Small biz seeing significant consumer shifts

Posted on April 5, 2021 in Company Internet Marketing, internet marketing, Internet Marketing Company, Local Internet Marketing, Marketing, Mobile SEO, Online Marketing, Search Engine Marketing Services, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, Social Media Management, Social Media Marketing Services

As small business owners continue to have success against the most daunting of odds, it seems that they have begun to notice certain shifts among the consumer population. Both small business owners and consumers continue to display courage and perseverance and their seems to be some noticeable shifts and adaptations as we all move forward. In some recently gathered intel published by Clearvoice, it seems that things are becoming clearer. The following is taken from their published research:

  • The 2021 State of Digital Media report by Influence & Co. gathered data from editors of 15 online publications and more than three dozen content contributors and provides marketing research that analyzes more than 127,000 pieces of digital content published in 2021. The report provides data related to content types, article length, social media support, and content publishing times. Among other things, the report found:
    • More than 90 percent of digital editors plan to publish the same amount or more guest content in 2021.
    • Roughly one-third of digital editors plan to publish video content in 2021.
    • Nearly 40 percent of journalists say they plan to quote more industry experts in their articles in the coming year.
    • Articles that are shared more have grown in length. Whereas articles with more than 1,000 shares in 2019 were approximately 891 words long, in 2020 articles worth more than 1,000 shares had 986 words on average. (February 2021)
  • In addition to websites, social media, email and other communication channels, mobile apps continue to grow by leaps and bounds and have continued to develop as tools that marketers can use to share content and encourage business engagements. Recent marketing studies from Sensor Tower show that global consumers spent more than $100 billion on apps in 2020 — a key indicator of how big the opportunity is with mobile apps.
  • The recent “Future of the ‘In-Person’ Business Economy” report has found that most marketers are expecting that digital events and meetings will continue beyond the end of 2020. A full 71 percent of marketers say they expect the regular continuation of digital events in 2021. This is an increase of 12 percent from how marketers responded in the spring of 2020 after initially being asked their thoughts. The report also shows that most marketers believe that even when live events return, there will be more digital and virtual elements associated with them.
  • If you have found yourself needing to adjust your marketing strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic, you are in good company. In fact, a full 94 percent of marketers who responded to a recent survey said that the pandemic has affected their brand marketing strategies. The level at which brands have needed to adjust their marketing strategies varies. The largest percentage of marketers (45 percent) responded they have made moderate tweaks to their strategies. A full 31 percent of marketers claim they made strong strategic adjustments, with 18 percent claiming the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to make extreme marketing strategy adjustments.
  • When it comes to receiving and evaluating customer feedback before launching a new product, for some marketers, the prevailing thinking might be “do as I say, not as I do.” In a survey of 7,600 marketers from 10 countries — including the United States — roughly 2/3 of marketers responded that they should get customer feedback before launching marketing efforts for new products.

  • However, when these same marketers were asked how they test 15 different deliverables (including emails, videos, social media content and more), those surveyed responded that they either never or less than half of the time utilize customer feedback before the content goes live.
  • When it comes to receiving and evaluating customer feedback before launching a new product, for some marketers, the prevailing thinking might be “do as I say, not as I do.” In a survey of 7,600 marketers from 10 countries — including the United States — roughly 2/3 of marketers responded that they should get customer feedback before launching marketing efforts for new products.
  • However, when these same marketers were asked how they test 15 different deliverables (including emails, videos, social media content and more), those surveyed responded that they either never or less than half of the time utilize customer feedback before the content goes live.
  • If you ever question why it seemingly takes so long to pull together a marketing email, you aren’t alone. New research from Litmus details that only 23% of respondents say it takes a few days or less to create a marketing email. More than half of those surveyed (53%) say it typically takes more than two weeks to develop and send a marketing email.
  • B2B marketers are less likely to say that cooperation is successful with the sales team than the B2B sales team is to say cooperation is successful with the marketing team. A survey of 151 B2B marketers and 151 B2B salespeople showed that 46 percent of B2B marketers said the sales team doesn’t understand what is important to marketers. On the other hand, only 31 percent of B2B salespeople said the same about their marketing counterparts. Additionally, 43 percent of marketers agreed that the marketing and sales teams cooperated effectively. This is compared to 58 percent of salespeople.

-Written by Kevin Sawyer