Although still ongoing, we can already say without a hint of a doubt that 2021 was as sane as a cow, uncontrollably laughing while dancing on Macarena. Much of the world was on fire (sometimes literally), and this tiny little thing we almost notice in the past two years - the Covid pandemic - has dramatically changed the way we think, the way we make decisions, and most importantly, the way we look for products and services.
These factors made the digital marketing trends change as fast as Usain Bolt, trying to catch the last bus from a stop 100m away. Basically, any trends became utterly unpredictable. We, however, are not the ones who would shy away from predicting the unpredictable, so here's what the Digital Marketing world will almost definitely look like in 2022.
Knowing The Current Trends Will Help
A shocking concept, we know.
The most significant change that became canon during this year was the total digitalization. Everyone who is trying to be someone on the market went on the internet. But, more importantly, everyone's here to stay. McKinsey & Co research shows that there was a significant increase in spending by consumers in Q2 of 2021. This means that people are tired of being financially conservative due to the virus scare and started making it rain even more than in pre-Covid times. Furthermore, the percentage of online customers, much like the toilet paper in your home, has almost doubled since the pandemic started. E-commerce shows a 40 percent growth over the last 12 months. The research team is adamant that Covid has accelerated the e-commerce market by 10 years.
Moreover, this is proven by the massive change in customer's behavior. 60% of companies report significant changes in the basket size and product interest.
As a result, almost all successful business models include a massive chunk of Digital Marketing in their budget and keep up to date with several crucial trends like putting customer data to work in real-time, aiming for better quality content, increasing organic search, and complying with the new, improved Google Core Web Vital ranking factors. These cornerstone trends included factors like inclusivity, sustainability, interactive content, better customer segmentation, and more. Most of these trends will remain vital and evolve in 2022 as well.
Increasing Dependence On Location-Based Methods In The New Year
If, by any chance, you haven't lived in the Canadian wilderness in the past decade, pretending to be BigFoot in an attempt to scare off tourists and fuel someone's beliefs, you'd have noticed that everyone nowadays uses a phone for basically everything. From checking their mail to choosing where they will eat lunch. Generally, around 6.4 billion people use smartphones daily, and it's probably the most common technology anyone, no matter where they live, uses. That's actually great news for your business since smartphones are the foundation of Location-based marketing (LBM), one of the hottest trends that will expand imminently in the upcoming year.
LBM is a digital marketing strategy, which targets users based on their current location. There are several LBM methods, all of which work wonders for businesses with physical locations. It's as effective as getting Morgan Freeman to whisper compliments about your business with his honey-like voice in someone's ears.
Hyperlocal marketing is one of LBM's top methods. It's a Hail Mary for any local business. This method concentrates marketing efforts in a small but vital business area like a neighborhood, a few blocks, or just a 1-mile radius. In addition, Google has announced that in 2022 they will go local and mobile. This means that the search results for any keywords will be based on where the user is.
Thanks to the tracking chips everyone is wearing, commonly known as smartphones, your business can actually target any specific person who comes close to your location. This method is called Geofencing, and if we turn a blind eye to the disturbing lack of privacy, it's the best thing that ever happened for the small local business orwne. With this method, you set a perimeter around your location (let's call it... oh, I don't know... a fence?). Then, whenever potential customers enter your geofence, they receive a push notification or ad on apps they already use. Geofencing can also gather data on your customers like how long they spent in your area before getting to your location, how much time they spent at your place, and whether they paid while they were there (only if they use their mobile device to pay).
Google For The Win
Google is the capo di tutti capi of search engines. With its 90% share of the global search engine market, its 5,4 billion searches per day, Google is truly the Godfather of all organic traffic. Thankfully it's ready to make you an offer you can't refuse. Getting your business in Google is crucial, which includes adding your location on Google maps. This is the only suitable way to conduct LBM.
Another tool you'd need to use if you plan to succeed in 2022 is Google My Business. This is a free tool that allows you to create a listing of your local business in, you guessed it, Google. This makes a free ad for your business directly on Google maps and the google search box as well. Keep in mind that adding your business in Google maps won't place it in the Google Local Finder, so if someone searches for the product you offer in Google search, your option won't be in the top positions, even if you've put your pin on the map. Doing both is not hard, it's free, and the benefits are immense.
Big Data Is Evolving To AI
Since 2022 is in the future (for now), it only fits it to have some futuristic marketing trends. There is no better example than Stephen Hawking's reoccurring nightmare - the AI. Of course, we are not referring to Terminator-style robots when talking about AI, although it will be pretty convincing to have Arnold Schwarzenegger voiced machines escort customers to your business location at gunpoint. Instead, we are talking about the self-learning machine that collects data from various channels, analyses it, and offers you invaluable knowledge about your customer's behavior, needs, and interests. It's truly a valuable asset to your digital marketing arsenal.
Self-learning machines gathering data about your target audience can catch much more detailed correlations than any analyst. Thus, the predictive analytics capabilities of AI far outweigh the chance of machines learning how to control nukes and overthrowing us.
However, the most significant benefit of AI in your digital marketing toolbox lies in the Natural Language Processing (NLP). This helps your machine to read, hear, and, more importantly, to understand your customers. In 2022 NLP will be able to analyze more language-based data than any human. As a result, AI will be able to catch hidden meanings in a way no human can, and without any fatigue or biases, it will deliver the logical conclusion of the gathered data.
The NLP and AI are invaluable in another aspect regarding your 2022 digital marketing planning - influencer marketing.
Influencer Marketing Is Still On The Rise
Although many of today's influencers may be obnoxious, rude, and frankly hated, influencer marketing is as far from death as Prince Charles is from the British throne. The influencer market is estimated to reach more than 15 billion in 2022, a 50% increase compared with 2020.
However, the outrageous behavior of some big influencers, who have landed celebrity status in the past years, left its print on the digital marketing world. The new trends suggest that most companies are going after micro-influencers rather than big celebrities. This is both cost-effective and in line with LBM strategies. Also, it narrows down the reach, and the AI helps you determine the best influencer to attract customers to your service.
Fortunately, this means that drinking bleach and hitting 500 million views for God knows what reason will no longer insure you a million in revenue from advertising. Instead, micro-influencers with specific niche audiences who create quality content and bring value will be the next generation celebrities.
Content Is Dead – Long Live the Content
"Content is king" was a catchphrase that started sickening us about 3 minutes after it became famous. Although technically correct, in the past 3-5 years, content has become more of a chore than giving up some helpful information: the same listicles and "rankings," the same topics, the same views. The content has lost its charms long since, and thankfully soon, it will be dead, at least in its current form.
In 2022 the new king will be born, and its name is User Generated Content (UGC). Users crave for their voices to be heard. Not that they have anything important to say. They just like hearing their voices. So written reviews and special publications, as well as video reviews, unboxing, and instructions, should definitely be on your marketing budget for the upcoming year. This is where UGC mixes with the influencer marketing strategy. Influencers with niche channels that target audiences specific to your product or service are great for generating UGC. They are biased (especially if they get a percentage of what you sell), with unique content, and know how to reach the type of audience you are looking for.
By no means other content should not be eliminated in total. However, instead of pointless listicles and rankings, the 2022 audience will expect quality. So instead of splurging 2500 articles in 12 minutes, it's better to prepare one more extended and more helpful article that will address your customers' needs and interests. In the meantime, you should mix your educational content, which will take a lot more effort and time to prepare, with some interactive content like quizzes, games, and questions for your audience. Social media platforms are perfect for such interactive content.
Social Media In 2022
Unsurprisingly the zombification of the world is no longer privatized by Mark Zuckerberg. LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and especially TikTok are gaining popularity by the day. While FB and IG are still as important as ever, simply posting random content there is no longer sufficient. Users are sick of garbage and expect quality content. Producing Live Stream pitches on Facebook and quality Instagram Reels is your entrance to the Facebook users' attention in 2022. The short video form has become more and more effective all across the social media spectrum. The reason is the constantly declining attention span users have.
While in the year 2000 it was around 12 seconds, today it's about 8 seconds. On Facebook, for example, a video is considered successful if it crosses the 10-second mark. For YouTube and other video-based social media, around 5% of viewers will watch less than 1 minute, and another 60% will drop off in the second one. That's why approximately 56% of all videos in the last year were less than 2 minutes long. Short videos are more shareable and work wonders as explainers. People often seek a fast solution to their problem and don't have the time (or, more accurately, the patience) for a complex explanation of how and why something works. They just need the result.
However, video is not everything. Social media like Linked-in, where most of the B2B communication resides, still needs quality content. The fine line between informative and boring must not be crossed, though. An easy way to avoid this is by using multimedia content like infographics. They contain a lot of information in small text, are easily navigable, and have eye-pleasing pictures and graphics to illustrate data. The human brain processes visual stimuli far better than the written word or listening to a voice. That's why people are far more likely to react positively and receive the intended information with this method.
Integrating Technology In Storytelling
Storytelling was always essential for Digital Marketing. The better the story, the higher the ROI. However, today the internet is filled with great stories, and in 2022 you'd need some technological boost to reach new heights and jump over the competition.
AR and VR are the perfect examples. Around 1.9 billion people per month will use AR in 2022, and approximately 3 billion devices will have the technology to support it. Therefore, AR and VR can be a valuable Digital marketing tool as it expends the customer experience. Furthermore, with the highly technological new generation taking hold of the household finances, implementing these new gadgets in our marketing strategies will be more important than ever.
The same goes for Google Lens, Visual Search, and Voice search. These high-tech AI tools will likely flood the marketing world in the coming year thanks to their practical implication, along with their capacity to save time and effort.
2022 On A Diet – No More Cookies
Up until now, third-party cookies were the driving force behind digital marketing. However, this year, Google was adamant that we are getting too fat with information and decided to put us on a diet. In other words, Google announced it will remove all third-party cookies from Chrome. After the initial panic, gently accompanied by looting and burning down cities, marketers began to devise new strategies.
The first trend will be to actively use your first-party data instead of keeping them like the elephant in the room, never being spoken of again. Increasing your first-party cookies, on the other hand, is a bit tricky, but this will make 2022 the year of webinars, newsletters, creating custom and quality content, just to get your audience to react and for you to get some information on them.
Conclusion
Without a doubt, from a Digital Marketing point of view, 2022 will be more interesting than Game of Thrones, Breaking bad and The Wire combined. The global pandemic made drastic changes in customers' behavior and accelerated the use of technology in everyday shopping by 10 years.
AI will play a much more central role from now on, and shockingly, influencer marketing will continue to rise, although a bit deviated. The change will be noticed in the content as well, which will lay not on quantity but on quality instead. Social media interactions will drastically change because of the constant search for entertainment by users. On the other hand, this will pave the way for AR and VR to become a more crucial part of digital marketing. 2022 will rely on technology even more than 2021, which is far from surprising.
As a whole, what will work in 2022, we can say with certainty around the beginning of 2024. But, till then, every marketer's best bet is to stay adaptive, vigilant, and respond to whatever the tech giants think of next.
No Need To Face The Changes Alone
If you are an entrepreneur, you probably already know how difficult it is to stay afloat. It's a constant battle at each front. Starting a new one without the proper knowledge and understanding of the battleground is probably the worst idea since asking for a traditionally cooked bat dish in Wuhan. Fighting this battle alone will take time, effort and dedication you just can't spear at the moment. With the Pandemic going on, you have enough at your plate to try and keep up with Google's tantrums every two weeks and the ever-changing trends in social media and digital marketing as a whole.
There are two solutions. Either hire a team to take over your SEO completely and pay them a bucket load of money so they can work just a few months per year. Or do the sensible thing and hire outside professionals, who will not only do the job perfectly but will do it for a fraction of the cost of hiring and training a whole new team. There are hundreds of SEO agencies ready to join you in this battle. However, not anyone will suffice. You need a well-known, bestowed partner who has a ton of projects behind their back and is pretty much the MVP at any company that hires them.
Locus Digital is just the partner you are looking for. Named as one of the TOP 10 search engine optimization agencies in Dallas by DesignRush in 2021, Locus Digital is not just a reliable partner but a game-changer, a hail merry to any struggling company in need of more free organic traffic to save their business.
When push comes to shove, you've spent countless hours working on perfecting your products, services, and business. While you were doing that, Locus Digital was perfecting their SEO strategies and was finding new ways to influence Google's crawlers to take your website as the best damn thing they've ever read. So, Locus Digital's Site Booster Package is the only sensible solution to your digital problems.
