Wow, what a year 2020 has been so far. It will definitely go down as one of the most prominent years that showed us how to pivot and adapt at short notice to the unforeseen.

Even though there are a few months left, it never hurts to start thinking about how you can develop your marketing strategy for 2021.

One way to establish what we need to plan for in 2021 is to look at the social data from 2020. Here are some findings to be aware of when planning next year’s marketing strategy.

People Follow Brands for the Latest News

Most consumers follow a brands’ social media feed to find out when new services or products will be coming online. According to research, this is the leading reason consumers clicked the follow button on your social site.

What does this mean for you – no product launch is unworthy of sharing on social media. If you have followers, they want to know about your product, so make sure you schedule your launches.

Don’t forget to make space for other timely updates your audience needs. If you are a brick and mortar business in these weird times, you can communicate essential updates on operating hours and any changes to access. And the no-brainer, make sure you tell them about your sales and special offers throughout the year.

Prioritize Customer Service

You can’t ignore or take your time with any questions you receive from your followers online. Customers are prepared to walk if you take your time or don’t communicate at all. Quick response times help resolve problems and build customer loyalty.

Spend some time evaluating how your customer inquiries are conducted. You may need to look for conversational marketing opportunities through chatbots to enhance your customer service if you are a small team.

Know How Your Customers Search Online

Trying to get more followers on your social sites to generate leads is tough. The only way to get more eyes on your site is to know how consumers comb through social media for accounts to follow online. Nearly half of consumers surveyed recently rely on recommendations in their feed or discovery tools to find new accounts to follow.

As you contemplate your marketing strategy for 2021, think about targeting social media users who show an interest in industries peripheral to your own. If you own a Juice Bar, target people interested in fitness and wellbeing such as Pilates or yoga followers in your immediate area. Communicate directly to those potential customers about the health benefits of grabbing a daily juice or participating in a juice cleanse.

Images and Videos are a Must for Engagement

As you plan your content for 2021, think about how you can deliver more content via images and video. Research shows that well over half of consumers want to connect with images and video.

Review your editorial and marketing calendar for the year and plan how you can create user-friendly graphics and enticing video to promote engagement across all your platforms. You can even consider repurposing previous popular content into new graphics or video to save time.

Consider Your Time

When creating the content for your marketing strategy, consider the time it takes to put out into the world. Now is the moment to implement automation of daily tasks and scheduling to simplify workflows and free up time that can be better spent elsewhere in growing your business.

Although we can’t predict what 2021 has in store for us, we can garner a deeper understanding of our customers and map out potential areas and strategies to market our products precisely and creatively.