Marketing Trends In 2022
The marketing world moves at the speed of light … or at least it feels that way when you’re developing a new marketing campaign or strategy, and out of nowhere, a new statistic or technology comes along.
The way we connect, market, and attract audiences changes annually, quarterly, and even monthly as new techniques and trends emerge.
While these changes require constant attention, keeping up with them isn’t always possible. In the fast-paced world of marketing, you have to stay on top of your game. This is why we created this guide – put together by some of the Digital Papercuts team – so you can bookmark and return to some of the biggest marketing trends going in 2022 to get ahead of your competition.
What are the benefits of using marketing trends?
When a certain marketing strategy or approach consistently works, why change it?
Just because something works now doesn’t mean it will work in the future. It is imperative that you stay ahead of the trends that will impact your marketing success in the future. Apart from keeping up with industry developments, why should your business care about marketing trends?
You can use marketing trends to:
- Make sure you keep up with how your consumers shop and research your products and services (as well as those of your competitors).
- Be aware of changes in consumer behavior and priorities.
- Be ahead of the curve in knowing who your target audience is and what they need from you.
- Stay on top of market changes to save money.
- Maintain relevance in your target market and among your competitors (both now and in the future).
Marketing Trends: New and Emerging for 2022
- Take advantage of inbound marketing.
- Make your customers your biggest promoters.
- Video content can be created and shared.
- Native advertising allows you to reach new audiences.
- Inclusion and Diversity should be transparent.
- Create both ephemeral and permanent content for social media channels.
- Identify and work with micro-influencers.
- Repurposing content across multiple channels.
- Use voice search tactics.
- Design a responsive, mobile-friendly website.
- Improving the user’s experience with content.
- Bring artificial intelligence into the equation.
- Utilize virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
- Make your site chatbot-ready.
- Provide your customers with greater control over their data.
The marketing world undergoes frequent change – as we’ve said. We have compiled a list of some of the most popular types of marketing trends, along with examples of each, to help you adapt as needed and equip your business with the knowledge necessary to achieve success.
1. Develop an inbound marketing strategy.
In the past year, the world dealt with unprecedented change, and outbound marketing tactics became less effective at reaching prospects and leads. With the shift from in-person to hybrid work from home (WFH) business practices, inbound marketing has become one of the most effective tactics. Due to COVID-19, virtual events have grown significantly, forcing marketers to find new ways to attract customers.
In response to the explosion of virtual events, businesses in all sectors have attempted to implement webinars, virtual conferences, and events. But most of them are PowerPoint presentations or executives talking in their kitchen. That’s not interesting … The race in 2021 will be for polish and production value – graphics, directors, professional hosts, equipment, and no kitchen backdrops.”
The refocusing of your strategy to drive customers to seek out your content can make inbound marketing a valuable asset to create brand awareness and build trust on the web.
With inbound marketing, you must create relevant, valuable content based on your target audience, buyer personas and their needs.
2. Make your customers your biggest promoters.
Marketing funnels are old news. Nowadays, the flywheel – and a focus on service – have replaced the funnel’s one-way direction.
According to the traditional marketing funnel, customers are an afterthought. After they became paying customers, businesses considered them obsolete – until, of course, it was time to make another sale.
On the other hand, the flywheel puts the customer at the center. Since word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies, you should not only take care of your customers but also equip them to become advocates and promoters of your brand. An illustration of this process is the flywheel: excellent service as a marketing strategy.
Keep the flywheel at the center of your marketing efforts, and you’ll delight and empower your customers. You should place a high priority on customer service and train your team to deal with requests and issues.
You will gain customers who can market for you – they can advocate for your business through their networks both online and offline.
Trends in content marketing
In a variety of industries, businesses are focusing on content marketing – publishing blogs, investing in resources to produce unique content, and paying for content-related ads.
Why should you also care about current content marketing trends? The majority of buyers expect brands to create content to gain their attention, which is why 47% of buyers view three to five pieces of content before engaging with a sales representative or buying a product or service online.
Consider the type of content that resonates with your buyer personas, target audience, and current customers when developing your content marketing strategy.
3. Upload and share video content.
While video marketing isn’t a new concept, its effectiveness and popularity have skyrocketed in recent years, and even more so since the onset of the pandemic.
Video can be used throughout all parts of the flywheel – not just as a marketing tool. Incorporate video into your marketing strategy to introduce your brand, products and services. Videos can be used in both sales and customer service efforts.
Video was previously restricted by expensive resources and production. However, this is no longer the case today. Video marketing is now easier to integrate thanks to a lower barrier of entry.
It is not necessary to hire a production team or marketing agency; all you need is a smartphone, such as an iPhone, and editing software, such as Adobe Premiere Pro.
Or, you can purchase Content Ninja and legally use other peoples videos to build your own content marketing machine.
4. Use native advertising to reach new audiences.
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Consumers view native ads over 50% more often than banner ads because native ads don’t feel like traditional ads. Native advertising can be found on social media, in search engine results, on content recommendation platforms (the links at the bottom of the page that provide more information about the topic), or in campaigns.
In the case of Instagram, it partners with brands regularly to run native advertising campaigns. Through Instagram Stories and Shop, brands can share posts that look like their followers’ posting style, while subtly advertising their products.
To incorporate native advertising into your marketing efforts, look for publications relevant to your brand. Remember to sound natural and avoid sounding pushy or blatantly promotional.
Trends in social media marketing
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That’s why social media marketing has become a popular channel that’s integrated into almost every business’s marketing strategy. With social media marketing, you can connect with your audience on a personal level, humanizing your brand.
5. Transparency is key to diversity and inclusion.
As the Coronavirus pandemic took its toll around the globe, it brought to light the pressures employees face at work. As a result, employees became more vocal about feeling unequal among members of society and being treated unfairly in the workplace.
It’s no wonder companies are now incorporating more diversity and inclusion initiatives into their social media strategies.
In order for companies to keep up with the times, they need to be more transparent about their efforts to make the workplace more equal and plans to expand their diversity and inclusion initiatives.
6. Utilize both ephemeral and permanent social media content.
Social media is not created equal. Different types of content perform better on different platforms. Social media content can be ephemeral (fleeting) or permanent (lasting). In this post, we will examine ephemeral content vs. permanent content:
Social media marketing that is ephemeral
These days, Instagram and Facebook Stories make it simple to create ephemeral content – Instagram and Facebook Stories are photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. (Well, not actually, there’s an Archive feature where all your Stories go after they expire. But you get the idea.)
As an example, take Instagram:
Instagram Stories are soaring in popularity, and the user behavior on Stories leans toward low-fi, quick content with a heavy use of UX elements (gifs, boomerangs, polls, etc). The uniqueness of their design isn’t the only thing that sets them apart. Instagram Stories can also be heavily edited with filters, GIFs, colored text, and more. Due to these new additions, brands are able to create and publish ephemeral content that differs from their other social media content.
Content for permanent social media
There are a few differences between permanent content and temporary content:
There are fewer opportunities for brands to be timely on Instagram (who wants to see New Year’s posts after they’ve already given up on their resolutions?!). Instagram users tend to be more active on weekdays, during the standard workday when they are on a break or playing hooky from work.
Using your brand voice and point of view is vital to serving your audience during the break. Is your presence inspirational, beautiful, informative, playful, or trendy? All of them have a place on Instagram’s permanent wall, they just need to match your brand’s message.
Your business can showcase more of its personality and flair by combining ephemeral and permanent social media content on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.
Combining a running clock with an active audience offers brands a huge opportunity to create quick, in-the-moment content that highlights their light-hearted side. Content must be concise and clear.
7. Engage micro-influencers.
Influencer marketing is a critical component of all types of modern marketing (ads, videos, social media, blogs). As far as working with influencers goes, companies are no longer limited to celebrities and names that everyone knows.
As it turns out, micro-influencers have found a niche as well in the world of social media – and they’re playing a huge role in converting leads, connecting with audiences, and boosting brand awareness.
Micro-influencers are social media promoters who have a smaller, niche following (typically, thousands to tens of thousands of followers). The posts of these folks often pack more punch due to their higher levels of engagement, despite having fewer followers.
Furthermore, since they are considered “normal” and “everyday” people (unlike hard-to-reach celebrities), audience members view micro-influencers as friends and family, so they are more likely to trust their advice.
A travel and lifestyle influencer on Instagram, Rosie is known as The Londoner. With over 330k followers, she has a loyal following who engages in her posts. Her fees are a fraction of what a celebrity would charge.
Influencer marketing is evolving into micro-influencer marketing. While it is tempting to measure influence solely based on the number of followers a user has, remember that true influence is determined by engagement rates (clicks, subscribers, and purchases). This is especially true since people can purchase “followers” that have no engagement whatsoever with the influencer.
In addition, micro-influencers create social buzz through the creation and posting of personal content and are much more cost-effective for your business.
You may also be interested in https://digitalpapercuts.com/2021/02/07/new-marketing-trends/
