2020 is just about (thankfully) finished. It has been a whirlwind of a year and we’ve seen something so unprecedented that we will one day be telling future generations about how the industry, and the world, was turned upside down due to a global health pandemic. Most of us have had events rescheduled or lost but it has given us plenty of time to reflect and look at how we manage our businesses and most importantly…review our marketing strategies and tactics.
A great marketer will tell you part of the job is learning how to deal with and adapt to the unexpected. In 2020 alone, we have had to pivot from original strategies to deal with the unexpected. And though we cannot predict what will happen in the new year, we can use what we have learned this year to improve our marketing strategy for 2021.
Almost 50% of consumers say they would unfollow a business because of poor customer service.
As you begin to look to the future, here are three important elements that you need to keep at the top of your mind when marketing in 2021:
1. Clients Follow Businesses in Order to Stay Up to Date on New Services or Product Offerings
Statistics have shown that almost 60% of consumers will follow a business or popular brand on social media and regularly review their websites in order to learn about new products and services. This means no post or website update is too big or small to share. In addition to on-going business or event updates, consider what type of information would be most valuable to your audience when planning your content. New photo booth, new lighting, new sound, etc that your clients might get hyped up over, should be at the front of your mind.
2. Poor Customer Service Will Chase Away Clients
If customer service was not already a top priority, it needs to be on your radar headed into 2021. With almost 50% of consumers saying they would unfollow a business because of poor customer service, it is extremely important that you do not ignore any questions or inquiries you receive from your followers.
As you think about how to improve your marketing in 2021, take a moment to evaluate how customer inquiries are handled and even look for opportunities to answer simple questions directly versus having an auto-responder. Equally important is speeding up the time of your company’s response to inquiries. Statistics will show that 80% of people expect a business to respond within the first 24 hours of reaching out. Not only does a quick response time make you look better, but it can also contribute towards customer loyalty with additional events down the road.
3. Images and Videos Are A Must
The substance of your content has to be relevant to your audience but also how you deliver content matters too. As you review all the content you have created or posted over the past year, consider highlighting posts that received high engagement and brainstorm how you might turn those topics or posts into visual content.
Acquired new lighting? Create a video of it that a client would find interesting and make a strong Call-To-Action at the end with how they can get it for their event.
Doing a venue walk-through? Create a quick 2 to 3 minute highlight video clip with your phone as a teaser.
Look to the past to get ahead. None of us can predict what will happen in 2021, but we can apply what we have learned from 2020 towards our future strategies. Instead of guessing what your followers or future clients like or dislike, you have access to the last 12 months of data on consumer behaviors and preferences to help guide their planning.
With a deeper understanding of your audience, you can tailor your marketing strategies to strengthen your company’s relationship with clients and start 2021 off on the right foot. Stay safe and well.
P.S.: If you haven’t seen my Digital DJ Expo presentation on Booking More Business in 2021: Strategies & Differentiators, you can do so by going to this link:
Joshua Volpe is the owner of Rochester, N.Y.-based Kalifornia Entertainment.
