Jump to a section:
2020 was a challenging and chaotic year for everyone. Business owners, in particular, were struck by the pandemic. As a result, many brick-and-mortar businesses shut down, either temporarily or permanently, due to lockdown restrictions. Countless others had to regroup and move their businesses online. This has meant more competition for new and existing digital marketers in SEO, content marketing, and social media. So, what can online businesses and digital marketers expect?
10 Major Challenges for Digital Marketers
1. Learning About Your Customers
As SEO and paid advertising get more competitive, you can’t afford to waste time or money on content or keywords that are too broad or poorly targeted. A buyer persona is one of the best tools for targeting the right audience, which lets you visualize and better understand your typical customer. HubSpot has a helpful tool called Make My Persona that simplifies creating buyer personas. Also, you can learn more about your customers by polling and asking them questions on your blog and social media pages.
2. Generating Qualified Leads
Every business thrives on leads. You can expect a competitive market as many service-based companies attempt to gain more targeted leads. Paid ads, such as Facebook Ads and Google Ads, will likely increase in cost. Savvy marketers will learn to leverage less costly lead generation strategies like networking on LinkedIn, video marketing, and developing interactive channels such as webinars and virtual conferences. As lead generation gets more competitive, delivering solid value to prospects becomes necessary before you can expect to close a sale. Check out this guide to lead generation strategies to get an excellent overview.
3. Managing Cash Flow
During economically challenging times, businesses may suffer cash flow problems. For example, a long dry spell might follow if the 2020 holiday season becomes profitable as consumers pull back on spending. Business owners and marketers must be extra careful about managing their cash flow. Getting lean and cutting back on unnecessary expenses can help. Fortunately, moving part or all of your business online often saves you money on renting offices or retail space. Companies with regular, steady customers may want to consider creative financing options like invoice factoring.
4. Creating Engaging Content
Content marketing will continue evolving and remain as crucial as ever for digital marketers. Customers and prospects always hunger for fresh content that educates them and points them toward a solution. The range that will be especially popular includes short-form videos, live-streaming content, podcasts, and Instagram and Facebook stories. Audiences embrace interactive content as it allows people to express their opinions.
5. Complying With Privacy and Data-Sharing Regulations
Rules such as GDPR aren’t going away. If anything, we can expect more such legislation around the world. Because a website can potentially attract visitors from any country, you must comply with laws covering a population in your target audience. Ensure your website is transparent about its cookies, data sharing, and privacy policies. Be mindful about staying compliant in areas such as storing data. GDPR, for example, limits how long you can hold onto visitors’ data.
In addition to complying with GDPR (and all its future iterations), you should improve your email deliverability to ensure that people on your email list continue to receive your emails in their inbox rather than the spam folder.
6. Making Websites Accessible
Accessibility is another fast-growing issue that all website owners need to understand. An accessible website can be used by people with visual, hearing, or other impairments. There are several steps you can take to make a site accessible. For example, post an image with alt text so visually impaired users can understand it. This is also good for SEO. Additionally, it would be best to ensure users can navigate your site with only a keyboard, as not everyone can use a mouse. The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) provides comprehensive information on web accessibility.
7. Strategizing Mobile-First
People are browsing and shopping from smartphones and tablets more than ever. Several years ago, marketing experts advocated a mobile-friendly approach. This is rapidly turning into a mobile-first strategy. To capture your share of the ever-expanding mobile market, ensure your website is set up for mobile users. Test all features on multiple devices. Be vigilant that customers can easily place items in their online shopping cart, check out, and pay using mobile devices. Be mindful that mobile users may also take longer to load large images and videos.
8. Establishing an Omnichannel Marketing Strategy
Customers are increasingly active on multiple devices and platforms. It’s no longer enough to focus all your efforts on a single strategy, such as email or Facebook. You want to make it easy for your followers, subscribers, and customers to connect with you wherever they go. This doesn’t mean you need to maintain a presence everywhere. Focus on the platforms where your audience is active. The key is to provide a seamless experience so people can quickly get from one channel to another. For example, link to your social pages and website in your emails.
9. Maintaining Brand Consistency and Authority
You want your customers to see you as an authoritative voice in your industry. You also want to establish a unique brand presence that helps to create loyal customers. It would be best to go beyond offering quality products and services in a competitive environment. Follow the lead of brand-building experts like Apple and Nike, whose customers seek them out and don’t compare them to other products. Identify and emphasize your unique selling proposition (USP). Be consistent in your voice and style across channels and platforms.
10. Staying Current With Google’s Algorithms
One thing that’s unlikely to change is Google’s dominance as the largest search engine. If anything, Google is continuing to expand its digital empire. To compete, you need to pay close attention to the latest features, rules, and algorithms the search engine giant releases. Businesses with a local presence must ensure their Google Business Profile listing is accurate and current. Another crucial area to watch is ranking for Google Snippets, also known as Position Zero among Google’s search results. The best types of content for this coveted area are numbered lists and FAQs that answer your customers’ most pressing questions.
Be Ready for the Latest Digital Marketing Trends
While 2020 brought about many unanticipated changes, don’t expect everything to return to normal. Many of the disruptions of the previous year will continue well into the future. For example, e-commerce and virtual events will likely expand even in the post-pandemic world. So, if you want to succeed, you need to be extra mindful of targeting the right customers, building your brand, and staying current with the latest happenings with Google and social media.