It’s a new year and a new decade and if any time is going to be the time to take your business to the next level – it is now!
It has been said that how say you spend your New Year’s Eve dictates the context of your year. Jacqueline Raw, Owner, and Founder of Ycagel agrees but also adds that she believes that it is what you do in the first year of a new decade that will set the pace for the next three!
In the spirit of setting your business up for success in 2020 (and beyond), she shares 4 top trends:
1. Social Engagement: The decade has closed on social content and we are now entering into the era of social engagement. Live streams, watching parties, group chats – it’s ALL about engagement. Social media has become too noisy for content to be enough on its own. Quality, relevant, engaging content is the only content acceptable in 2020. Ensuring that your audience is actually engaging with your brand AND that you are engaging with your audience is a critical element in the social media space right now. It’s about differentiating your brand by having a conversation more than just having a voice.
2. Good old-fashioned networking: Professional networking was all the rage back in the day when multi-level marketing was at its peak. The onset of the digital revolution, saw on-purpose networking take a bit of a back seat as professionals sought to establish themselves as thought leaders. Now, with every person a potential thought leader, we are (just like fashion seems to be) reverting back to what worked well back in the day. Creating solid professional networks and reaching out or tapping into new ones is widely accepted and even welcomed as networking starts to build massive momentum again. Wide, deep and strong networks are the foundation for generating good quality business leads and getting solid recommendations from your peers. Take advantage of this growing trend in 2020 and you’re business will look very different in 2021!
3. Workshops – streamed: So, if you’re going to make any kind of impact this year, running workshops to teach people how to do what you do is a non-negotiable, and so is streaming them (when you can). People are so interested in ‘Do it your own’ across so many different industries and technologies and new software makes it easy to try new things. For example, if you’re in the pool business, you could hold a ‘Surviving the rainy season with a sparkling clean pool’ workshop, record it and post it to YouTube. No matter what your industry, hosting workshops is going to ensure you attract new clients and gain more exposure when you share the sessions online.
4. Webinars: It’s time to fire up the midnight oil, team! Most side-hustle entrepreneurs are missing out on this insanely powerful trend thinking that webinars need to keep office hours. I’m here to tell you that it’s just not the case. Most webinars these days are happening during the evening to accommodate the time-starved entrepreneur hoping to upskill themselves. Get out those PPT presentations and dust off your cameras – now is the time to get your message out there at scale!
“Some fundamentals to your success is ensuring that your product or service is top-notch, that your customer experience is insane and that you are consistent – and I mean seriously consistent. Back that by following 2020’s 4 hottest trends and you’re going to explode your business and brand growth!” concludes Jacqui.
About Jacqueline Raw:
Jacqueline Raw is a Sales and Marketing strategist. She is the founder of Ycagel, a Marketing consulting and services firm and SkillX an online skills incubator for entrepreneurs and professionals. As a thought-leader and influencer in her markets, she is passionate about driving change and equipping people with the skills they need to grow successful businesses and brands.