Four ways to market to audiences in 2021

With the benefit of 21 years as an agency owner behind me, there are many lessons learned from hardships and difficult years. As I write this article, I am looking ahead at 2021 with the wise words of other marketers in my head from the myriad content consumed in December and January. Planning (to me) is the action of looking back, digesting that information and looking forward to the best of our abilities to see how the future will unfold.

Predicting what 2021 will be is, well, probably folly. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t make good decisions or move forward. In marketing, here are some things that are more important than ever:

Communicate with authenticity and transparency: With the social and political unrest in the news and being shared on social media, most brands are competing with chaos for attention. What is needed now, as a response to that chaos, is calm and honest outreach (and a little thoughtful humor doesn’t hurt). The antidote to anger is authenticity and transparency in communications. It’s about building and maintaining trust with your audience.

Understand who your smallest viable audience is: With our start in direct marketing, we’ve always believed in speaking directly to an audience with relevance. Seth Godin has done a great job of taking this a step further, explaining the concept of marketing to the smallest viable audience. He talks about this and micro-influencing instead of being all things to all people – this is key for most of our clients too. They aren’t after everyone, they want to get to that audience sweet spot that needs and wants their products and services, and will truly benefit. If you build on your knowledge of your smallest viable audience, your marketing will resonate at a deeper level – to the emotions that drive purchase decisions.

Free yourself from blanket digital strategies: If you take Seth’s advice and focus on the smallest viable audience, then the next step is to find the best data that will give you true insights into what this audience needs (What do they care about? How do they view themselves? What content do they consume?). Then find look-alikes to attract to and engage with your social, email and digital ad strategies. We are on a mission to get better and better at identifying and speaking to those important audiences, not the broader audience that will never buy the products or services we help sell, but the audience that will truly benefit.

Build on what you know about your customers, clients, members or guests: Putting yourself in your customers’ shoes is more important than ever when understanding your customers’ journey. Especially since many times brands don’t have the luxury of having a person to intervene online and smooth over a rough patch (although AI has gotten better at this). Online and digital interactions are here to stay, and even if and when we are freer to see each other, digital will remain a big part of a brand’s success and is here to stay. Continuing to create continuity in the customer journey across all touch points is worth the work.

So, those are the things that are top of mind going into this year of uncertainty. The year 2021 has potential. And, much like recovering from the Great Recession, we as marketers and brands need to help with the healing. If we do this with an open minds and hearts, the results will come.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” bg_position=”center center” bg_repeat=”no-repeat” parallax_bg=”true” scene_position=”center” text_color=”light” text_align=”left” bg_image=”5580″][vc_column width=”1/1″ animation=”none” column_padding=”padding-5-percent” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″][vc_column_text]

We’ve turned 21!

d.trio celebrated its birthday in January! Although we’re not throwing a big party (because, Pandemic), all of us here are proud that d.trio has made it 21 years in the agency business and we’d like to thank our clients, partners, and friends who have supported us in this business odyssey. Megan also wants to thank her fabulous employees for their hard work and ongoing support.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]

Financial Marketing for 2021 and Beyond

As experts in the financial services industry, we keep up to date on the latest trends and information. What started as a resource page for financial service companies struggling with marketing challenges during COVID, has evolved into an ongoing reference site. Check out our newly updated financial services content page.

New Year. New Homepage. 

We started 2021 with a new look on dtrio.com. We wanted our prospects to immediately get a feel for our unique approach to solving their marketing problems, so we framed a series of questions around their potential needs. And we added some new content to help them get to know us, no matter where they are in their journey of finding an agency.

A guide for tackling your marketing to-do list

d.trio exists to help organizations with their marketing—this isn’t news to anyone reading this. What organizations might not know, though, is how best to decide which marketing tasks to keep inhouse and which ones to consider outsourcing. So we created this white paper that addresses some common marketing needs and discusses things to consider when hiring agencies like us. Believe it or not, the answer isn’t always “outsource”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1611682141663{padding-bottom: 50px !important;}”]

AFTER HOURS

Holiday memories

Thanks to your response to our holiday email invitation, we donated $2,500 to charities of your choice in your neighborhoods.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1611682156343{padding-bottom: 50px !important;}”]

Sam and Lauren dressed up for new years at home. Their cats celebrated with the multitude of boxes that arrived over the holidays.

Fred continues with his daily walks and documents his journeys through photos.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1611682178417{padding-bottom: 50px !important;}”]

Megan and her husband Q spent a quiet holiday at home, where Megan spent time doing things she loves like writing, painting, walking through the woods and eating holiday treats.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1611682188627{padding-bottom: 50px !important;}”]

Danette spent Christmas week cooking, eating, and catching up with a few close family members in Wisconsin; celebrated her birthday with her BFF, her favorite canine and an amazing homemade tres leches cake; played in the snow (on her bike, of course); and did plenty of reading, writing, and relaxing.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1611682198797{padding-bottom: 50px !important;}”]

Carol, her sister and a friend ensured a decade-long tradition of holiday afternoon tea with their friends lived on – virtually.  They baked, cooked and  packaged scones, soup, finger sandwiches and tiny desserts (along with packets of tea, of course) and hand-delivered them across the Twin Cities. They enjoyed the tasty treats – and a lot of laughs – with their cherished friends on a Zoom call. All involved deemed it a highlight of the holiday season and were grateful we were able to keep the tradition alive.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]