Day 1: Email Marketing
With 80% of marketers experiencing- an increase in email engagement over the past 12 months, there are many email marketing predictions for the year 2021 that will help boost engagement and revenue. One of those predictions includes the use of hyper-personalization. According to Campaign Monitor, emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened.
Another prediction is the use of text-only emails, due to the fact that they feel more “personal” and “natural” than emails flooded with GIFs and images. Lastly, it is predicted that interactive emails and emails with bright colors will also perform very well in 2021. Still not sure about email? The number of active email users is forecasted to reach 4.3 billion in 2023, so don’t wait to implement your email strategy!
Day 2: Video Marketing
With 5.11 billion unique mobile users in the world, mobile usage is at an all-time high. And the most convenient content format for mobile is video. Since video is such a creative and entertaining medium, it makes sense that this type of marketing drives more website traffic. Video marketing is effective on social media, YouTube, Vimeo, and many other platforms. Some marketers choose to not use video because it takes time, money, and equipment (or other resources). However, it’s important to realize you don’t need fancy equipment to make a video. It can be as simple as using your phone and then editing the video later on with an app on your phone or computer.
On the other hand, live video and recorded video are also just as important. Over the past year (2020), live video quickly became the most engaging form of content on social media. In fact, 1 in 5 Facebook videos are live streams and 1 million Instagram users are watching live videos every day. With that being said, other social platforms also jumped on the live video trend too, such as Twitter, YouTube, and most recently LinkedIn. With Live video offering the capability to post after the live event, this has also increased the number of “recorded video” views. Therefore, proving the power of video, whether it is live or a “post-live” event.
Day 3: Social Media Marketing
Social media is not new, and it's certainly not going away. Most of us are familiar with social platforms, as they are a great way to stay in touch with friends and family. But, little do some know, it is also one of the most powerful tools to grow your business. An active social media marketing strategy drives traffic to your website, allows engagement between customers and/or potential customers, and is a great idea to implement when considering a content marketing strategy. Overall, the most effective social platforms predicted for 2021 include 1) Facebook, 2) Instagram, and 3) LinkedIn.
Day 4: Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization, also known as SEO, is a common digital marketing strategy that focuses on building organic visibility rankings on Google and other search engines. This type of insight makes it possible to rank your own website for the exact terms users are searching for. Therefore, you can rise above your competitors and drive more traffic to your website and other online platforms/ channels. With 64% of marketers investing in SEO, there is a good chance that you may be losing out on attracting website visitors and leads to your competitors who are participating in SEO marketing.
Day 5: Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-per-click advertising (PPC) is a paid form of digital marketing where you pay money to an ad network when someone clicks on one of your ads. Every time a user clicks on or engages with one of your ads, a part of your marketing budget is used. That means your advertising budget is not spent unless someone engages with your content. However, some marketers are hesitant to use PPC advertising because of the higher initial investment, although you are more likely to see faster returns compared to organic marketing methods. With that being said, some of the most common PPC advertising platforms/ channels are Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Instagram Ads. As for 2021, the most successful PPC marketers will be the ones focused on their target audiences, as well as their buyers' journey.
Day 6: Content Marketing
40% of marketers say content marketing is a very important part of their overall marketing strategy due to the fact that sharing and creating engaging and relevant content gets your audience interested in your company and brand. The most common types of content marketing that are seen today include blogs, infographics, ebooks, social media content, video, and more. With web traffic being among the top two most-common measurements of success for content marketing strategies, it is important to create and share helpful and relevant content across all of your social platforms. Overall, content marketing can grow your email lists (increase form fills and website visits), inspire social shares, increase downloads, and generate more leads and sales.
Day 7: SMS Marketing
One of the newer and “on the rise” forms of marketing is focused on leveraging SMSs (also known as text message marketing) to directly connect to your audience faster than any other medium. As a digital marketing channel, SMS gives you the ability to create lists of contacts, and send them special promotions, updates, and other reminders straight to their phone. As of 2021, consumers will get more emails, texts, and push notifications than ever before, as brands will try to develop more direct relationships with customers (amid the pandemic and economic fallout). Also, SMS response rates will continue to be, and currently are, much higher than phone call response rates, due to the fact that SMS is much more convenient and a quick way to respond.
Day 8: Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing, however, it is still one of the most popular. Influencer marketing involves partnering with people and brands who are well known and asking them to promote your product and brand. This makes it easier to reach multiple niche audiences, and keep them highly engaged with your brand, while also selling your products. For instance, in 2018, there were 3.7 million brand-sponsored influencer posts on social media, which proves that influencer marketing can help brands gain more social media followers, and overall, drive sales.
Day 9: Marketing Automation
Marketing automation has proven to be successful time and time again by marketing professionals. In fact, according to a recent study published by Act-On, 53% of B2B organizations implement marketing automation, and 37% have plans to implement it because of how effective it has proven to be. One of the pros to marketing automation is it is fairly priced given all of the resources you get with it (it’s much more than simply email marketing and a customer relationship platform). With that being said, According to 65% of marketing influencers, increasing marketing ROI is the top priority for a marketing automation strategy, as increasing revenue is a long-term goal for both marketing and sales. Therefore, if your strategy proves successful, you’ll improve sales and raise your revenue, cool right?
Day 10: Podcasting
Compared to some of the strategies mentioned so far, podcasting is a relatively new and exciting way to market your business by developing and engaging audiences while educating and building relationships with them. In order to launch a successful podcast, think about topics that are interesting and useful to your audience or followers. Once you have created a podcast, you can then market it on social media channels and other platforms to build awareness. The more podcasts you release, the more likely listeners will value your information and continue to support your channel, as well as pass it along to other fellow marketing professionals. Overall, this year (2020-2021), 105.6 million people in the US will listen to podcasts, surpassing 100 million for the first time, which equates to half of US digital audio listeners. And in 2021, podcast ad spending will jump nearly 45% to $1.13 billion.
Day 11: Google MyBusiness
Did someone say Local SEO? Claiming and updating your business location(s) in Google MyBusiness increases the odds you show up in search results when people are looking for you online. And guess what? It is FREE. So why not use it? Google MyBusiness is an affordable way to get your business found online, and more importantly, found through search engines. Customers are 70% more likely to visit businesses with a Google My Business listing. Therefore, keep your customers informed much easier, boost consumer confidence, and stay in touch with Google Reviews, by implementing Google MyBusiness.
Day 12: Voice Assistant
According to experts in voice search, businesses should start ensuring content is optimized for voice. This means it needs to be more direct and conversational so that it will accurately sync with search queries performed not only on Google but from your mobile device and smart devices (like Amazon Echo or Google Home). In terms of Search Engine Optimization, it’s a good idea for businesses to research and possibly invest in voice search components for their consumers who are adapting and switching over to that medium. Although voice search is new and on the rise, and potentially will be one of the bigger marketing mediums in years to come, it is important to start to familiarize yourself with it and become comfortable with using it as well as implementing it for your customers.
Fa-La-La-La-La…. La-La…. La-Laaaa!
“The 12 Days of Digital Marketing” offers a lot of information, ideas, and resources to use in your marketing strategy. If you would like help implementing any of these marketing strategies to build up the visibility of your bank's website, contact us and let's talk!