So here we are on the last day of 2020. For many people, this has been the day that could not come soon enough. The past year has been one for the record books. But what will be different about 2021? From a marketing perspective, there are several things you can do to help your business get back on track in the new year.

Find a way to reconnect with people. Marketing works best when it is making a people connection. It is one of the key reasons consumers continue to buy from the same companies over and over again. One of the big factors that made 2020 a bad year was the lack of human contact. Video conferencing does not take the place of talking face-to-face with another person. But how do you do that if you’re not sure if the facemasks are coming off anytime soon? The typical marketing events like trade shows, golf outings, customer appreciation days, etc. are all on hold and no one is really sure if they will ever come back (btw, they will in time). How do you touch people in marketing when you cannot actually touch people? Be creative with your contact. Have a meeting in their parking lot. Take advantage of the many delivery services that have popped up during the past year and have lunch delivered to them. Believe me when I say that one key piece of marketing that was missing in the past year was touch. Find a way to reconnect with your customers.

Revive some of the plans that were stopped last year. In the on again, off again year of 2020, many of the best marketing plans were waylaid. It may be time to revive them and move forward. You may have to adjust them to be in line with the safety precautions that were implemented this past year. Apply what you have learned. First, we all are much more aware of the way germs spread than we were a year ago. So if you had a golf outing put on hold last year, why not plan one for this year? Have a spaced out golf event where the participants can meet under a tent, but be at a safe distance. Have the food pre-boxed so no one is touching a serving spoon in a buffet line. Recreate your best ideas with a new twist.

Don’t procrastinate, plan and implement now. One of the worst things that happened in the past year is the uncertainty of businesses staying open. Thus, marketing got put on hold. That is never good. Marketing is essential to your business staying open and your brand being successfully sold. There is no good reason to wait. There is a good reason to plan well, but if you don’t implement your marketing, you leave yourself open to being overtaken by your competition.

My final marketing message of the year is just this: find a way to connect with your customers, dust off your old plans with an adjustment for the times we live in, and get on it! I believe the market is ripe for a rebound. Your marketing has to be out in front of all of this to be effective. Here’s to a prosperous 2021. Happy New Year!