2021 has been a strange year so far, and it has caused a lot of businesses to reset and look at how they are marketing their businesses and see what improvements can be made, not just in marketing but overall to grow and increase profits. Here we have some ideas as to how you can invest in marketing in 2021 that will generate more leads for your business.
Website and Branding
A place you most definitely don’t want to scrimp is on your website and branding. Your brand will be the first thing prospective customers will have to judge you on, so it needs to make the right impression. The same with your website, think of this as your digital shop window. This needs to show the people behind the business, and who you really are. People buy into people, and this is your chance to stand out. There are options to make this easier for example if you use a platform like WordPress you can find WordPress themes to help inspire you and customize them to fit what you want to display.
As well as looking good, it also needs to drive traffic and be SEO ready. As such, although there are free website builders out there that many companies take advantage of – if you are serious about making a splash online, it’s a good idea to invest in a branding agency that have the skills and expertise to create you a website that really works and ties in with your KPI’s and objectives.
Digital Business Cards
Although face-to-face meetings will hopefully not be too far away, the reality is – there is always going to be a lot of online networking to do. With online networking, although you can maybe pop your details in a chat function – there isn’t the ability to hand out business cards the way you normally would at regular in-person meetings which can be a bit of a barrier.
That’s where digital business cards come in. These can simply be a link that you send, and your contact details will instantly pop up to any prospective connections. You will also get the info as to if/when they save your details, so you can use it as data to follow up on any prospective leads. This is a great way for you to build and nurture relationships.
Email Newsletter Software
An effective email marketing strategy is a great way to generate leads and make the most of them. Data is important, and it’s critical that you use it.
With some newsletter software solutions, not only will you gain access to templates that you can modify to fit your brand, but there are other benefits. You can view analytics to improve the performance of your email campaigns, create a marketing automation funnel, build custom landing pages, and even link with retargeting campaigns. If you get this right, you will be able to maximise your data.
Sponsorship of Events
There will be a lot of events in 2021. Of course, at the beginning of the year a lot of these will be virtual – however this will give you the opportunity to expand your contact sphere internationally. If there are any sponsorship packages going, this is a chance to get additional exposure.
The other thing to consider is, when real-live events occur again, they will be bigger than ever. Events organisers have had time to work on their craft and ensure that their events are more effective than before, so this is the time to consider investing whilst attendee lists are at a high.
Paid Collaborations
We all know that influencer marketing is at an all time high, and businesses that capitalise on this and incorporate it as part of their marketing strategy will do well. It’s a different kind of paid social media advertising that is now part and parcel of the world of online.
There are lots of tools you can use that will help you source influencers, but of course the real investment you will make is paying the creators. Typically, they will have media packs or rates that you can look at – but it’s important that you have a proper look at their stats before negotiating a deal to make sure they fit in with your target demographic.
Obviously, it’s easy to ascertain the number of followers they have, but it’s always a good idea to get to a more granular level where you can get engagement stats – so you can get a better idea as to how their audience behaves. You can also be specific in your request in terms of where you want placement (IGTV, a story etc), and dictate the hashtags used.
If you are starting a new brand or business or looking to up your game and gain more leads and sales, then these are some of the things you should look to spend your marketing budget on this year.
