2022 Digital Marketing Trends

Digital Marketing Trends For 2022

The year 2022 will see a range of new practices and technologies emerging in the digital marketing space. It will also bring a renewed focus on cross-channel integration and customer journey mapping.

This blog will outline the most important trends you should be watching for as a business owner or marketer in 2022.

The Rise of AI

The number of businesses using AI in marketing is expected to grow dramatically in the coming years. The majority of companies will be using it by 2022. It’s not hard to see why. AI can help you analyze a large amount of data in a short period and also offer insights that humans would never be able to understand by themselves.

AI is already being used for lead generation processes, social media management, customized content creation, and chatbot-assisted customer service, among other things. As new uses are discovered, there will be more opportunities for businesses to use the technology effectively and make better decisions on how to spend their marketing budgets efficiently.

 

Content Personalization

Over the past few years, personalized marketing has become a buzzword. Now, it’s becoming an essential aspect of digital marketing strategies worldwide. The most successful brands use their customer data to design messaging and experiences relevant to a specific person rather than to the masses. It’s where buyer personas come in for brand marketing.

Content personalization isn’t just about creating targeted emails and messages for each customer. It’s about customizing your entire marketing strategy based on individual preferences and needs. When you create digital communications from scratch for each one of your customers, you’re able to convert them at much higher rates than before.

The Era of Content Creators and Influencers

As more and more companies start using content personalization as part of their digital marketing strategy, competition for the attention of your customer is going to increase. Content has become a critical aspect of marketing, and many companies are starting to prioritize it over their advertising budgets. As a result, there will be an increasing demand for content creators who can create engaging and meaningful experiences for their audiences. In fact, according to SignalFire, more than 50 million people worldwide consider themselves creators.

On the other hand, influencers can help you reach a relevant audience in various channels at a relatively low cost. In addition, influencer marketing campaigns can be measured in different ways, making it easier to track results. 

Investing in talent and training them appropriately will become even more important as your content-oriented marketing strategies become increasingly vital to your company’s success. 

 

Video Content Will Continue to be Popular

Today, video content is one of the most popular types of digital marketing content. In fact, a Cisco study forecasted that by 2022, 82% of all online content traffic would be coming from videos.

Many people watch videos to learn different skills, gather new information, and engage with their communities. For a lot of businesses, this means that they need to produce high-quality videos that can attract a larger target audience. 

Here are some of the best video marketing tools for creating high quality and interactive videos for your next marketing campaign:

• Canva
• Animoto
• Biteable
• PlayPlay
• WeVideo

 

Cross-Channel Integration

If you’re reading this blog, you already know the importance of channel integration in marketing. Now it’s time for businesses to start integrating the channels they use to communicate with their customers into a single strategy. It means deciding on one channel that will be your digital marketing hub. From this channel, you can use content syndication tools to have your content shared in other relevant channels. This will help them overcome traditional silos and reach audiences that are more diverse and targeted than ever before. 

The biggest challenge for marketers in the next few years will be to fully comprehend how their marketing strategy can affect the entire user journey. It is important to note that, according to Statista, e-commerce sales will surpass the $740 billion mark by 2023. If you create a great experience for one on a single channel, then it’s likely that they’re going to want to buy from you again in the future. 

However, if they find the same experience fragmented across several separate channels, then they might become confused or annoyed and end up never coming back at all. That is why it is important for businesses to hire an experienced digital marketing agency to handle their cross-channel integration. 

 

Paid Advertising Will be Essential

As shown by Hootsuite’s 2022 Social Media Trends report, the decline in organic reach and the need to allocate more on paid advertising were the main challenges for more than 40% of respondents. Given that, according to the data, the average organic reach for a Facebook post is just a little over 5%, paid advertising will be essential.

Paid advertising is the most effective way for businesses to reach their target audience. It can help drive traffic to a company’s website, improve conversion rates, and generate revenue by increasing sales. This includes search engine marketing, social media marketing, display ads, and video ads. 

Business owners and marketers should keep in mind that the cost of paid advertising will depend on the type of ad campaign you want to run and how much you want to spend on it.

 

Use of Social Media for Customer Service is Growing

Social media has become an integral part of customer service and is used by companies to provide customer service in real-time. For instance, when a customer has a question about the product or service, they can contact the company via social media and get their answer almost instantly.

Here are some examples of the best social media tools used by businesses for customer service:

• SproutSocial
• Buffer
• Hootsuite
• Social Pilot
• Live Agent

The use of social media for customer service is growing because it is a cost-effective way to provide support to customers. In addition, companies can use social media without having to hire additional employees, which would be costly.

 

TikTok is Booming

According to a survey conducted by Forrester, TikTok is most popular among teens and young adults. It allows users to create short videos of 60 seconds or less and share them with others on the app. As a result, the app has transformed the way people communicate with other people through video, allowing them to share their lives in short clips that can be easily watched anywhere, anytime. 

TikTok’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent years, with more than 200 million users worldwide. TikTok has also developed a wide range of beneficial tools for businesses, such as advertisements and business profiles. As a result, it has become a platform for sharing funny or creative videos and a social media platform for connecting with different brands and businesses, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

 

User-Generated Content Stays Mainstream

User-generated content is a type of content where users upload, share, and curate images, videos, reviews, a testimonial, or even a podcast on the internet. 

Companies use user-generated content to create and provide value to their customers in many ways. For example, it can be used for branding purposes, generating new ideas, and providing customer feedback. Some companies are even using user-generated content to generate revenue by selling branded merchandise or advertising on their site.

Take a peek at some brands utilizing user-generated content:

• Doritos created a website where users can create branded images and videos that they share on their social media platforms.
• Laura Mercier launched a TikTok challenge asking users to use their product for their makeup transformations.
• Dove uses an ongoing campaign against digital distortion and encourages its community to share their thoughts online. 

This type of content is inexpensive and has the effect of being far more genuine than any branded material. Therefore, it helps make businesses more trustworthy to their target consumers and improves their brand image because it takes their authenticity to a whole new level.

 

Authentic Inclusive Marketing is Key

In order to be successful in marketing, it is important to have an authentic and inclusive strategy. For this, businesses need to understand the needs and desires of their customers and what they want. 

As seen in the Deloitte survey, global consumers aged 18 – 25 years old pay more attention to inclusive marketing when making their purchase decisions. 

Marketing has always been about understanding the consumer, but it’s even more important to understand their needs and desires in today’s world. This is because there are so many competing products and services that you need to differentiate yourself from the rest of them. And one way you can do this is by making sure that your marketing efforts are authentic and inclusive.

 

Wrapping Things Up

Digital marketing trends are constantly changing, and marketers need to stay ahead of the game. 

These are just a few of the social media trends that will be prevalent in 2022, but new marketing trends always shape the future of marketing. Plus, the growing number of digital marketing channels may make it difficult for in-house marketing teams to deal with the ever-changing world of digital marketing. 

Let us help you achieve your marketing goals. Contact Jennings Social Media & MarTech today!