The approach of the new year brings with it a time of reflection for both individuals and businesses. From a business perspective, it’s about seeing what you can do differently to ensure greater success in the new year. After all, a lot has changed in 2021 for business, especially when it comes to marketing.
2020 saw great plans scrapped overnight, and 2021 became a year of experimentation and understanding the new normal. So, when it comes to the trends of 2022, you would be forgiven for not being entirely certain of what’s next.
Not to worry, this is where we come in. To help you stay ahead of the game, and get as much as possible from your marketing activity in the new year, we’re going to break down 6 digital marketing trends you can expect to see in 2022.
So, here are 6 digital marketing trends to look out for in 2022:
Effective marketing has always been determined by your ability to connect with your customers. In today’s world where people are bombarded with ads on multiple channels from an untold number of brands every day, you need to find a way to cut through the noise.
The old adage “People buy from People”, has been more relevant now than ever before. Traditional forms of advertising are becoming less effective as consumers become more desensitised due to overexposure. This is why tactics like influencer marketing, user-generated content, and other forms of more personal marketing have become so effective.
The takeaway here is to try and add a human touch to your marketing activity. How you go about this will depend on your brand, but you can’t go wrong by taking this approach.
How many times have you had to unsubscribe from marketing emails? Probably more than you can count. Perhaps you’re like others that have set up an email account dedicated to receiving your spam? Either way, the fact of the matter is that marketing emails are done to death.
Consumers look for a more personalised experience these days, and what’s more personal than a notification? Push notifications have an open rate that’s 50% higher than email, so it pays to market in this way!
However, don’t go overboard. Push notifications can be turned off just as easily they’re turned on. So, when sending these to your customers be sure it’s something worthy of their attention.
As virtual assistants such as Alexa, Siri, and Hey Google get smarter, people will begin to use them even more. There are two different paths that companies are currently pursuing – smart speaker advertising, and voice search optimisation.
Smart speaker advertising is about leveraging the functions of smart speakers to promote your product, such as recipes or music recommendations.
Voice search, however, is an evolving piece of technology. When we ask questions, we do so more naturally than we would when typing them into a search engine. So, to cater to users who use voice search, make sure your content caters to natural language in search.
Your company values don’t just define your company culture, but your brand too. Today, consumers want to buy from companies that share similar values to them, such as sustainability or representation.
Cancel culture doesn’t just apply to celebrities, it applies to companies too – a simple look at the figures in this US study shows this. Share your values as part of your messaging and you will be able to connect to your customers on a deeper level and turn them into fans of your brand, as well as your products.
In this digital age where most of us spend our days bouncing from screen to screen, it’s no surprise that games are so popular. This is because games are fun, engaging, and can even be quite addictive. Incorporating them into your marketing is a great way to stand out from the crowd and to have some fun with your target audience.
You can build them into your website, your social channels or even your digital ads – don’t be afraid to get creative!
Who doesn’t love a good story? Narrative drives almost all the entertainment we consume, from movies to music, to art, even packaging on food. To engage customers, you need to do more than simply throw product information or sales messages at them. You need to tell a story that will resonate with your customers to earn their loyalty and get them to spend their hard-earned money on your products.
In the ever-changing world of digital marketing, you need to keep up with the trends or be left behind. So, follow this guide and you’ll be able to step into the new year with a strong, and up to date, marketing strategy.
