January and the turning of the calendar always bring a sense of renewal—a fresh start. That may be needed more than ever after 2020 brought a global pandemic and shook up nearly every walk of life. If 2020 taught us anything in marketing, it’s that we have to be adaptable to the situations around us. One of the best sports quotes of all time is when boxer Mike Tyson was asked about how his opponent had prepared to fight him. Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
That’s a pretty good description of 2020, it punched us all in the mouth. Live and learn is how humans always survive though, so it’s on to 2021 with a changed-forever landscape. So, how does one put together successful marketing in 2021? Outside of world pandemics and events outside of our control, we can start using technology, artificial intelligence, online tools, and solutions to spur successful marketing and grow businesses. With that in mind, here are some of the tools you need for successful marketing in 2021.
Google Analytics and G-Suite Tools
One software solution and platform that can be added to the “must-have business tools” list year after year is those provided by Google. These would be any or all of the following:
- Google Analytics
- Gmail / Google Workplace
- Google Docs, Sheets, Slides etc.
With Google now powering more of the information being created, referenced, and shared on a daily basis, it only makes sense to continually utilize the data and tools they are offering to users and small business owners.
One of the most obvious and commonly used solutions is Google Analytics, which is a must for tracking everything about your site’s current and future search rankings movements, optimization, and more. Google Workplace, (formerly G-Suite) is also a huge benefit for anyone looking to write with documents, create spreadsheets, and even slideshows… all without the need to download or buy software.
Here are the benefits of Google Analytics that lead to successful marketing:
- Traffic Volume and Sources
- User Behavior
- Helpful insights on devices and platforms used by customers
- Customer Demographics
- Customer lifecycle from acquisition to conversion and retention
- Measure Goals Completion and Revenue
No matter how big or small your business might be, Google’s arsenal of tools is a must-have for entrepreneurs of all sizes, in all markets to achieve the most successful marketing you can.
Do you remember when Instagram was just an easier and more convenient way to share pictures on social media? Well, welcome to 2021, where Instagram is a must-have marketing tool and there is a very good reason why Instagram will be a big deal for smaller businesses in 2021 and onward.
Instagram is the last of the untamed social media networks, and that is true even though Facebook has every tentacle woven through its core (especially since Facebook posts can be “boosted” through Instagram).
Big business dominates all social media networks, from Reddit to Twitter, from Facebook to YouTube, and the smaller business needs to work a heck of a lot harder to make even the tiniest ripples in the audience’s consciousnesses. Even if they do, the same businesses need to work infinitely harder just to maintain whatever momentum they have gained. For a small business on social media, getting started and making a ripple is difficult, but keeping the momentum going is almost impossible.
Yet, Instagram has not been cracked by the corporate giants because each has to buy into the affiliate platform. The few who are trying to sell their products through Instagram posts are failing, and yet small fashion lines, makeup lines, and esoteric shops and services are managing to breakthrough. Even something as simple as posts with people playing with your products, wearing your goods, using your products, is going to start attracting attention.
InVideo For Easy Video Creation
Here’s a number that might make your head spin: the average person will spend 100 minutes a day watching online videos in 2021. Video marketing is the best form of content you could create, whether it’s for social media or YouTube ads or just on your website.
Too many marketers and brands are still intimidated by the thought of video marketing due to the cost involved. They are missing out, as videos form an integral part of decision making among your audience and help In long-term brand recall. Simply put– video leads to successful marketing!
InVideo is an affordable one-stop-shop to create stunning videos for your brand in 10 minutes. It has premium customizable templates that will help even beginners design a video.
InVideo helps you create successful marketing via:
- Create social media videos
- Videos for social media ads
- Create promo videos
- Meme generator
- Posters
InVideo is free to try but use starts at $10 per month after your trial.
Boosted Posts on Facebook
Many believe that in 2021 small business owners will be splitting their Google Ads budget with the Facebook Post Boost budget.
A boosted post is a post to your Facebook page’s timeline that you can apply money to in order to boost it to an audience of your choosing. It’s the simplest way to advertise on Facebook and they differ from Facebook ads in that they are not created in Ads Manager and don’t have all of the same customization features.
As with Instagram, the larger corporations are dominating affiliate networks like Google Ads, Bing Ads, etc. The trick to getting successful marketing out of the Facebook Boost function is to set small budgets with between four and seven days run time.
With larger companies running high-cost campaigns with very long run times, your boosted post ads will slip in the gaping cracks left by larger campaigns. Try it out and you will see that your smaller campaigns with lower budget amounts will outperform your larger campaigns—the downside being that you have to keep setting up your campaigns over and over again.
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a social media management and optimization platform for brands and agencies of all sizes. It gives you a single hub for social media publishing, analytics and engagement across all of your social profiles.
Sprout Social is probably not the best tool to choose if you are just starting out and you want to grow your influence—it’s more of a platform for people and brands who are already making an impact and they want to increase that impact.
In order to obtain successful marketing, the tools Sprout Social use rely on the information they collect from your social media channels and the more viewers and followers you have, the more information there is to collect. Sprout Social allows you to take a more direct marketing path that relies on strategy and less on luck.
Trends
As we head into 2021, one thing to remember to ensure successful marketing for your company is that one of the biggest trends everyone is predicting for this year is the pivot from social media being simply an agent of discovery, to being a major sales force, and a point of purchase.
In a Forbes column from December, Henry DeVries quotes Shapermint CMO and Cofounder Massimiliano Tirocchi as saying, “Social media platforms like Facebook are making it easier for consumers to go from discovery to purchase without ever having to leave the platform, creating a simple and seamless path to purchase. With social commerce continuing to grow into 2021, retail brands will have to adapt to these platforms with new rules, similar to what many did with Amazon.”
If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that the best plan for successful marketing is to be nimble and adaptable to change. More apps are coming. More avenues for social media are coming. Be ready and embrace the all the new ways to get your message out to the world.
