So what online marketing trends have emerged this year? What can we expect from the New Year? I had the pleasure of speaking with five of my most valued marketing colleagues to get their insights into the situation. Here is what they had to say:

Short Form Video Content Rules…

“In the age of content! Content! Content! Short, engaging, catchy videos are de rigueur. TikTok especially realises this and has invested heavily in editing software being available inside the app. A day spent in a TikTok vacuum, should you have the stomach for it, will tell you all you need to know about current trends and which style to create your engaging content in (and ads). The same can be said for Instagram Reels, a combined force which has contributed to the rapid decline in popularity of Snapchat – who’d have seen that coming two years ago? 

The current podcast revolution is still in its embryonic, land-grab stages in terms of creation and consumption. This gives hope to those who prefer to digest long-form, in-depth content, as opposed to the monotonous abyss of anxiety-inducing disposable ‘like-bait’ currently on offer from TikTok, Reels and Snap. Even Twitter and LinkedIn now include Stories features.

For now and into 2021 it seems we’ll have more of the Selfie-Ring-lit skits that have dominated the last 12 months. This begs the next question; ‘What’s next’? Who knows for sure?! – that’s why we love digital marketing! Adapt or die. “ 

Ben Allen, BAM Music Marketing

Humanising Content…

“I think a big trend in corporate video for 2021 will (or ‘should’) see businesses putting forward their people, values and history. With all the changes going on this year, people want to feel connected to the companies they choose to work with or buy from. I believe audiences, now more than ever, will want to feel like they ‘know, like and trust’ people and firms they choose to do business with.” 

Rhys Jones, Blueberry Pictures

“What I hope to see is brands continuing the trend of humanising their communications on social media, especially on LinkedIn. If there’s one tiny positive to take from the pandemic, it’s the way that brands have paused the overly promotional posts, and stood up to say, ‘this year has been hard on our people and us, but this is what we are doing to support them’. We are all looking to buy from brands who show us their authentic values, and reveal the people and teams behind them – more of this on social media please!” 

Alison Wise, OML Media

Authentic Imagery & The Rise Of Cinemagraphs… 

“The use of photography to market your business will see 2 key trends emerge in 2021. The first key trend is authentic imagery. This is not about staging or high-end editing; this is about the real-life of your business and processes – Why you do what you do and who you help and support.

Secondly, I’ve witnessed a rise in cinemagraphs. These are still images with a small area of movement. This could be steam coming off a coffee cup or a water feature running in a garden design project. What’s great about this type of imagery/video is that it has the power to grab the attention of your audience, even if it’s just a few seconds more, which increases engagement. 

Gary Cooper, Square Freedom Photography 

SEO Stays Steady…

“One of the most important things you can do if you own a small business is to ensure your Google My Business listing is verified and kept current. For B2C businesses that draw customers primarily on a local level, the Google My Business listing provides valuable information about your hours (particularly important of late during Covid-19), services and geographical location. It’s one of the key factors in search and it’s still as important as ever.

 Another trend that remains set to continue with gusto is the acquisition of high- quality backlinks. It’s one of Google’s favourite and most influential, ranking factors and as Google continues to evolve, it remains favourable to quality over quantity. What are ‘quality’ backlinks? Prioritise the most relevant, powerful links from authoritative (trusted) websites and you won’t go far wrong.”

Nicola Younger, Make Me Local

Paid Live Streaming & Micro-Marketing Explode…

I love all of these insights from my colleagues. But what do I think? Well, 2020 has forced businesses to innovate online for survival. Most social media platforms have adapted very quickly to meet this demand. Instagram and Facebook have enhanced their e-commerce capability to empower small business owners to sell their products more seamlessly online. Facebook quickly introduced “Facebook Rooms”, and HouseParty became a “thing” to cater to the demand for personal video conferencing. Facebook has now also introduced a paid version of its Events page to rival Eventbrite.

In 2021, we will see social media platforms continue to adapt to the online demands of our new pandemic world. A world where paid live streaming becomes the norm as businesses offer hybrid models of their events, classes, lessons and business meetings. Messaging apps will also continue to rise in popularity as the demand for one-to-one connections continues. I’m very interested to see how Facebook develops WhatsApp for business to cater to the popularity in micro-marketing, and where the rise of short-form video content will take us.

What trends do you predict for 2021? I’d love to know. 

The post Key Online Marketing Trends You Need To Know About In 2021 appeared first on Jem Bahaijoub Consulting - Social Never Sleeps.

Many companies are ordering their workforce to work from home, and for some people this is very challenging.  We are having to change our routine, our habits and our work culture. Luckily, there are multiple digital tools to help control the chaos and structure our workflow. Let me share with you some amazing tools that will enable you to work more efficiently and effectively wherever you have set up your office:

Skip Boring Phone Calls

Since everyone’s working from home, meetings have been cancelled until further notice. But they don’t have to be. Zoom is a no-fuss reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing. It’s a lot more intuitive and collaborative than Skype or just plain phone calls, with individual meeting URLs, breakout sessions and call customizability.

Stop Wasting Time Setting Up

If you work with bookings, or you’re just looking for a straightforward meeting scheduling tool to plan out your online appointments, look no further than Calendly. You can set your own meeting parameters, easily share a single link for people to book a slot with you and synchronise all meetings with your digital calendar of choice.

Clear Up The Fuss

I work on projects all the time. I delegate some tasks to my co-workers, do some my own, reach out to other professionals etc, but sometimes I just need a solid overview of who does what. That’s where Trello comes in. If you’ve never heard of Kanban scheduling, you should really delve into it by using Trello. It’s a super efficient way to manage projects and planning with a remote team.

Start Collaborating SMARTER

If you’re not using a professional communication platform for your business yet,  Slack is the software to go for. It’s not only an all-in-one messaging platform, it also supports a huge amount of third party integrations to, for example, easily post files straight from your Dropbox account right into your Slack chatroom. By the way, if you’re not yet using Dropbox, you’re missing out on the best tool to save and backup your files to the cloud. I can also recommend Google Drive and its Google Docs functionality. These are tools that are great if you also want to collaborate on documents in addition to cloud storage.

Become The Architect Of Ease

A little more on the technical side but still fairly easy to use is Zapier. This tool enables you to integrate and automate your platforms so that you don’t have to do all the work. Let’s say for example that each time you get an email with an attachment, you want the file to go straight to your Dropbox. This all happens with a single zap you program. It’s a ridiculously handy tool for busy people that just want to focus on the important work. Lastly, consider Franz. This software is amazing in the sense that it allows you to set up all your social media, email accounts and more into one overview, so you don’t have to check them all individually.

I hope these tips help you out during this crazy time of staying locked inside. We don’t have to compromise on qualitative work, we just have to use the right equipment.

The post 9 Top Tools to Crush Working from Home appeared first on Jem Bahaijoub Consulting - Social Never Sleeps.

Day 1: INCREASE YOUR SOCIAL PROOF

Email your 20 favourite customers asking for reviews on Google or your Facebook business page. When potential customers are researching you, they will always look at your online reviews before deciding whether to buy from you. This is called social proof. And if you have no reviews or weak reviews? Sadly, they’ll often take a pass.

This is why it is so essential to have your own website, social media sites and a Google My Business page. Not sure what that is? It’s the profile that Google displays on search and Google maps showing where your business is located, your reviews, photos, and more.

Bottom line: if you want more customers, you need to work on getting more online 5 star reviews. 

Day 2:  JOIN A FACEBOOK BUSINESS GROUP  

Facebook groups have become the unsung marketing hero on social media. They can be a crucial tool for startup companies and solo entrepreneurs – offering community, support and a valuable referral network.  However, in order to fully benefit from Facebook groups for business, you have to nurture your involvement over time. Facebook groups are all about reciprocity. Start by adding value to the group by introducing yourself, asking questions, giving advice, and commenting and liking on other people’s posts. Engage with other members on a daily basis, and share your knowledge and expertise. Become a resource for others, and they will soon become a resource for you.

TIP: Just choose 1-2 Facebook business groups to join. Choose quality over quantity.

Day 3: HUMANIZE YOUR BRAND

Record a video introduction about yourself and your business, and post it across all your social media platforms. This will help introduce the personality behind your brand and humanize your business. Remember, people buy from people, they don’t buy “things”.

TIP: If you hate being on camera, then create a quick hyperlapse or boomerang video instead.

Day 4: TELL DON’T SELL

Publish a killer piece of educational content on either your website or on LinkedIn Publishing. This could be a written blog post or a video. So many businesses use their social media and their website to SELL SELL SELL, but most often it’s the TELL that sells!

When you provide educational content (in the form of blog posts, videos, or guides), you’re positioning yourself as an expert in your industry. You’re also helping people to better understand your services and possibly even turn them into a new customer. Once you’ve produced your content, repurpose it multiple times across all your social media sites to really maximise its worth.

TIP: Utilise AnswerThePublic.com to find out what the most commonly asked questions are in your industry. Then address these questions in your content!

Day 5:  COLLABORATE!

One popular trend growing on Instagram lately is “loop giveaways.” A loop giveaway is done when brands and influencers collaborate to host one large giveaway together, but each giveaway participant requires users to engage using their individual profiles in order to be entered.

The beauty of this for brands and influencers is they can partner with other people in their niche and attract their followers to help grow their community. Plus, splitting the actual cost of the prize between all of the giveaway hosts is an awesome way to save money!

TIP: Make sure you collaborate with like-minded small businesses who collectively provide value in their social media communications otherwise you will not benefit long-term from the loop giveaway.  Remember it’s not always about increasing your following. Adding value to your existing followers is also worthwhile.

Stay tuned next month for another Take 5.

The post Take 5 – Five Daily Marketing Tactics To Boost Business Sales appeared first on Jem Bahaijoub Consulting - Social Never Sleeps.