Truth be told we don’t believe the BS of digital marketing trends in 2021 or any other year. We’ll keep this short, but trends will come and go whether that be for digital marketing trends or anything else for that matter. You can troll through Google for hours of the next digital marketing trends for 2021 and find plenty of articles that will list a bunch of things to do.

But ultimately, if you’re not constantly adapting and using different strategies to grow your business well then you’ll just be stagnant or miss out opportunities that you could have won.

I could sit here listing a load of trends but there’s nothing new that we didn’t already know about last year. Obviously, from time to time new technology or innovations will emerge which will mean a new way to grow. But before jumping the gun and going ahead and purchasing that tech or innovation, assess whether that will actually benefit your business.

Virtual Events 

One of the biggest things that will change is probably how we interact with each other, whether that be meetings or events. We will probably see more virtual events with tools such as Zoom making online meetings and events possible while sat at home on your computer. 

We’ve definitely benefited from it, being able to do business with clients around the world all from my computer at my home office. Whereas prior it might have been difficult as people have the option of meeting someone locally it would be easier for them to work with someone in the same city. But now since that’s not as viable as much with the pandemic it’s now becoming the norm to conduct meetings virtually. 

The same goes for events, even though they might not be the same again. However, with that being said even when things go back to normal, it should be something to stay. As it can make events accessible to those that can’t attend the live event and you have more reach to generate interest now. You’re not just restricted to the city or country. 

Don’t try and do it all

So besides the main trend that’s applicable for everyone above, the rest is relatively the same but here are some tips going into 2021 that will help to create some consistency. The biggest one is don’t try and do it all. You’ll not only burn yourself out if you’re doing it yourself or not get as much return back if you’re outsourcing it to an agency. Focus on a few strategies that work for you or experiment with one or two to see if it works then move onto something else to try. 

On the same token if there is a lot of different things you want to do, for example, videos, blogs, social media posts, paid posts, SEO etc. Then start off with one or two that’s manageable to achieve to start with, once you’ve got familiar with it then build on top of it with other strategies. 

Be consistent 

The biggest tip is to be consistent hence the paragraph above. Don’t do it all for a week or a month than realise you can’t manage. Start with writing a blog a week for instance, then posting every day on social media. Once you’ve managed and on top of it, then add in videos per month for instance. Then increase the number of videos to increase video engagement. The idea is to keep building on what you have either by increasing what you currently do and gradually adding in new ways.

Omni Marketing

Since the beginning at Pencil and Coffee, we’ve always stated that having multiple streams where your users can find you is better than just having one where all your consumers come through. That way if that channel ever stops for whatever reason then you have other means of consumers finding you. By doing this you are building a steady stream via all channels and don’t have to panic to build a new stream up ASAP. 

If anything 2020 should be the biggest wake-up call for this. Majority of businesses previously would have relied on one channel that could be walk-ins or networking events or referrals. Since people are not allowed to travel as much freedom this has meant many businesses would have struggled.

Having walked in for example as the only option during this pandemic means businesses are in a state of panic. Rather than strategically building up successful marketing channels, it becomes a panic option. Throwing money into another channel and expecting it to start generating leads or consumers for you isn’t going to work. 

But building a strategy with many options, means you are giving each channel the opportunity to build itself up to generate the leads. 

Marketing shouldn’t be seen as a cost, because if it doesn’t work immediately then businesses stop and think it an unnecessary expense when there could have been an opportunity in the making. Rather see it as an investment you don’t spend ridiculous amounts immediately but gradually, that way the expenses aren’t becoming too much of a burden at the beginning stages. Over a few months, you start seeing the rewards of the investments and the initial outlay is beginning to pay for itself however many times over.   

Be Patient 

Be patient! There isn’t a one-trick that works for everybody. Different strategies will work better than others for each business. Therefore it’s a good idea to experiment with low budgets, to begin with, to start building the process. 

You have to give each tactic time, sometimes months before you give up. Because once it does start building momentum then you can plough more money into and grow it even further. 

Not doing any marketing at all is probably worse than trying different strategies out to see which will gain momentum. As we’ve said many times before, imagine your online site as a physical store. Even if that store is the best store in the world and the products or services match that, if it’s built in the middle of a desert then nobody will come. With marketing, your goal is to build as many roads to that store and ways of getting to that store to make it easier for consumers to find out about the store. 

Provide value 

Nobody wants to be sold to anymore. Instead, try and give your consumers value for free – yes free. You’re not giving away any secrets. But instead, think of the day to day problems your consumers will have, how will your product or service help them to solve that problem. Then use that within your marketing strategy. By doing this, you start to build authority in your field. After being consistent you build trust. With the trust then comes the sales of the consumer.

Overall you want to build a relationship with your consumers. Don’t be a robot or lack any human personality in your campaigns. 

Conclusion

Overall don’t really on trends. Don’t be a one-hit marketing type of business (that will never work). But rather be patient, invest and be consistent. As new products or service emerges, access to see if it will benefit the business. If so see how much budget you can set aside to trial it for a few months at a low level to start with. If you see the benefit then increase that budget. Build on top of what you have in a way that can be maintained. 

And the key thing is consistency and value!