Translating Marketing Prof’s 2021 top 5 marketing trends for people that just want it straight, unfiltered, and with a focus on marketing automation. Because if you haven’t heard already– like here or here — being real and raw and yourselves is the key to effortless brand authenticity, and authenticity is key to ROI. Literally– ROI in all aspects of your business, brand purpose, marketing, advertising– all of it.
Here’s their yearly roundup, but in our words, because they just make more sense.
1. A long-term approach is the Miracle-Gro that B2B brands need to thrive.
Um. Hm. Is this someone saying that brands should make sure their brand strategy is… long term? What else would it be?? I guess we’ll just agree and say, yeah, your marketing and branding strategy should be long-term with your target audiences. As they put it, the opposite of “one-off B2B programs.” So how do you do that?
Focus on customer relationships, and when you get stuck, treat them like you would any other relationship in your life. If they are confused, be real and ask them how you can pivot to meet their needs. If they are betrayed, take stock and see what measures can be put in place so that doesn’t happen again. If they are happy, rejoice with them, like the human behind a brand you are, and take note of what led to this joy.
Cultivating these relationships and practicing unwavering authenticity is how you breed loyalty and attract the audiences you want around you, even when they’re cold leads. A brand should be built future-proofed, and the key way to do that is a branding and marketing strategy focused on authenticity. Only then can true marketing automation of that practice take place– whether by yourself or with a marketing automation consultant.
2. Smart marketers will leverage macro-economic data.
Consumers want to be micro-targeted and have their experiences curated to them, however many laws and regulations in 2021 will take away some abilities to do just that (because at the same time, they want privacy, and we don’t blame them). At least, in the way people have always done it. Basically what #2 is saying is that, especially in the wake of unpredictable 2020, macro-economic data should be used to steer you in the right direction and lay a base before supplementing with the micro-marketing, ultra-targeted experiences.
Put #1 and #2 together, what you’ve got there is 3. Distracted, disconnected customers require more attention.
AKA, recognition of your brand, communication with your brand, any dot on the sales cycle of your brand, requires fluid, multimedia, interactive, omnichannel conversion rate optimization. We know that’s a mouthful, that’s why we wrote a whole article on just that (What is CRO?) here that you can hop over to if needed.
4. Fostering a human connection.
This one is obvious and we’ve written about it lots before– but a special focus on it in 2021, in the light of humans being deprived of even more connection in 2020, is going to make the difference. People don’t just want transparency, authenticity, and personalization. They want human and emotional connection closely tied to the brands they put involvement into. If you didn’t refresh your memory on conversion rate optimization above, this is another reason to — consumers will want #4 on all mediums, in all interactions, and with interactive media.
5. Clearly identified market positioning.
This one is really just about knowing exactly how your brand stands up in order to achieve agility. AKA– what emotions, circumstances, and worldly factors can change for your target audiences, and therefore change how steady your market positioning is? The branding foundations (or as Prof says, pillars) are not just the baseline of all marketing, advertising, social media interaction, and customer experience. It’s quite literally the truths you know to be real about your market. As 2020 has taught us, unprecedented times should be expected, and you need to be agile enough to adjust your pillars as it happens.
Not sure how to go about that? Or really, any of them #1-5? The first step is seeing where you are right now, before laying out a roadmap ahead. We put you in the driver’s seat with a Brand Market Analysis.
But, if we can be real with you for a sec? You might not be at that point yet. As a top marketing automation agency and the best ad agency in Austin, Texas, and the world (proof), we can’t work with you until you’ve got authenticity down pat. Luckily, all that takes is some shedding of layers and practice. Go do you, we’ll be here when the real you wants to talk.
You think you’re the real you right now? We might have 2021 space left for you. Hit us up, and Happy New Year End of 2020.
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