5 marketing statistics you need to know (and how to use them for 2021)

I think we all feel it...2020 has been one crazy year. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other external factors worldwide, have been felt by small businesses throughout the whole year. With all of the uncertainty and pressures that have been thrown onto businesses, there have been some incredible statistics that have come out about marketing strategy, web performance, and customer experience that your business needs to know. These statistics really help show how the world is changing for small businesses and we’ll not only share some amazing stats,, but how to use them to plan for 2021 and beyond.

Stat #1 - There are now approximately 200 million active websites in the world. (techjury)

How to use it: Whoa. 200 million websites is a lot of websites. With this number of active websites in the world, it’s getting more and more important to have a website that stands out. Your website is competing against 200 million+ other websites for attention. And while only a fraction of those websites are a direct business competitor, you’re not only competing against other businesses in your space, you’re competing for the attention of any website visitors. Make sure you have a website that’s professional, customized, and reflects your brand beautifully to carve out your place in this crowded sea.

Pro-tip: Moby’s team of experts can create a website that will stand out and get your business noticed without breaking the bank. Now is a great time to reach out to put together a plan for a new site in 2021!

Stat #2: 84% of people say that they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video (Wyzowl)

How to use it: This one is pretty simple. Invest in video marketing. We’ve discussed the value of video marketing in previous blog posts and it’s easy to see that the effect of video marketing is not going away. Now is a great time to think about putting a little money aside to produce a new, professional video to start 2021 and to make sure you have a website that is designed to showcase your new video. It may help you kick the year off well and get momentum rolling early.

Stat #3: Almost 30% of marketers use audience segmentation to improve email engagement. (Hubspot)

How to use it: Email marketing is still one of the most effective marketing activities a business can engage in. However, if you want to get the most bang for your buck from the time and resources spent on email marketing, focus on audience segmentation. Segmenting your audiences into more granular groups helps you get a more targeted message, the right message, to the right people at the right time. You can segment audiences by location, buying behavior, industry, demographics, and other data points to create more personalized, more effective emails. The percentage of marketers who focus on segmentation will continue to rise in the future so now is a great time for you to get a head start.

Pro-tip: When you’re creating specific content for segmented audiences, make sure you have a landing page or web page that’s built to continue that specific messaging. What good is a personalized email if you then take that person to a generic web page? Moby can help you create and publish these pages!

Stat #4: Consumers are 35x more likely to open mobile messages (SMS) than emails. (Sinch)

How to use it: Wait, didn’t we just tell you that email marketing is super important? Then why do mobile messages get so much more engagement? Well, that’s probably because so many emails are not segmented and personalized, so they don’t provide optimal value to the recipient. It’s also because mobile messaging is a newer activity in the marketing world so it’s getting higher engagement. But with so many people using smartphones (Statista estimates 3.8 billion in 2021), getting to those people in as many ways as possible on their preferred device will become much more important. Don’t think of email and SMS as competing forms of marketing, think of them as complimentary activities that you should invest in together as you put together your 2021 business plans.

Pro-tip: If any of your new mobile messages point to your website, think of your website needs just like personalized emails. Create a page that’s specific to that audience that they are pointed to from that message to get the highest possible conversion rate.

Stat #5: 59% of people would rather read beautifully designed content instead of something expressed plainly. (Adobe)

How to use it: People want to visit websites that are beautifully designed - plain and simple. You may have great content, great products, great services, a great story, but people will still be more apt to consume your content if it’s designed well and not just plain words and simple images on a page. If your website doesn’t give you an immediate “Wow, this looks amazing” feeling, it might be time to invest in a revamp. Take your great content but match the quality of the visuals and your web design to it so you can have a powerhouse website that will keep all visitors engaged.

As you’re creating plans to sustain or grow your business in 2021, remember all of the statistics above to help guide your marketing efforts. All of the important factors we’ve listed have one common thread: you need your website to be in prime condition as the center of your marketing universe. As you lay out your 2021 plans, reach out to the Moby team to discuss how revamping your website, or creating a new website from scratch, can fit into your overall business strategy to bring in more customers and more revenue in the year ahead.