With the in-house marketing sector experiencing unprecedented growth, now is a good time to take stock of what you need to do today so that your business can shine in 2021.
According to data from Digital Marketing Institute and etymonline, there are currently 700,000+ jobs for in-house marketers. This represents an 8% increase year on year and shows no signs of slowing down.
The article also states that those who work as a marketer within their organization earn 6.5% more than those working for another business. Companies are recognizing the value of marketing talent internally, but how will you stand out among all the other marketers competing for these positions?
To help you do just that, we’ve analyzed a plethora of market data and identified seven in-house marketing trends for the next five years. Each trend focuses on one particular aspect of in-house marketing and is accompanied by tips to help you adapt your skills to changing circumstances so you can stay ahead of the curve.
1. Understanding Your Audience: Demographics Are Out. Personas Are In
The term “demographic” refers to recognizing who your audience is based on their age, gender, location, habits, etc. While this may seem like common sense at first glance, it’s important not to make assumptions about who your audience is.
For example: if your product appeals to children between the ages of 8 and 11 then you should be marketing towards that demographic. However, this group of children (and their parents) may be on social media or forums where they come into contact with older people.
In this case, it’s very important to take a look at your audience for who they are, rather than just focusing on the demographics associated with the product you’re selling. In 2021, businesses will need to market towards personas, which are made up of several demographic groups (e.g., men between 18-25 years old living in New York).
The best way to do this is by understanding how your persona uses technology and how they communicate online. Once you’ve determined these characteristics then build marketing content around them!
Tip: If you’re having a hard time identifying your audience, ask yourself these four questions:
What is my target persona’s background? How do they use technology? What social media platforms are relevant to them? Which publications and blogs do they read?
2. Going Mobile & Video-Based Marketing
Going Mobile & Video-Based Marketing Will Be Key To Success In Five Years’ Time
It’s no surprise that the number of people using mobile devices to access the internet has increased drastically since 2011. According to Statista, there will be more than two billion smartphone users worldwide in 2021.
As such, companies need to start thinking about how to appeal to their customers on all platforms – not just desktop computers. If you spend most of your day at a desk, make sure you’re also taking your smartphone with you if you leave the office so that you can respond to queries promptly.
Don’t overlook video marketing either; this is another trend we expect businesses will focus on heavily in five years’ time. Videos are effective for communicating a message and telling a story because they allow people to visualize what it is that your business can offer them.
In fact, Google’s research has shown that YouTube videos receive 50% more views when compared to other forms of content such as text-based blog posts or slideshow images
Tip: Start thinking about how you can use mobile technology in your everyday routine. For example, if you often take photos and upload them to your social media accounts with a comment, look into third-party apps that use specific hashtags.
For example: if you visit New York City and upload pictures of the Statue of Liberty to Facebook then a program could search for other users who have used similar hashtags in their posts and then match you up so that you can connect and exchange information or photos.
Your followers will appreciate being able to see an authentic snapshot of what it’s like at the location you’re visiting!
3. Switching Gears
The type of collaboration involved is less formal than before, too; rather than teams working together on documents in one central workspace, the value now lies in breaking down silos and enabling individuals to work together on projects as they need to.
Collaboration tools aren’t just being used by big teams anymore, either; we’re seeing the emergence of smaller communities working together via online forums in order to solve certain problems.”
For those who don’t know, an online community is a platform that brings large groups of people together from all over the world for discussion or collaboration. Communities exist across several different social media platforms such as Facebook, Linked In, Google+, Quora, or Reddit.
However, participation varies depending on the platform you choose: While Reddit is based entirely around conversation and collaboration between peers then other platforms are more restrictive (e.g., you can only “like,” “share” or comment on a Facebook post).
In our experience, communities have been most successful when companies are able to link them directly to their business website.
For example, for those who run an active blog then you could set up a community with the aim of engaging with your followers and getting them involved in discussions.
The more active they are on your community forum then the more traffic will be directed towards your business’ website. Naturally, this leads to the next point…
Tip: Consider how you can get your audience involved in the conversation and debate online via social media channels such as Twitter, Linked In, Google+ or Reddit. You need to make sure that you’re not just promoting yourself but are also asking people questions about what they’re interested in.
This could be a topic related to your product/service or broader topics that you are passionate about (e.g., music, sport, news, etc.). We’ve found that asking questions works well because it encourages engagement with your audience and helps people know more about the person behind the brand.
4. Content Marketing
4 Tips For Getting Started In Online Marketing Hub Explains: “Content marketing is one of the most popular techniques used by B2B businesses; we investigated this trend recently and discovered 73% of marketers were using content marketing as part of their digital strategy for 2016.
The theory behind it is simple – you create useful information for your target market on a specific topic, publish it on the internet and get them to visit your website so that you can present them with more information about your products.”
Tip: for those who don’t know, content marketing is a powerful technique used by businesses. It relies on creating relevant, useful content and then distributing it across various social media channels (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, etc.).
The idea is that people will enjoy what they’re reading and want to learn more about your business offer in return. Naturally, this works well if you have a blog because the longer an article or guide is the greater chance it has of going viral.
For example, HubSpot recently posted an infographic on its blog detailing “The Beginner’s Guide To Google Analytics.” The infographic was shared widely across social media and has received more than 1,300 tweets in the last month.
5. Video Marketing
How To Get Started In Online Video Marketing HubSputnik Explains: “While video marketing is a highly popular medium at the moment, it’s important to remember that there are many different types of online video; it doesn’t have to be long-format content in the style of a TV advert (although this method works well).
For those who aren’t familiar with YouTube, for example, you’ll find millions of short videos that often only run for 30 seconds or less; these are called ‘Vine’ videos and work well because they’re quick and relevant.”
The idea behind video marketing is to create original, interesting content and then upload it onto a host of social media platforms such as YouTube, Vine, or Vimeo. You could also post the video on your Twitter account and encourage people to share it with their followers.
Naturally, different social media channels favor certain types of videos over others (e.g., you’re more likely to find success with longer videos on Facebook than short ones).
Tip: You’ll need some kind of camera in order to get started with online video marketing; even tinier smartphones have the ability to record HD footage these days.
If you want something that’s small yet reliable then check out our list of the best mobile cameras for filming HD/4K footage.
6. Email Marketing
Email marketing is an incredibly powerful technique to grow your business, but it takes a lot of time and effort. It’s also something that requires you to keep everyone up-to-date with the latest news; if you stop sending emails for a period of time then people are likely to start unsubscribing from your list.
Online marketing consists of numerous different digital strategies (e.g., SEO, pay-per-click advertising, etc.) and email marketing is one tactic that every company should be using because it’s so simple to get started with.
The idea here is that you create an ’email list’ (i.e., a group of people who have signed up to receive your emails) and then send them relevant, interesting communications on a regular basis.
If you’re looking for some advice then HubSpot has put together an extensive guide to online email marketing that will set you on the right track.
Tip: When you first start out it’s best to use a third-party service such as MailChimp or AWeber because they’ll help with things like list segmentation, analytics, etc. It can be overwhelming if you try organizing everything yourself when you only just starting out; we’ve already covered the basics in our introduction to online digital marketing article.
