The year 2022 will see more changes in the field of digital marketing. The following ten trends can be used.
Digital marketing has significantly impacted the world of small businesses, and technological advancements influence the techniques that will work best for connecting with your target market.
The important trends to watch in 2022 are producing more original content, offering chatbot services, optimising for voice search, maximising social media marketing, and developing an engaging user experience.
Depending on your industry and business, you’ll need to carefully consider which trends will benefit you the most and which ones you should steer clear of.
Each year, there are new technical trends that business owners should be aware of. Business owners that remain on top of trends may even achieve new marketing heights. Here are 10 trends that, in our opinion, small enterprises should seize in 2022:
- Authentic long-form content
Authentic content is a potent marketing strategy for small enterprises with limited resources. You should also make it long-form, though. While TikTok and Instagram’s three- to five-minute reels dominated the year 2021, the trend is starting to turn around in 2022 with 1,000–7,500 word articles becoming the standard.
This holds true for blog entries, articles, videos, and audio content. A fantastic strategy to increase brand awareness and client loyalty is to share information on subjects that your audience finds interesting. By demonstrating that you care about more than merely a transaction, you can earn someone’s trust.
Whether your material is published as a blog post, an email newsletter, or a social media post, make sure to strike a balance between advertising your items and offering insightful, useful guidance.
- Conversational AI and chatbots
Nearly 42% of consumers utilise conversational AI and chatbots for purchases, according to revenue acceleration platform Drift’s State of Conversational Marketing research. But according to a poll of small business owners, majority of them, technology wasn’t used. Even if you’re focused on other activities, chatbots and more advanced conversational AI may answer simple queries from clients whenever they ask them.
According to Joey Penick, vice president of marketing at Lumen Technologies, “AI-powered chatbots can be utilised for customer assistance, expanding contact strategy considerably with a regulated message.” The ability to collect, analyse, and deliver actionable data that can be utilised to improve the customer experience is an additional benefit of these chatbots, which have gotten so lifelike that many customers can’t tell the difference.
- Voice lookup
Voice search is one area where your small business may differentiate itself from the competition as mobile devices and voice services like Microsoft Cortana and Google Assistant gain in popularity. In 2022 and beyond, there is a higher likelihood that customers who conduct business online may discover your website or content marketing materials through voice search.
As the use of mobile devices increased, we had to react a few years ago, according to Chris Hornak, owner of Blog Hands. “And now, over 50% [of searches] are conducted on mobile devices, according to Google. Voice searches, which already account for 20% of mobile searches and are predicted to expand at a comparable rate to mobile, will require marketers to start reacting.
According to Hornak, a straightforward strategy you may use in 2022 is to answer queries buyers regularly ask about your product on your website. Keep in mind to be conversational and informative in your responses.
- Data mining
According to Curtis Tingle, senior vice president of product for intelligent media delivery startup Valassis, the majority of brands prioritise data analytics, but marketers still have a ways to go.
He remarked, “Marketers must learn how to use the data they collect more effectively.” Customers regularly provide personal information to the businesses they interact with, including information about their purchasing habits, favourite items, and the most effective ways to contact them through advertising and marketing initiatives. Customers who submit their data want something in return, whether it be more individualised advertising or specifically tailored coupons and promotions.
Tingle made a crucial observation: Marketers must go beyond data collection. Businesses must use the data to develop marketing strategies, and the data must have value.
Predictive data, smarter, scalable, and more adaptable datasets, edge computing for speedier analysis, and hybrid computing, which combines off-premises and on-premises cloud solutions, are the key trends for 2022. For enhanced decision-making, business management, insights, and automation, you’ll also see an increasing use of machine learning-driven solutions, such as augmented analytics, engineering decision analytics, and data visualisation.
- Social media promotion
Social media will keep playing a crucial role in successful businesses’ digital marketing initiatives. Expect video, Instagram, livestreaming, and podcasts to rule the list in 2022. Facebook has staying power; it is not going anywhere. LinkedIn will also gain more clout as influencers use it to amp up their voices, in particular.
Speaking of influencers, 2022 will usher in the era of subject matter experts with smaller but more devoted fan bases. What matters is the niche, and those who rule the barren expanse of little to no competition will set the pace.
- New e-commerce sectors
The centre of e-commerce trends is Web3, where companies leverage DeFi trends to elevate their profiles. Decentralized finance, or “DeFi,” refers to blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a brand-new realm of commerce performed through the blockchain with cutting-edge marketing prospects.
Technologies like the shared P2P ledger, for example, provide faster, less expensive, more secure, and transparent commercial transactions. Smart contracts on the blockchain are available to validate, ensure, and enforce transactions. Naturally, cryptocurrency, or digital currencies, can also be used in place of traditional currency to appeal to diverse types of customers.
For instance, the New York-based Magnum Real Estate Group recently listed three retail condos on the Upper East Side of Manhattan for Bitcoin. At the same time, blockchain technology provides agents with genuine chances to network and share their knowledge while also earning money.
NFTs, specially generated digital assets, are another emerging strategy being used by brands to sell their goods.
- User encounter
Modern customers demand a smooth, enjoyable, and engaging online experience, whether they are shopping online or browsing a website. Expect to see a stronger push toward an engaging and seamless user experience in 2022, with a focus on interactive, experiential, practical, and tailored encounters.
Aylon Steinhart, founder and CEO of Eclipse Foods, stated that they are aware that users enjoy interesting information that speaks to them personally. “We are working toward developing a marketing approach that draws users in depending on page experience. The best user experience, however, is about speed, visual stability, mobile friendliness, and secure browsing, not just producing engaging content that draws consumers in. The visibility and engagement of content marketing strategies will rise with the implementation of these methods.
- The metaverse
Today’s futuristic fusion of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI) is known as the metaverse. It results in a new 3D immersive experience where users can mix the actual world with the virtual world.
Examples include NASCAR’s interactive commercials on the online game platform Roblox. Users can design their own avatars so they can virtually “enjoy” things without really purchasing them. Because of this, the marketing sector now has a new term for the practise of using gaming to promote products: “gamevertising.” The music and film industries are dominated by this trend of “gamevertising,” claims technology agency Wunderman Thompson.
On the retail frontier, companies also leverage technology like augmented reality to create hybrid shopping experiences where customers, through virtual avatars, can “try on” items, “sit” on chairs, “live” in particular physical places, and so forth.
- A World Without Cookies
Numerous concerns regarding the privacy of data collection have been raised during the last two years. In order to address this issue, Google is a leader in the advertising technology sector with its cookieless future, which is expected to debut in 2023. Google will introduce new technologies and promote the phase-out of test cookies near the end of 2022. While cookies rely on user-provided data like personal emails to function, cookie substitutes will need to have vast amounts of high-quality first-party data to work.
How does this impact companies, marketers, and advertisers? In the near future, as consumer privacy concerns and rules like the GDPR develop, prudent organisations will want to take heed of a situation where cookies are replaced by cookie replacements.
- Keywords and SEO
The advantages of SEO and keyword tactics are still present. The Page Experience Algorithm from Google is scheduled to debut in March 2022. The SEO Tool will evaluate a variety of criteria, including HTTPS security, visual stability, interaction, and loading speed.
Google is also focusing on mobile, using its just-launched Mobile-First Indexing (MFI) to rank webpages that are responsive to mobile devices. This requires marketers to concentrate on the UX on mobile devices at least as much as they do on websites. Publishers are being encouraged by Google’s new Multitask Unified Model (MUM) to offer more complicated responses to straightforward questions. MUM honours reliable material.
Relevance of Fundamental Marketing Concepts
These trends are anticipated to have an impact on marketing in 2022 and beyond, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop doing what you’re doing right away and start employing newer, more cutting-edge technology.
Despite what everyone claims, according to Allen Adamson, adjunct professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and co-founder of Metaforce, “the fundamental concepts of how you promote and establish a brand haven’t altered in the past 10 or 15 years.” “Overall, technology has done nothing more than magnify what has always been true.”
Even if sophisticated new marketing technologies are introduced every year, word-of-mouth advertising is still important, according to Adamson. Consumers might have consulted their friends decades ago to find out where to get the best hamburger in town. Adamson claims that nowadays, individuals “ask all their friends” by conducting a simple internet search and reading testimonials of burger restaurants nearby.
The fundamental principles of marketing have not changed as a result of technological advancements, yet the latter magnifies both successes and failures. When a customer received a subpar burger in the past, the disgruntled customer might have advised their friend not to eat there. A negative Yelp review can now turn away hundreds of potential customers.
Understanding new technological tools can considerably aid your business, but it’s pointless to add new tools to the mix if you don’t grasp how they can help you. As the chairman of Landor Associates for North America, Adamson provided consulting services to organisations like Marriott and HBO. He claimed that many businesses focus too much on the newest and best marketing techniques.
“It’s just a ball, and no one is on defence, so it’s kind of like seeing 8-year-olds play soccer,” he added. “Everyone is pursuing the new, shiny thing. Whatever technology you get, if you don’t know how to use it very well, it won’t give you a competitive advantage in the market.
Some of the trends mentioned in this article may not require you to take any action. The use of more authentic content or the addition of a chatbot to your present marketing mix, on the other hand, may help your company reach a new level of client engagement and financial success.
How to Select the Latest Marketing Technology to Use
The requirements of your company and the preferences of your consumers will determine the technology you choose to use in your operation. If you don’t grasp the technology and can’t use it correctly but are nevertheless adopting a new marketing trend because other companies are, you could be better off not doing so.
According to Ryan Gould, vice president of strategy and marketing services at Elevation Marketing, “although we’re going faster and faster toward a tech-dominant world, small and midsize enterprises need to prioritise the technological trends that they can utilise for higher business growth.” What makes them do that? They should inquire about the following four things:
Who is my target audience?
What and where are the gaps in my business?
Will this technology aid in bridging my company’s gaps?
“Do I have the money to keep using this technology long-term?”
You can avoid overly embracing a marketing trend that isn’t appropriate for your company by using Gould’s questions as a check. Take note of the marketing trends for 2022, but before you do anything, carefully assess where your company is.
