What a year has 2020 been! We could go on and on about the ups and downs this year has brought us. Did the digital marketing industry benefit from it? What is its future? What can we expect from digital marketing in 2021?
Find out the answers to all these questions here.
Since the entire world went online as the pandemic hit, one thing became clear. Digital marketing surely did benefit from the year 2020. It might sound rather bittersweet. But the advancements made in the industry need to be acknowledged.
What are the digital marketing lessons we learnt in 2020?
This year brought along multitudes of lessons. As a global community, we adapted to the unprecedented times in every possible way. Our schools, businesses, livelihood and everything else took to the online platforms. Survival became possible only through a smartphone!
New brands came to stand on their feet as the bigger ones remained resilient online. Thousands of small businesses went online and many others had to shut down.
If anything, 2020 has taught us a zillion lessons. Read on and find out the most important digital marketing lessons of this year.
1. Survival of the Fittest – Adapting to the
Digital Spaces
The pandemic took a toll on businesses. Several offline marketing campaigns sank while others responded to the grave situation smartly.
Multiple businesses were able to carry their business goals and strategies to digital arenas. The quick response by several such marketers saved them and their customers from a disastrous shut-down.
The best part is that businesses have learnt to operate in both online and offline platforms in the future. This hybrid set up promises double the profit and brand exposure to marketers.
Numerous businesses took to social media platforms for promotions and launched applications. Content Marketing Institute’s Insights for 2021 stated that 70% of B2B marketers made important adjustments to their strategies due to the pandemic.
The transition from physical to digital was not easy for businesspersons. But this hard road ensured that digital marketing is here to stay. With admirable response to novel strategies, 2021 is all geared up to be the best year for digital marketing.
2. Websites Set to Impress – A Hectic Strategy to
Build an Impressive Website is Necessary
People have begun to browse for their favourite brands online. In this day and age, it seems unfathomable to not have an official website for your brand.
The website can serve to please your potential leads in the first glance. Your business motto, values, all of your products and services can be accessed via your website.
Once your business goes online, it opens up to a large, heterogeneous crowd of people. If your website cannot impress a global audience, the conversion rates of business can sink considerably.
SEO blogs, links to your social media channels, newest offers and discounts, contact information and review boxes are the most significant parts of a commendable website. It will act as the soil that supports all of your other marketing gigs including automation.
An impressive website can gain subscriptions easily. This can go a long way in maintaining a healthy customer relationship. Hosting a decent website is one of the most important digital marketing lessons of 2020.
3. Social Media Rules –Social Networking Platforms Turned into Hoarding Boards this Year!
This goes without saying! Thousands of small businesses have come to build a name for them using their social media profiles. Many new businesses germinated in the ten-month gap and many established brands brushed up their forgotten profiles.
YouTube channels, Instagram accounts, Facebook pages, and LinkedIn profiles have become synonym to identity cards. The pandemic has only served to reiterate this change.
Pay-per-click advertising and social media marketing have benefitted the most due to the pandemic. Influencer marketing, YouTube ads, display ads, etc. have developed their own fan following in the last year.
As people have begun to dig up online shopping platforms to buy even basic commodities, brands had little choice but to create profiles to stay in the game. If your social media presence is still lagging, now is the time to buckle up. 2021 will only invest in social media advertising better.
4. Values & Quality – No Matter the Model, There
can be No Compromises on Quality
Nearly 44% of people have started using new brands due to their compassionate response to the virus outbreak, according to the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report.
Whether or not a business goes online, the mission and values that run it cannot be compromised. Your brand needs to speak at length about the ethics that formulates it.
2020 has been a difficult year for multiple reasons. If your business could not respond to the chain of unfortunate events with empathy and understanding, your customer base can falter. If anything, 2020 has taught marketers to think beyond profit-making and embrace humanity.
Numerous brands gained fame due to their social service activities during the pandemic. Once your customers begin to trust your values, their unending support can work as the backbone of your brand.
Similarly, good-quality service and delivery of goods/services can also help you build trust. This does not apply solely to online brands. It is simply the foundation of any business!
5. A Tech-Savvy World – No Technology is Confined to Gen-Z!
Unprecedented times pushed the world to go online. This proved that the majority of customers can resort to online modes of purchase easily. Many of them made their first online purchase during the lockdown!
E-commerce websites, social media and smartphone users are not curbed to teens alone. Children and elders have similarly adapted to the need of the hour in a seamless transition.
Everything from clothes to groceries had to be delivered to doorsteps. This emergency transformed huge groups of conventional shoppers to tech-savvy consumers. Many have comfortably adapted to technology already.
A customer-centric approach will benefit your business immensely in2021. Try making your website mobile-friendly. According to Review 42, 61% of users are reported to never return to websites that aren’t mobile-friendly. With 70% of searches made via smartphones, businesses cannot hope to remain competitive if their interface isn’t mobile-friendly.
What Do These Lessons Tell Us?
For businesses, 2020 has been a year of hectic tests. However, with every rise and fall that you have faced in 2020, a lesson can be learned which can transform your brand this year.
Analyse your business strategies based on these digital marketing lessons and make suitable changes. Take this fresh start to plan a strong digital marketing campaign for the upcoming financial year.
Expect the worst but give it your best! Revise your marketing strategies and plan according to your budget. If you put in little effort, 2021 can be your year!
Do you agree with our digital marketing lessons of 2020? Have more to add? Feel free to comment down below.
If you need assistance in your digital marketing adventures, hit us up!
