5 things to prioritise in 2021

It is a popular behavioural dilemma, if you had 1 million euro, how would you spend it? Personally, if I could find 1 million euro I would have one answer to that. Unfortunately, in digital marketing we don’t usually have that much of a budget. Instead, our budgets are limited, and we are therefore pressured to invest smartly and maximise the returns.

Looking for ways to make digital strategy planning easier for us, as well as being curious about where the industry leaders stand, we have talked to 10 of Ireland’s biggest companies (Dublin Airport, Matheson, Central Bank of Ireland, Samsung Electronics, Ibec, Three, Goodbody, Morgan McKinley, KPMG Ireland and VHI) about where their priorities lay for 2021.

Having analysed their answers, some trends became obvious. Today I am going to talk about 5 priorities that we should not ignore when drafting our 2021 strategies, mentioned by all the interviewees. If you would like to read full answers to this question and more, you can download our free report "10 Opinions for 2021".

1. Leveraging your technology

Leaders agree, technology that supports your digital objectives is key. You should invest time in understanding the full capacity of your digital experience platform, and if you feel like it is not giving you what you want – be ruthless and quick to change to another, a better suited one.

2. Creating user-centric digital

Putting customers first on their web was the second most popular trend. For some it means investing in their UX and site navigation, for some creating new plain language content strategy with a further focus on visual content, for some adding new digital channels to their range. All with one purpose - being as relevant as possible to their clients and their needs.

3. Delivering content that cuts through the noise

There is an increase in content created every day, while customers are bored, tired of screens and still feel like they are not getting what they need on the web. This is why businesses will experiment in finding new content formats, types, delivery channels to cut through the noise and engage with their customers in meaningful ways.

4. Combining physical and digital - experience as one

As restrictions remain in place, many businesses will focus on offering a digital first service model and bringing digital to a point of equal service. As Paul Prior from Three pointed out: “For 2021 our focus from a digital perspective will be to continue to close the gap between digital and physical spaces (i.e. Phygical).”

5. Providing relevant and timely COVID-19 information

COVID-19 still has a significant impact on what kind of information our customers seek, so all the big players we talked to agree that COVID-19 Information Hubs and related information updates are still a priority in 2021.

Would you like to get professional digital strategy advice or need help preparing your web for 2021? Contact us now.