Top Digital Marketing Trends for 2022 and How Businesses can Take Advantage of Them

Marketing is evolving at a breakneck pace. Following the current marketing fads may yield some short-term results, but marketing plans cannot be based on this. Strong foundations are required for long-term marketing planning: strategies and methods that have produced positive results in the past and are likely to do so in the future. Iterations are, after all, what marketing is all about. And the more time you devote to something, the better you will become.

That’s why, in this roundup of digital marketing trends, we’ve concentrated on eight trends that aren’t just industry fads, but rather broad digital marketing trends for 2022 and beyond.

01. Influencers will continue to grow

The influencer marketing industry has marked $13.8 Billion in 2021 and is expected to grow even at a higher rate in the coming year. With the global pandemic, consumer trust towards online platforms has significantly grown and influencer marketing has played a huge role in this transformation. With this trust, influencers have cemented their position in the field of digital marketing in 2022.

According to Adam Shapiro – Head of product marketing and strategic partnerships at Upfluence, 

“Influence marketing will drive online sales by offering customers to shop seamlessly. Influencers will be the key to expanding affiliate programs. Influencer and affiliate campaigns will be combined to let brands use authentic influencer content to drive sales through an affiliate model that rewards influencers with a commission-based fee and allows brands to track each sale made.”

Therefore, it is important for businesses to look for as many opportunities as possible to partner with influencers that would add value to their brands in the coming year.

02. Getting privacy right matters more than ever

People are concerned about their privacy more than ever. A survey has shown that a majority of people use online services only if they assure high data protection. This can be very challenging for digital businesses because customer data is essential to target consumers with relevant information and advertisements. Without consumer insights, businesses won’t be able to provide memorable and meaningful messaging that would shape a positive online experience.

Therefore, consumer data protection strategy should be a priority of all digital businesses in 2022. That means coming up with more strategies and tactics to reach consumers while giving them more control over their data.

03. Search intent is king

Search intent is the reason behind a search query. Google or any other search engine could not see beyond the literal meaning of a search query a couple of years ago. But things are different today. Google is trying to understand the actual meaning of consumer search queries in order to provide highly personalised and accurate search results. Now Google is focused on developing algorithms that are more sophisticated and more human where algorithms are able to understand information as well as humans. BERT and MUM are some examples.

Therefore, it is very important for businesses to optimise their websites and other digital content with search intent in mind. Identifying the right content type, format and angle will help businesses to get a pretty good idea of the “search intent”.

04. Omnichannel marketing

Omnichannel marketing is all about enabling customers to access your business using all contact points such as the physical store, phone, official website and social media platforms and all of them are interconnected. Today, with the improvement of technology and e-commerce, customers have thousands of options to choose from when they are looking for products and services to buy. Therefore, it is very important to make sure that you communicate with your customers whenever possible using all the contact points without missing any. If you don’t utilise all the marketing channels, there’s a very high chance that you are losing customers to your competitors.

05. Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) improvements in recent years have resulted in more intuitive reporting, as well as the automation of typical marketing activities such as site traffic monitoring and search engine optimisation for organic reach. But, rather than focusing on what we’ve already learned from AI, it’s time to consider how it will affect digital marketing in the future.

As AI technology improves, so do its capabilities, which have progressed from automated chores and campaigns to the ability to forecast what customers will want next. AI is capable of analysing more data, at a faster rate, than humans. As a result, it can assess the purchase history and behavior of customers using the enormous data set available. Then you’ll be able to recommend a certain item or promotion, or even a customised ad.

You can target your customers with the product or service they need, just when they need it, by using AI to predict their next action. This type of targeting will result in high conversion rates and the impression that you are aware of your clients’ demands without being invasive or overwhelming them with useless targeting.

06. Shoppable content

The shopping landscape has shifted. Last year, global e-commerce sales increased by about 30%, and new ways to make online content more “shoppable” have emerged. People may now buy things immediately from social media posts while watching their favorite shows on connected TVs, and while watching YouTube material.

Storytelling is crucial when it comes to developing material that people want to buy. The ABCD framework should be used to create effective shoppable creatives:

• Attention: With a compelling tale, you can hook and keep people’s attention
• Branding: Prioritise branding efforts
• Connection: Develop emotional connections with people by addressing their emotions
• Direction: Ask them to take action

Consider how you can make your content more shoppable by making it story-driven as you plan your marketing initiatives for 2022. Make certain that your brand and claims are accurate. You can be a great storyteller and a great salesperson while expressing your brand identity and optimising the success of your campaign and creatives.

07. Sustainability

The vast majority of respondents claim they are more concerned about sustainability now than they were before the pandemic. People also want brands to lead the way in making sustainability easier to manage in their everyday lives. Individuals already have enough to think about when making purchases; they don’t need to add another layer of study into the mix.

Brands can make this process simple for consumers by adding sustainability advantages into everyday decisions. For example, Google Maps will soon include environmentally friendly alternatives, making sustainable travel routes the default.

Marketers can also demonstrate how their company is addressing common environmental issues, such as minimizing trash generated by increasing shopping delivery and returns. People are quite aware of this, and there is even a growing trend on YouTube where people watch ‘unboxing’ videos of returned pallets.

It’s past time for sustainable solutions to become the standard. Update your message and guidelines to reflect the measures you’re taking, such as utilising recyclable packaging or providing refills, and be open about what happens to returned items.

Final thoughts

The future is always a guessing game. Marketers rarely have the luxury of waiting until the future unfolds. As a result, the only alternative choice for dealing with uncertainty is to take action. And perhaps, as you progress, your path to success will become clearer.

We hope the above list of digital marketing trends in 2022 provides you with some insights that will help you to make smarter decisions in this coming new year.

If you want more insights our team at Digifix is more than happy to help you out!