We all know 2020 was a year like we’ve never seen before, on all fronts. This had all of us doing a 180 in every aspect of our lives. From work to home, we all found new ways of getting things done, sometimes even more efficiently than our pre-pandemic ways. 

As we move into 2021, many of us are still finding new ways of doing things while picking up where we left off in 2020. Business marketing has been no exception. The new year’s bringing some important trends that you need to know about. Let’s check out some of them.

Virtual Events Will Continue

With lockdowns and restrictions, many businesses quickly learned that if they wanted to survive, they needed to offer virtual events. Without ways to connect with their audience, they knew they would drown.

As soon as businesses got the hang of doing virtual events, they quickly learned that it allowed them to efficiently reach many people, some of whom they would not have connected with if they’d continued in-person events only. This year, expect virtual events to continue and probably get kicked up a notch as companies become savvier in reaching large audiences.

Look for More Interactivity

While people may sign up for virtual events, they don’t just want ones where all they do is plug-in and listen. They want to be involved, to ask questions, and to be interactive. With people quarantine and limiting their social time, this is especially important as people crave human interaction, even if it’s only online. You’ll see companies looking for innovative ways to make all types of online activities interactive.

Digital Marketing Will Increase

With more people online for social and business purposes, companies were driven to focus more on digital marketing. This isn’t going to stop in 2021. If anything, it will increase as the pandemic has changed many people’s habits.

Conversation-Based Content Marketing Will Prevail

Content marketing based on keyword-heavy blog posts isn’t going to cut it with your audience anymore. Instead, they want to get to know your brand. One way to do this is to build content that’s based on conversations. This brings a human element to the content portion of your marketing campaign. It allows customers to connect with your brand because they’re having more interaction rather than just having information thrown at them.

More Companies Will Reinvent Themselves

Totally rerouting your marketing campaign and the way you do business can be scary. But, after many businesses got used to it, they realized they could use it to their advantage and reinvent themselves. While some already did this in 2020, expect more to do it in 2021. 

Many companies are realizing that the way they used to do things wasn’t as efficient as it could be. Now, they’re discovering new ways and using them to re-invent their businesses.

A Deeper Focus on Personalization

Many companies have seen how much people enjoy personalization and how it can boost business. Generic “dear customer” communications are outdated. More companies are getting to know their customers on a personal level and bringing it into their marketing strategy. They’re realizing that the more they get to know each customer, the better it is for their bottom line. Plus, they may make some important connections along the way.

Brands Will Embrace and Capitalize on Change

Change is good. That’s what an increasing number of companies are realizing. Many companies are using that change to their advantage. They’re finding that all of the new ways they’re doing things can really benefit their business. Unfortunately, some are not embracing the changes and those are the ones that may not survive. The more accepting you can be of change, the better off your business will be.

Web Operations Teams Will Become More Common

With more companies relying on online marketing strategies, they’ll discover they’ll have to employ a web operations team if they haven’t already. This group of people will strictly focus on responding to customers’ needs in real-time. Customers don’t want to wait. If you force them to wait, they’ll find another business that can help them right away.

Companies that focus on customer communication are the ones that will not only prevail but succeed. If companies didn’t realize that before, they’ll certainly realize that now. 

As 2021 kicks into high gear, it’s important to keep all these trends in mind. Identify how your business can maximize them so you won’t be left in the dust.