A1 Digital Media Tips..to grow your brand!

Digital marketing is no stranger to changes, especially after a year like 2020.

We have to stay on our toes if we want to stay relevant with the never-ending changes to algorithms and regulations—and part of that is positioning ourselves for success.

What is digital marketing going to look like in 2021?

Dan Dillon, Vice President of Marketing at Reveal Mobile

As the pandemic subsides, shoppers, diners, tourists and consumers of all kinds are going to go OUT. And when they go, they are going big. Marketers will need to know where their ideal customers go, how often they visit, competitors they’re shopping at — as much as they can know about the offline consumer journey. Reaching those audiences will be critical to business growth and will separate the 2021 winners from the laggards.

Steve Hooper, SiteGeek

We saw a massive shift to online in 2020 because no one had a choice, NOW in 2021 those that shifted have choices. The first is to wing it, and carry on thinking they know what they are doing, the second is to get trained or outsource what they are doing to make sure they are benefitting from the new normal. Without doing one or the other, businesses will eventually fail, which just makes me sad. 

Kasim Aslam, Founder & CEO at Solutions 8

The massive and sweeping emphasis on privacy is going to alter (and significantly inhibit) the way advertisers are able to target and track prospects. This might be the first time in the history of online advertising that we have actually gone backwards in terms of our ability to capture and utilize data. I believe this is going to place a heavy emphasis on the quality of the creative being used in online ads as well as the need to monitor and optimize the entire user journey (not just the conversion event). Advertisers are going to need to work to qualify prospects through intrinsic values (like user behavior and action) instead of relying as heavily on extrinsic values (like demographic information). The Customer Value Journey just became that much more important!

Russ Henneberry, Founder at theCLIKK.com

We will begin to see a crack in the Facebook/Google ad duopoly as Amazon continues to steal share from Google search ads and networks like Spotify, TikTok, Reddit, Pinterest, become more proficient at serving ads. These smaller networks are gaining ground in the areas of audience targeting, self-serve ad platforms, and cost-per-acquisition (CPA and CPL) objectives rather than just CPM models. 2021 is a good year to dip your toes in the waters of some of these smaller ad platforms and start testing.

Rachel Pedersen, Consultant and Strategist at The Viral Touch & Social Media United

2021 is an entirely new look at social media and marketing. After a long year of growth, hardship, and survival (for many), people are ready to experience authenticity on a new level. Here’s how to implement it: everything stems from intention.

It sounds fluffy, but it’s actually incredibly foundational.

What is your intention with that Instagram post? Sales or service? What is the intention behind your YouTube video? Vanity metrics or value? What is your intention for replying to comments? Engagement or connection?

By starting with your intention before creating a single piece of content, your fans/followers will feel the authentic care you and your brand have for them. Instead of resisting new platforms such as Clubhouse and TikTok, lean into the intention of showing up where your customers are.

Here are some starting points and ideas for intentions:

• To serve our fans and followers deeply.
• To help our customers get out of pain/frustration by offering solutions that actually help them.
• To understand our fanbase more deeply and meet them in their need. To bring light to the issues that matter to our people.

Apply this prediction to your marketing, and watch your fans/followers soar as your intention is felt.