COVID-19 has been the biggest disruptor of global commerce in recent years, even bigger than the recession-not-recession of 2008. As the year wraps up and 2021 is set to arrive, it’s a perfect time for businesses to take stock in how they manage their expenses in order to fuel better growth, and one of the major targets is the marketing budget. More than ever, it’s important to maximize the return on the marketing investment to ensure the dollar goes as far as possible, and there are several key areas where marketers can concentrate their expenditures to ensure greater returns.
Inarguably, social media is going to continue to be one of the primary sources of customers for years to come. Whether running an online gambling operation, a cryptocurrency exchange or any of a myriad of possibilities, marketers have to go where the consumers can be found and they are now found more on social media than any other platform. Over the past two years, there has already been a notable increase in social media marketing spend, increasing to almost 30% by the end of the third quarter of this year, and this isn’t expected to stop anytime soon.
Voice search deserves attention in 2021. It has yet to become an inherent part of Google’s search algorithms; however, as more consumers search from mobile devices, they are using voice searches instead of typing in their desired terms. The problem is that voice and text searches often result in unique results, which means marketers need to ensure that they are on top of voice search components and how they can be used to drive traffic to targeted results.
Interactive content, once viewed as a nice add-on, is now a necessity. A website or social media account that offers interactive content is guaranteed to receive greater engagement, as the content is seen as added value for consumers. The content is entertaining and visual, proving to be a greater attraction than stale and static content that never changes.
Another area that deserves attention doesn’t target the consumer directly, but still has great returns for marketing efforts. Businesses need to ensure they allocate a percentage of their resources and money on their employees. Successful entrepreneurs and executives know that customer satisfaction begins with the workforce and keeping employees motivated can help drive new sales and retention better than dropping the entire marketing budget on direct sales initiatives. Employees are the brand and the company, and businesses have to ensure that they stay connected with what’s going on internally to better represent the company to its customers.
