Well, let’s not dwell on 2020. The less said about that, the better. Instead, let’s look at the gleaming road ahead…The millennium’s 21st birthday. The beginning of 2021 coincides with the start of a new era for online business. January is infamously slow, so it’s the perfect time to dedicate to evaluating and making essential changes. Here are our resolutions for online businesses in 2021. 

Get to know your customers/clients

After a tumultuous year, your customer base may have changed, or at the very least their habits and priorities are very different now. (Did you know anyone who baked sourdough at the beginning of the year?) Good salesmanship is about understanding the needs, fears, and motivations of your prospective clients and offering some kind of solution through your product or service.

Now is as good a time as any to reevaluate your “buyer persona” that’s to say, your ideal customer. Take some time with your team to paint an in-depth picture of exactly who they are.  Figure out what’s changed for them and how your business can adapt to best serve them. 

Communicate authentically 

It’s tempting to demonstrate your expertise and authority on a topic by using corporate jargon and business buzzwords when talking to customers and clients. In reality, people read it as insincerity or insecurity.

2021 is all about authenticity. If customers feel hazed by impenetrable language, they’ll run a mile in the other direction. Talk to them in clear terms and be honest and open about the goals and values that inform how you do business.  

Remember communication is a two-way street. A big part of being authentic is to listen to your customers and adapt accordingly. Allow them to have their say through feedback emails or Google reviews.

Improve communication between employees

Your employers are a goldmine of information. Left untapped, you’re missing out on a lot of potential within your business. Start 2021 by establishing clear lines of communication within your online business. 

Have your sales and marketing teams meet up regularly to discuss which campaigns are hitting home. What’s working out in the field and how can you tweak your message to make it even more effective. 

Re-evaluate your content marketing strategy

How does your newfound sales and marketing intelligence fit with your existing content marketing strategy? Make sure your messaging is on point, and that you’re using the right keywords in your website and on social media to create an all-round cohesive strategy.

These past few years have also seen the re-emergence of email as a successful marketing strategy. Look into “email automation”, which is when emails are sent out automatically after a customer has interacted with your website in a certain way, for example, if they spend a certain time on your blog, you can send them a follow-up email with more information on that article and a link to a related service. This helps keep your emails relevant to the reader.  

Search engine optimize your website for 2021

Search engines are continually evolving to make sure their users get the best experience and access to the most relevant pages. 

Last year, Google prioritized mobile page load speed to help them determine where to rank websites. This is known as “mobile-first indexing”. That means that whoever you put in charge of developing your website needs to make sure it’s fully responsive (can change sizes depending on what device it is viewed on) and that it loads as quickly as possible.

“Page experience optimization” is the newest buzzword in town. The meaning is fairly self-explanatory – it’s about creating the best user experience possible. Think fast, responsive and secure websites that are easy to navigate and an all-around dream to use. 

From our team at jdp, we wish you all a happy New Year and a great start to a new era of online business.