Business Marketing Year-End As we all say a collective goodbye to 2020 (and good riddance), there are a few things we need to do as business owners to get our marketing in line for ’21. Yes, it can be as simple as flipping the calendar and utilizing the same strategies as we enter January, but here are the tips and trends I’m seeing for small business marketing in the next 12 months: Tip #1: Audit your social feeds. Look over all your social profiles and your website. Where are you seeing the most business as a result of your efforts? This is different from just your follower count. Determine which platforms have the most engaged audiences, are the best use of your time, and genuinely build know-like-trust with your potential clients. Dedicate yourself to focusing on those platforms in ’21. Trend #1: Instagram and TikTok reign supreme. If we’re talking about the platforms that are HOT coming out of 2020, these two are definitely it. TikTok really gained steam earlier this year going from 40 million active users at the end of 2019 to more than 100 million active users in August of 2020 (CNBC). TikTok hinges on video content, whether entertaining, educational, or downright silly. These less-than-one-minute videos are quick and succinct, and it’s found a niche among people during quarantine. Songs gain popularity, challenges trend, and stars are born on this “new” app. Facebook INC took note in 2020, and added a new feature to its Instagram platform with Reels, their 15-30 second take on the short video content format. Not only are these videos popular, but accounts using Reels on Instagram are getting crazy engagement and algorithm boosts just for trying it out. My tip: don’t sleep on this. Get to work creating short video clips and playing around in either TikTok or IG Reels. Tip #2: Dig into your data. My favorite part of Facebook and Instagram is the in-depth analytics you can get. Head to the “Insights” tab on Facebook or connect to Planoly on Instagram to get long-range data downloads for your accounts. In these insights, you can see how many devices you reached and how many engagements your posts yielded. You can dig into follower growth, video views, link clicks, and conversions too. By looking at this data from the big-picture aspect, you can see just HOW MUCH you have accomplished in the past year. We can get caught up in the day-to-day grind and incremental growth of social media marketing, but when we take a bird’s-eye view, we have a much better picture of how we’ve connected with our audience in the past 12 months. Looking at YTD data also helps determine trends so we can make educated decisions going forward. See more engagement from real-life photos of you? Schedule in more of those kind of posts in the new year! Want more targeted growth among your ideal clients? Maybe take a class in Facebook Ads and set a goal to run a full-on campaign in Q1 of ’21. Know your numbers and make smart choices for the next 12 months. Trend #2: “The Real Reel” We all know that social media is just a portion of the lives of people we see on the screens of our devices. In 2020 amidst the global lockdown, social media stars and influencers weren’t able to flash around on yachts or private jets, and high-end fashion and luxurious photoshoots were put on hold. What emerged was a much more real look at modern life. Candid photos (albeit filtered with presets and Lightroom) were connecting with the masses. Home life hacks and true stories of balancing family and business outperformed highly photoshopped images and overproduced videos. In 2021, I expect this to continue. Share the behind-the-scenes, tell stories, and don’t pressure yourself to have everything “perfect” on your social feeds. Just get out there and get posting. Tip #3: Repurpose your content. The holiday season is always busy with baking and board games, wrapping and wrangling kids, tax planning and time off work. So don’t stress over creating new content all the days of December. My favorite strategy for the last two weeks of the month is repurposing posts from throughout the year into a “Best of” series. I use the Insights on my Facebook account or Planoly to determine which posts were my highest performers, and I simply copy and paste into a countdown for the days between Christmas and New Years. It’s efficient, it’s engaging (again), and it allows me to step away from the screen and be present with my family. Trend #3: Consistency is key. If I’ve learned anything in the crazy changes of 2020, it’s that some things never change. And the importance of continuously showing up on social is one of those classic standbys that you can count on to help you grow on social. Whatever consistent looks like for your business, whether 2 posts per week or 1 post each day, commit to a schedule that works for you. When you are consistent, the algorithm will reward you, and your audience will build trust that you are a dependable person and business. In my December program “All I Want for Christmas is VIEWS” the members are seeing the direct benefits of having a monthly plan and implementing consistency on social. If you do nothing else for your social feeds in ’21, make sure consistency is it. And there you have it, the Molly Knuth Media Tips and Trends for 2021 small business social media marketing. Is there anything you would add? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear your hot takes!
