Clanin Marketing President, Scott Clanin
We talk with Clanin Marketing’s fearless leader, Scott Clanin, as 2021 kicks off, about his thoughts on marketing for the new year.
What marketing trends are you noticing currently to note for 2021?
Social media platforms are striving to become “one-stop” shops. Facebook and Instagram have released online shopping tools with the ability to tag products and checkout without leaving the platform. We’ve seen paid event registration tools roll out on Facebook, and LinkedIn release LinkedIn Learning which has grown in popularity in 2020. These platforms are transitioning to keep users engaged and active without needing to leave. I believe we will continue to see this trend into 2021 as Facebook and other digital platforms expediting a variety of new features and tools both for consumers and businesses. I encourage all businesses to monitor these new tools and evaluate how your business can take advantage of these. Once available to large businesses or those with a large follower base, these features are now being released to all. To keep up with all of these social media updates, I encourage everyone to follow or sign-up for the following resources:
Pre-COVID marketing discussions.
Are there any positives, or silver linings, for brands right now?
Yes! Take advantage of the major increase in online activity. According to various studies, total internet hits have surged between 50%-70%. In addition, email marketing has seen major spikes in both open and click rates, up 20% since the beginning of the pandemic compared to the same time last year. What does that mean for you? Customers are waiting for you online. Take advantage of this historic time and move those back-burner projects to the front. Optimize your website, deploy your online ordering systems, run those Google ads. With strong traffic increases, these studies have shown this type of online consumer behavior will continue into 2021. Now’s your chance to get your message across to many people online.
Any additional thoughts regarding marketing, COVID-19, 2021?
Continue to put yourself in the shoes of your customer. Much has changed in 2020 and will continue to be different into 2021. Over communicate with your customers. Be transparent and instill a sense of trust and confidence. Make it easy for customers (and potential customers) to see your messaging. Not everyone is active on social media nor do individuals open every email they receive. It’s extremely important to diversify your marketing strategies through different mediums and platforms that result in widespread (but consistent) messaging. Most of all, don’t panic. If anything, COVID-19 has taught us to be agile with our marketing strategies. Watch and listen but don’t be afraid to experiment.
