Small Business PR and Marketing Agency: The Trends To Watch Out For In 2020
Going into a new decade, the world of small and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs, is as competitive as ever. To stand out from the rest of the crowd requires targeted marketing and PR techniques; it also requires an acute awareness of key business trends and the ability to capitalise on them; especially whilst others rest on their laurels. The team here at VerriBerri, a small business PR and marketing agency based in Essex, have compiled a list of the key small business trends to look out for. If you’re an SME looking to succeed, then following these tips will help you stride forwards as a business.
Why Does Social Media Marketing Still Matter So Much?
Whether you like it or not, social media is now the main way in which to market yourself. More specifically, social media stories are where the real growth lies. Using a small business PR and marketing agency to manage your social media accounts is a wise move. Video stories have long since taken over newsfeeds in terms of social media content.
With the help of an agency like ours, we can produce scheduled, high-quality content which leads to meaningful engagement. Small businesses also need to be aware that this is a trend that’s very much here to stay. With millennials, and now generationZ coming more into play; small businesses need to be proactive in ensuring their social media engagement is consistent and high-quality. Daily stories, combined with curated posts, offer that kind of quality.
These are two generations completely at ease with technology, generations that are arguably more at home online than in reality. As such, if you don’t have a marketing agency behind your social media, you won’t be able to keep up. Social media trends are rapidly changing and can even change daily. With a small business PR and marketing agency; you can be one of the trendsetters, rather than simply catching up with trends once they’ve already peaked.
The Importance Of User Reviews
There’s so much choice available now. Which is true in every industry. People need much more than a simple product or service description before committing to it. They need proof. User reviews have been important for a while and people are much more hesitant to purchase something without user reviews. SMEs tend to have smaller marketing budgets. Asides from using said budget to hire a small business PR and marketing agency; one of the best things you can focus it on is user reviews. This element significantly increases the trustworthiness of your small business.
5G Looks Set To Take Over
Less than a decade ago, 4G hadn’t been rolled out on any of the UK’s major mobile networks. Now, we’re set to see an extensive 5G launch from mobile networks across the nation. 5G is expected to unlock previously unimaginable downloads speeds of 1Gbps. This is fantastic news for the world of marketing; online audiences are thirsty for high-quality video content and now instantaneous video streaming will be easier and better than ever.
This will be a game changer for both advertising and marketing as online processes become quicker and quicker. There are streaming services such as Google Stadia. (Think of it as a video game equivalent of Netflix.) This will become more and more popular as 5G becomes increasingly widespread, and thus new avenues for marketing and advertising will be continuously being uncovered. Extended reality (virtual reality, augmented reality and the like) is also continuing to grow. This presents an absolute goldmine of an opportunity for marketing and advertising when it becomes more mainstream. Whilst it may still be fairly niche, it’s becoming more accessible year by year and tapping into it is a great idea. These are the sorts of pathways your SME may not have considered pursuing, but are ones that a small business PR and marketing agency will do.
Reinvigorate With Remote Work
Small businesses are now allowing a greater degree of flexibility when it comes to where their employees can work from. According to Finances Online, 66% of small businesses now have remote working incorporated into them somehow. Improved technology has made remote working infinitely easier. Video conferencing, instant messaging, and laptops with immense processing power mean that real estate office space is not as vital as it once was. Remote work helps to streamline your costs and resources, without compromising on the productivity or quality of work that your employees output.
In fact, has even been suggested that increased remote working leads to increased productivity when compared with standard office working. Outsourcing your marketing needs to an offsite company not only frees up your company’s time, but it results in a great final product as well: effective marketing.
Inspired By Influencer Marketing
So, you’re a small business, up until now you’ve probably thought that influencers couldn’t do too much for your business, that their massive scale wouldn’t extend downwards to the smaller businesses. Well, times have changed. The emerging trend for influencers in 2020 is the increase in the importance of microinfluencers. These influencers are smaller scale in terms of the numbers of followers they have, and usually have a specific niche or field which is great for the likes of SMEs that also usually have a certain area in which they specialise. Attaching your SME or brand to an influencer is a great way of accessing new markets and audiences that you wouldn’t necessarily have access to, otherwise.
Whilst the world of SMEs has never been so competitive, it has also never offered such scope for development or progress. The business world is daunting enough at the best of times, but with a small business PR and marketing agency behind you, then everything will become that little bit clearer. Trends will be acted upon, campaigns managed and working relationships secured. The battlegrounds of the SME world are bitterly contested, so the more people you can have on your side, the better! Ifyou’d like to find out more about VerriBerri, then give us a call today on 01376 386850!
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