As the illuminated drones over London Bridge heralded the New Year in a visual round-up of the unfathomably dramatic events of 2020, Insta posts, WhatsApp messages, tweets and Facebook stories lit up with the words #HappyNewYear2021. Despite everything that has happened and is still happening around the world, the message of hope for a happier and healthier new year rang loud and clear across social media everywhere.

Where 2020 needs almost no introduction, and our 2019 selves wouldn’t believe it anyway, 2021 promises to bring back some form of normality to many of us, thanks to the rollout of the Pfizer and Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines.

That said, as I sit here and type this post I can’t help but feel the same sense of doubt I felt when I wished friends and family a Happy New Year. I remember wishing them the same in January 2020,  I think I even went so far as to say this would be the best year ever… and then feeling like a total fool come March 2020 when all of that was blown stratospherically high out of the water.

Just three hours ago I sent my two primary aged children our of the door with their daddy, slipping on the remains of the ice and snow in their shiny school shoes. I’m their mother. My number one job is to keep them safe, yet how can I be certain that they are, today, heading to school when the covid cases are up and the new strain appears to be spreading more rapidly through the young? I was hoping for more clarification of the numbers, the stats, the science so that I might make a more informed decision (ours is a slightly more complex situation) but none was forthcoming so at the eleventh hour, going against my husband’s advice, I decided to send them anyway. Something my gut instict told me not to very loudly in March and I listened.

But today, I’m hoping. Hoping that other parents were as careful over the Christmas break as we were.

So now we plan, we plan for the year ahead in our more digital savvy businesses and socially distanced social lives. Perhaps your business is one of the millions who have relied even more heavily on social media over the last year, maybe working from home gave you the opportunity to start a new business or venture, maybe your office is now permanently closed and you have become the Teams Champion or the Zoom Guru, or have you switched from face to face client services to Facebook Lives instead and are grappling with Facebook Ads and the new Business Suite?

With this new year comes hope for many things and that was, almost, never in question. I also see appreciation and gratitude in abundance too.

So this is a happy new year and whatever happens we will persevere. We will be prepared to learn even more new ways of doing business and to ask for help where we need it. And if that help is digital marketing and social media assistance, we’re all ears (with masks on)!

Evolve Marketing Strategy helps businesses refine their digital presence and reach a wider audience through social media marketing. Talk to us on our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram pages or Contact Us.