the idea of this may seem crazy to some, it’s been the safest way to hire employees and after some time now, it’s been proven to work. This helps save time and money in regard to the interviewing/hiring process, regardless of the pandemic.
We’ve also seen things like Conferences and Hiring Events move virtual and yield results. This isn’t to say that you should expect everything to transition to virtual in 2021, but we will see organizations continue to substitute in-person events/meetings for virtual ones.
Remote Work
Even before the COVID-19 outbreak reached the United States we had started to see a shift to employees working remotely. In fact, a story from CNBC revealed that 42 % of full-time employees said that they would like to work from home more, even when things go back to normal. Even some more old-school, traditional companies are considering WFH in some capacity once things go, “back to normal.” The fact of the matter is that we have seen organizations transition from the office to working remotely and for a lot of them it has been seamless. Introducing some sort of hybrid between working from home and going to the office is something worth exploring.
People are growing more accustomed to this new way of working, and job searchers are beginning to seek out positions that have remote work flexibility. In addition, a large portion of these remote workers find that they are more productive when they are away from the distractions of the workplace while striking a more comfortable work balance. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, remote work is the way of the future.
Chatbots
Chatbots have become the norm when you visit many websites, and can be a great way for users to get quick answers to their questions and for your organization to get quick access to prospective employees. They are great for getting the conversation started but can also be the reason people are leaving your website if your Bot isn’t up to snuff. While in the past it was normal to wait minutes before getting a response to your question, that’s exactly where it’s going to stay..the past.
If you want to incorporate a Chatbot on your website you need to have an individual(s) dedicated to monitoring the chat and making sure visitors are getting timely and accurate results. This should be a quick and easy tool that’s user friendly. You can also have automated Chatbots that can assist users as they navigate your site. They can answer commonly asked questions and help direct them around the site. You should expect to see Chatbots become even more common and even more helpful with quick replies and useful information.
Increased Personalization
When crafting your messaging it’s important to remember that people don’t want to feel like just a number. If you’re sending a marketing email out to 500 people, the recipients shouldn’t be able to ascertain that. Chances are, if your emails look like your stereotypical marketing emails people aren’t even going to open them. That’s why you want to personalize your messaging to the individual reading.
That doesn’t mean you handcraft and email for each of those 300 individuals on your list, but segment your lists so that the messaging is personalized to everyone on the list. This isn’t just for email marketing but marketing across all avenues. Make sure that your messaging aligns with your target demographic. This will ensure that your marketing materials are getting put in front of the correct people so that you can fill your empty seats and help your bottom line.
Webinars
Webinars have been a staple in the world of marketing for quite some time now. They are a great way for an organization to showcase the expertise of its team members while helping to position them as thought leaders in the industry. They are also a great platform to showcase your company now more than ever with so much of the world being remote.
When done correctly, webinars can be more cost-effective and impactful than in-person events. If you are looking for a starting point, check out some of our previous webinars for reference. You can expect to see more of these popping up in the coming months and into the new year.
These are all trends and features that are rapidly becoming more relevant in the world of marketing, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Here are 3 More Marketing Trends For 2021.
