This year is almost over, yay! How are you feeling? It's been such a crazy, rollercoaster of a year! Covid has literally changed everything about how we behave and it's left so many businesses reeling and confused about which marketing strategies will actually work in 2022. Let’s take a look at 8 important marketing insights for businesses to take into 2022... 1. Investing in a solid social media presence is a must. In 2021, there were 4.48 billion people actively using social media in the world. This is an increase of 13.13% year-on-year from 3.69 billion in 2020. There is no doubt social media was more important than ever for businesses this year. Not only was it a great way to survive the crisis but it was a great way to connect with customers and create new relationships. If you didn’t have a strong social media presence in 2021, you definitely need to invest in one for 2022. 2. Can't meet in person? Hosting virtual events is the new normal COVID-19 was a major turning point in the world's relationship with events. The pandemic saw many venues close down, leaving people without any place or chance to socialise and meet up again outside of virtual spaces like Zoom and Meetups which now allow users all over the globe - no matter where they are located--to network together virtually as if were real life! 3. Lacking time and resources? Marketing automation is the way to go. Marketing automation is all about using software to execute marketing tasks. Nowadays, almost all marketers are using automated tools to do things like email follow-ups and website nurturing campaigns because humans simply can’t keep up with that volume of work anymore! In 2021, marketing automation was the key to success for many businesses. It saved businesses a lot of time and money, and was a great way to get deep insights about your customers enabling you to reach more customers with your message. Marketing automation is now essential for any business trying to grow its customer base. 4. Connection and Personalisation should be top of your list. When COVID-19 struck, companies sprung into action with immediate communications to their customers. Emails flooded in from every brand we'd ever communicated with telling us how we can do business with them moving forward. Unfortunately, many of these comms felt far too generic. The few companies that realised the importance for hyper-personalised customer care, thrived in the new normal. They understood the relationship between high brand engagement and personalised experiences. By personalising your marketing messages, you can ensure that customers feel special and appreciated. And when customers feel appreciated, they’re more likely to buy from you. 5. Never underestimate the importance of collaboration and communication. One of the most important lessons that businesses learned during 2021 was to go online, fast. With people working from home, it became imperative we work together and foster strong relationships both internally as well as externally on a global scale. Businesses had to quickly figure out how to collaborate and foster strong relationships both internally and externally in order to maintain momentum across the customer journey. 6. The priority should be data privacy. With increasing cyber-attacks and data breaches, data privacy has become a top priority for businesses. In 2021, more and more businesses understood the importance of data privacy and started to take steps to protect their customers’ information and focus more on nurturing customer relationships rather than customer acquisition. 7. Adapt to new changes or die. In 2021, Covid-19 required businesses to be more nimble than ever before. Literally overnight, tried and true communication methods had to go digital, suppliers were unable to deliver, and previously dependable project timelines could no longer be met. Some adapted and pivoted well, and some failed and disappeared. Many just spent month after month putting out fires as they happened hoping they would come out alive at the end of it all. 8. Be honest and stand by your vision and values. The pandemic was a world-changing event that changed the way we do business. It disrupted brands, and made us all reevaluate our values as human beings. The companies who stood by their values were those who thrived in 2021 - even if it meant cutting off some lucrative revenue channels to do so. For example, during COVID-19, we saw a lot of brands promoting hand sanitizer and face masks. However, the few brands that promoted these products AND had a message about staying healthy and keeping your loved ones safe were the ones who resonated with their customers the most. They created content that didn't compromise on the brand vision, mission and values. So there you have it - eight marketing lessons that businesses can learn from 2021. Wishing you a Happy New Year! Stay safe and stay well, enjoy the break and I look forward to keeping the marketing conversation going in 2022. With love Dina xx p.s. I am taking a well needed break for most of January but I'll be back on board officially, January 25 if you need help with anything. Book a Coaching Session here