As we begin gearing up for 2021, still in the midst of a global pandemic, we will continue to see businesses leaning more heavily on their online presence, interactions, and communications to keep their businesses relevant and active. Many companies have switched over their operations from in-person to completely online, with more employees working remotely than ever before. Over the last 9+ months, we have watched marketing trends evolve in order to accommodate our new world, giving us some helpful insight into what the hottest digital marketing trends of 2021 will be.
So what are the most influential digital marketing trends for 2021 that your business will need to implement?
When you are looking to engage and retain your established customers, while also generating new customers with online traffic, sales leads, and increased revenue? Listed below are some key areas to look at how you can update and enhance your digital marketing to have a successful and profitable 2021:
Boost Your Social Media: While it is no surprise that social media is an excellent resource for business owners to engage with their audiences and attract new customers, during the global pandemic, this resource is more valuable than ever before. Businesses and other online organizations should look to increase the amount of resources they are utilizing for social media to raise engagement, attract new customers, and strengthen bonds with their existing customers. Now more than ever, you will need to put extra effort into retaining your current customers, as many individuals, businesses, and organizations are looking for ways to save money.
While the amount of time the average person spends on their smart devices has been increasing for years, the pandemic has brought us to a drastic peak in screen time. With the increase in screen time, individuals are spending more time researching products, services, and brands before choosing to work with them. This may also be largely due to individuals being less frivolous with their spending, making them want to research more before they buy. This shift has led to fresh opportunities for businesses to grow their online reach with new audiences and re-engage with existing customers. If your small business has been putting off adding social media marketing to your budget, now is the time to reevaluate this and make room for change.
Manage and Maintain Your Google Business Listing: One of the single most important ways a business can organically grow their online presence is by managing and maintaining their Google Business Listing. You will want to ensure that all of the information on your Google Business Listing is current and accurate, while also putting in efforts to add new information to your listing. This can mean updating your business profile with new photos, videos, updated business hours, updated service lists, and more. Doing this shows Google that you are a current business that is providing services and is thinking about your online presence. This effort shows them that you are active and concerned about the customer’s experience.
Additionally, you will want to ensure that you are responding to ALL Google reviews that are left for you. Your potential customers, and even the established ones, will be interested to see how you respond to good reviews as well as bad reviews. No one expects your business to be perfect, though a 5-star review average is a huge plus, but they do expect you to handle poor reviews in a professional and adequate manner. Make sure you are making a good first impression on potential customers and reminding established customers of the integrity you bring to your business with the way you reply to your online reviews. Additionally, keeping up with your reviews will show Google that you are actively communicating with your customers, which will increase your SEO placement.
Community Involvement: Whether we like it or not, we are living in the era of, “Cancel Culture”. What this means for your business is that you will want to be going out of your way to assess the choices you are making and the impact this has on your community and those around you. Ensure you are working with brands that focus on treating their employees right, and that your business is also putting a focus on how you treat your employees. Additionally, you will want to show your support for community issues that matter to you, without making waves. This means, participating in online information sharing, standing up for issues that matter to you, and creating a safe environment for your employees and customers to exercise their rights and beliefs. While this is especially important for brands with a lot of online attention surrounding them, it can be helpful for businesses of all sizes.
What if digital marketing is not in my budget?
Many businesses are trying to cut back their spending, in order to survive the drastic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led to many businesses cutting back on their marketing costs. While some businesses may have no choice but to do this, it is important to realize the impact a strong digital marketing strategy can have on increasing your profits and helping your business survive during this difficult time. Listed below are some of the top reasons you should not cut digital marketing costs out of your budget in 2021:
Focus On What Matters: When you are a business owner, you should be focused on the operations of your business. This includes keeping the quality of your products and services high, interacting with your management team, and communicating directly with your customers. When you hire a digital marketing team, you are able to focus on the things that really matter instead of constantly trying to find the latest ways to effectively market your brand online. The team at HOUSBM is dedicated to your success. We stay on top of all of the latest marketing trends so that you don’t have to! Learn more about how we can help your business grow in 2021 when you schedule a no-obligation evaluation with us today.
Saves You Money: While many people want to cut digital marketing costs right away when trying to decrease their budget, this can actually end up costing you money. The amount of new customers you are able to reach with digital marketing should be bringing in more money than you are spending. Whenever you cut digital marketing, you may see a rapid decline in how many phone calls your business is getting. Additionally, when you try to implement online advertising on your own, there can be a pretty hefty learning curve, which may eat into your budget. When you work with professionals who are experienced with digital marketing trends you are getting the best information surrounding your marketing, this helps to eliminate ineffective marketing strategies which saves you money.
While it is already obvious that we are living in a digitally-focused world, this trend will only continue to grow in 2021. Everywhere we look people are glued to their phones and smart devices. For better or worse we have learned to connect to each other and the world around us through technology. When it comes to advertising your business, taking advantage of this can be a great way to spread awareness about your business and gain interest from online users who otherwise may have never discovered your company.
At Houston Small Business Marketing, our team helps small and medium-sized businesses thrive by utilizing the most effective digital marketing strategies available. Whether you are a service-based company, such as an HVAC repair company, or you are an expanding medical group, digital marketing can help your business succeed. Our team of digital marketing experts works hard to provide the most comprehensive online marketing services available in Houston. This includes full-service online web development services that work to increase your company’s Google ranking online organically. This is done through careful planning for your website to ensure everything is written and designed in a way that works within Google’s algorithm.
Don’t let your business fall behind because you are spending countless hours trying to adapt the newest marketing trends for your brand, instead, work with the digital marketing experts at Houston Small Business Marketing today. Our team understands the challenges that come with working in competitive markets, this is why we do everything in our power to help you stand out from your competitors online. The more traffic we can drive to your site, the more customers your business will retain. Our goal is to help you dominate the search terms for your local area that are relevant to the services and goods your company offers. This means, instead of your competitors being the top search result on a Google Map or local search term, it will be you. No one is going to see your company if you are stuck on page 9, let our team help get you to the first page to increase your visibility online so that you are able to stay profitable throughout the remainder of this pandemic and beyond.
With 2021 right around the corner it is the perfect time for business owners and organizations to evaluate the way they are marketing their brand. Maybe some areas you are investing time, money, and additional resources into are not paying off in the long run for your brand. Take time to look at which areas you can improve in order to stay on top of marketing trends to avoid losing potential customers and established customers to your competition. Businesses are seeing a large migration of established customers reevaluate their own budgets during this pandemic and making cuts or switching to new services that fit the direction they are choosing to move into. This can be extremely trying for business owners, who have successfully operated for decades just by focusing on the quality of product or service that they offer. Don’t let businesses with lower quality products and services out market you. Instead, work with the digital marketing experts at Houston Small Business Marketing. Our team of highly dedicated and experienced SEO professionals never stop working to increase your visibility online in order to expand your audience. Let us work with you to get to the top and stay there through all of the changes in our world.
When you work with our team, we ensure your company’s services and products are reaching the right people online. Our team understands how important connecting to your current customers and new customers are, this is why we put a strong focus on developing user-friendly websites, with plenty of informative content to help increase your chances of converting online users into actual customers. Our team of Houston SEO professionals can help to answer any questions you may have and explain in depth the services we provide to small and medium-sized businesses. If you would like to improve your company’s website and expand your reach online, contact us today. We can provide you with a no-obligation walk-through to explain to you the areas you can improve the design of your website and the efficiency of your brand online to help keep you thriving through 2021.
Digital Marketing Experts in Houston
Stop missing out on potential customers and become a force within your industry! From excellent web design and social media management to Google Business Listing optimization and a weekly-updated blog, the team at Houston Small Business Marketing is here to help you get to the next level. Grow your business when you expand your reach online. If you are tired of giving away potential customers to your competitors, contact us today! We dedicate ourselves to working closely with business owners to come up with a marketing plan that helps them succeed. We provide each customer with a free consultation for your website and social media to let you know how you can improve your placement online and grow your engagement with local potential customers looking for your services. Contact us today to learn more about the services we offer.
Houston Small Business Marketing
https://www.facebook.com/housbm
Houston Small Business Marketing
713-492-0025
1415 North Loop West #950
Houston, TX 77008
https://houstonsmallbusinessmarketing.com/
