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Marketing Simplified

Trends for 2021: Part II

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Last week I discussed with you the marketing trends that will remain unchanged in 2021. If you haven’t had a chance to read that yet, please find it here.

Now for a few changes I will be keeping an eye on in 2021 and how you can prepare:

  1. Organic Content might gain new importance on Facebook and Instagram. Facebook is currently lobbying hard against Apple and its planned privacy changes. Quick background:  Apple plans to push out a pop-up to iOS users in the near future warning its users that information on certain apps is being tracked. They will be given the option to opt-out via that same pop up (read:  A lot of folks will opt-out).

This means that paid traffic on Facebook may not have the same bells and whistles it used to. An example of this is IP address tracking for remarketing. This tactic that has a 40%+ conversion rate very well could become a thing of the past.

I predict that if/as these privacy changes do go into effect, Facebook will adapt in three key ways. First, if it can’t show as much value in its advertising, Facebook has to show businesses more value in organic content visibility. This is a good thing and why it’s so important to make sure your organic content converts well. Second, I expect other features to be amplified. For example, will Facebook Shops develop quicker than they originally would have? Will businesses be given the option to pay for a “buy now” button? Third, video ads will remain very powerful as Facebook can track viewers within their native platform, versus using IP address data.

In short, keep using video content and be on the lookout for changes on Facebook’s ad and organic platform. Also, make sure you’re putting out messaging in your organic content that is sharable and engaging.

  1. It’s time to clean up your SEO game. SEO can be a confusing and scary concept to many of my clients… not because it’s hard but because it’s unknown. However, in 2021 it will become even more important as Instagram puts it center stage.

Some readers may have noticed that you can now search for keywords on Instagram in the same way that you can search for hashtags. This means you need to know your keywords. I recommend taking 20 of your highest converting posts and putting them together in a word cloud (I like Wordle). You’ll get an instant visual of what keywords you use the most. Make sure those words are in line with your brand and search them with Instagram’s search bar. Are the posts that come up also in line with your brand? If both the words and posts are in line with your brand, use your common (or key) words as much as possible. If not, tweak them.

I teach a whole unit on SEO in my digital marketing course and I could go on and on about optimizing them. However, if you are using Instagram, the strategy I gave you above is a good place to start. Consequently, it will improve ALL of your SEO as you get more familiar with the words that are already working in your favor. Remember, don’t guess… go to your post insights and figure it out.

Regarding Instagram, if you’re not using stories, it’s time to jump on that bandwagon. They were the most visible part of Instagram in 2020 and are definitely here to stay.

Mediums to include in your 2021 marketing strategy

In last week’s post, I promised that I would talk about mediums in addition to trends. Overwhelmingly, Facebook remains the major industry player in social media for too many reasons to summarize here. But, here are a few high points:

First, according to Sprout Social, over 74% of high-income earners are also Facebook users (read:  They have money to spend on your products and services). Additionally, people 65 years and older are the fastest growing age group on Facebook. This demographic used to be hard to reach on social media but not they are increasingly more accessible.

Instagram is a great complement to Facebook. It’s owned by Facebook and uses the same ad platform but over 70% of its users are between 13-44. According to HubSpot, ninety-two percent of these users have followed or purchased from a brand in the past year. They don’t spend as much collective money as they do on Facebook (research has proven this many times), but if your customer base is younger, Instagram has become a must. Be sure to use it with special attention to the points I mentioned above.

YouTube is easy to have a presence on, especially if you download your Facebook Lives, which I hope you do regularly. Don’t forget that you can recycle them on YouTube and include the right keywords in the search terms for an SEO boost. Good thing you’re working on your keywords for Instagram anyway!

Finally, email marketing is still a conversion hero. Partner it with the mediums above, and you’ll have a winning combination.

Marketing Blog

Rethinking AI: From Automation to Authentic Connection

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AI is everywhere, especially in marketing. But here’s the big question: are we using it to truly connect with people, or just automate the basics? I recently had the opportunity to share my thoughts about using AI for communicating with our ideal customers at the American Marketing Association’s EVOLVE event. Think about it—when was the … Read More about Rethinking AI: From Automation to Authentic Connection

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