How To Keep Making Waves in 2021

In the first month of the New Year, we look to develop successful business marketing tactics to guide our marketing strategies for 2021. This year will most likely be filled with hurdles we’ve never seen before as we adjust to the new practices and strategies of 2020 and get ready for what 2021 has to offer. Having a well-formulated marketing plan, will allow you to refocus your marketing efforts to adapt and meet the ever-changing needs of your consumers. 

Understanding Your Audience

Although you might have had a handle on your target audience in previous years, last year brought a behavioral shift to consumer mindsets. It’s impossible to know how much your consumers’ lives have changed, but it is possible to be there for them. 

Knowing that your consumer base is spending more time at home and online is a great place to start when thinking about and planning your marketing efforts. You’ll need to adapt your messaging to be more personal, coming from human insight. This will lead to personal messaging that creates a direct connection that shortens the psychic distance between you and them.

A Digital Connection Needs Human Connection

Almost everything has moved to an online space to accommodate consumer concerns from 2020. Now, it’s all about the user experience when it comes to creating digital experiences. No matter how digital our world becomes, it won’t change the fact that human beings will need to know how to best navigate it.

Lean on Me

In a Deloitte Marketing Trends survey of 2,447 global consumers, 79% recall certain brands responding to COVID-19 by helping their customers, workforces, and communities. Now, not only do customers remember your messaging but they have higher expectations for brands. Customers value purpose-driven brands that serve as their allies in hard times; sometimes it’s making them laugh and other times it’s being a shoulder to lean on.

Why They Buy

Some of the most successful campaigns of 2020 came from authentic marketing that at its core was based on the human experience. Apple created humorous commercials that were indicative of the comical moments caused by Zoom meetings at home. Match.com ran a similarly hilarious ad poking fun at our collective exhaustion with 2020. Although these companies have huge marketing budgets, a similar effect can be accomplished with smart marketing solutions. 

The Old is not vs the New

Success can be found at the intersection of digital and human experiences, those who’ve used both in tandem have seen real results. In a direct marketing study by Compu-Mail, 68% of marketing respondents said combining digital and direct mail increased website visits. Traditional marketing materials such as direct mail coupled with digital marketing tools can produce dramatic results. Combining two effective marketing tactics helps lead customers to both your website and your physical location, which can dramatically boost your bottom line. In fact, Compu-Mail found that the combined approach of digital and direct mail leads to a 39% increase in traffic to a physical store or business location. 

Reevaluate Your Brand and Messaging

Marketing messages can be changed instantaneously, but real results require self-evaluation and defining what your company truly values. Here’s where a rebranding strategy can be beneficial to your business. By refreshing your logo and messaging, you’ll be able to change your marketing materials to align more with your company values.

According to a University of Amsterdam study, they found that children 2-3 years old could already recall a logo and the product it represents in 67% of cases. In addition, A 2015 Microsoft Attention Spans report found that humans have an 8 second attention span- one second less than a goldfish. Think of that statistic when rebranding and redesigning your materials as well as your in-store experiences. Many of the most successful brands have undergone multiple redesigns to change with times or to reflect changes in their company values. 

Don’t Go it Alone

Hiring a designer can increase your brand awareness and provide you with professional design templates that help you make informed logo decisions. The rationale behind rebranding is to fit consumers desires, while creating a more authentic marketing strategy. Maybe your company values have changed, or you have new offerings and new products, these are some of the reasons behind rebranding. 

Rebranding isn’t to be taken lightly and everything from the color of your logo to the new brand visual/tonal guidelines are decisions that need to be well-informed. A rebrand needs to be across all your marketing avenues. Social media is a good starting point, but signs and banners will also be useful in reinforcing your new messaging.