KreativElement has been around for over eight years. After celebrating that milestone during COVID-19, it seems like we just floated by it. In some ways, eight years feels like an incredibly long time. But, when put in perspective, we’re still two years younger than Instagram.
Regardless of whether you think eight years is an eternity or a blip in time, we have made the most of it at KreativElement. Over the years, our team has created over 300,000 social posts, over 5,000 videos, and more than 300 websites. To say we have strategized and created a lot of content would be a bit of an understatement.
Compared to prior years, 2020 was different from the others. When we think back on the past year, we have no doubt that our strategy is what kept the company moving forward. If you’ve ever been backpacking, you know that they tell you to never stop on the hill, you have to wait until the hill levels off before stopping to take a look around. The same can be said about marketing, especially during uncertain times. It’s important to keep moving forward.
This mindset has proved true during many uncertain times throughout history – recessions, depressions, industrial changes, you name it. Those who keep their strategy in place and push ahead instead of pulling back on things like marketing seem to always win. You could point at a number of companies who have done just that. Walmart, Ford, Amazon, and Best Buy are all great examples, and we think KreativElement is too, to an extent.
We may not be a behemoth of a company that is known worldwide, or even nationally, but to a small business owner, your company never seems small. For small business owners, it’s your risk and the livelihood of your team that you are responsible for. Many small business owners had to have difficult conversations with their teams, vendors, and banks in March 2020 in preparation for what could happen. At KreativElement, we had many of these conversations.
KreativElement is better off today than it was in March – we were able to keep marketing for ourselves and our clients, and were able to keep our entire team employed and even added new team members. We’re proud of where we are as a company, especially in these uncertain times, and want to help other small businesses keep moving forward into 2021 and beyond. So, we’ve decided to highlight some of our favorite marketing trends for 2021 and break them down as a resource for small business owners.
Our Favorite Marketing Trends for 2021
Digital Transformation
In early 2020, this became somewhat of a buzzword as many companies weren’t prepared to transition to a remote workforce or make their offerings available online. Suddenly, companies were scrambling to implement things like e-commerce, online ordering, productivity tracking, chat bots, and the list goes on. Brands that were able to embrace evolving technologies continued to grow and gain market share over those that didn’t.
If anything, 2020 made people more comfortable making online decisions out of necessity. We believe making online decisions like those listed above will continue into 2021 and eventually be done more out of convenience than necessity. If you refuse this digital transformation, there’s a possibility you will continue to lose market share to competitors that embrace it.
See Also: How Your Omaha Business Can Thrive Through the COVID-19 Pandemic by Optimizing Your Online Presence
Video On-Demand
For years, the expansion, demand, and accessibility of video has grown. We don’t think 2021 will be any different. We expect repeatable process, how-to, and overview videos to continue to grow tremendously in 2021 as people become more comfortable interacting and learning in a digital environment. This is part of the digital transformation, but goes a step beyond, allowing for a one-on-one interaction without needing to be there physically. According to Sparxoo.com, “When potential customers can watch explainer videos on your product or service, 73% are more likely to make a purchase.”
Since the start of the pandemic, online content consumption has nearly doubled. Using video to attract leads at the top of the sales funnel is becoming more commonplace because it’s so effective. Don’t worry, you don’t need a huge budget to make a big impact on video. Start with a simple overview video – introduce your brand, tell your story, or ask customers to talk about their experience with your brand.
Pro Tip From the Ke Video Team: Minimize the amount of time invested in creating videos by setting up shoots that will allow you to capture footage for multiple pieces of content.
Reaching Remote Workers
According to Garnter, 74% of CFOs intend to make remote work permanent for some or all of their employees. Over the course of 2020, many professionals became comfortable conducting business via Zoom meetings rather than face-to-face interactions.
We believe that this type of remote-hybrid workplace is here to stay. This shift of previously on-site workers primarily staying home will continue to have a big impact on small business marketing in 2021. With many people leaving their house less often, it’s more important than ever to use digital marketing to reach them and paint the picture of why your product or service will improve their life.
Loss Aversion
If you didn’t get any toilet paper in March 2020, you’ll understand this next one. People don’t like to lose, meaning they want an opportunity to get something before it’s gone. But gone are the days where fear mongering or relying on FOMO (fear of missing out) are effective tactics.
Nowadays, your brand needs to be humanized and come across as approachable; doing so will help create a sense of loyalty. According to Small Business Trends, 71% of people prefer buying from companies that have similar values as them. If you put your core values at the center of your marketing campaigns, you can better show who you are as a company. This is true regardless of company size, location, or whether you’re B2B (business-to-business) or B2C (business-to-consumer).
Similar to the concept of selling a feature vs. the product, when targeting the humanity of loss aversion, you want to make the customer feel like they may be missing out on something they care about more than just the product.
Digital Ads
Digital ads, including social media ads, are not going anywhere anytime soon. If you want to continue to reach people in 2021 and beyond, creating an ad strategy and monitoring the results is incredibly important to your company’s success.
Facebook & Instagram
Facebook and Instagram ads are very popular, and for good reason – they reach 81% of adults according to Tech Jury. If you’re new to digital ads, we recommend starting on Facebook or Instagram. You are able to target by interests and demographics, choose from several objectives such as reach and website traffic, and are usually able to keep the CPC (cost-per-click) under $1.50. This CPC is a much better return on investment than similar ads on Google and other search engines.
Advertising on LinkedIn continues to be geared more towards B2B offerings. However, quality is king and the most loyal client bases will interact more on LinkedIn than on other social platforms. It’s important to be vigilant about costs while running LinkedIn ads, as they can get very expensive depending on your target audience.
X
The targeting options for X ads are similar to Facebook and Instagram, but they take it a step further by allowing targeting for things like cell phone carriers or interaction with certain hashtags and keywords. And, believe it or not, the average CPC on X is often $1 or less, making it cheaper than all other social media platforms and search engines.
Google & YouTube
While Google and YouTube ads tend to be a little more costly, they allow you to reach people that are not active on social media. Not to mention, YouTube ads are perfect for brands that create a lot of video.
Over everything else, we think that humanizing your brand in a digital world is what’s most important in 2021. Perhaps more than ever, we are yearning for a connection. Show your humanity and you will most likely come out on top in 2021.
We know that this was a lot of information to take in. If you think you may need help, schedule a meeting with us. We specialize in all things digital – social media, copywriting, video, photography, website design, and more – and have experience in a variety of industries.
