Top 10 Digital Marketing Trends That Will Be Relevant in 2022
From social media, marketing platforms to the company’s websites, many leading brands, such as BK8, have utilized digital marketing successfully. Hence, it’s not surprising to see thousands of other brands establishing their eCommerce platform and showing the desire to harness the power of online marketing.
This desire has further been reinforced with the recent pandemic; more individuals use the internet to purchase their goods and request service. For this reason, it’s only right for a savvy brand to consider digital means to keep their operations in vogue, take their solutions right to target audience digitally, and meet the growing demands of their products.
Nevertheless, it’s important to understand the digital marketing space and its current trends before you jump into the eCommerce pools, irrespective of your business’s current state. In this article, you’ll find out ten digital marketing trends that experts believe would help stay relevant in the coming years. Enjoy reading!
1. The Cookie Jar Will Be Empty
With Google announcing to stop supporting third-party cookies by the end of 2023, it’s expected to affect everyone within the digital marketing industry. This is because cookies are essential for advertisers and businesses to track users. However, user privacy has been a debatable topic in recent times, and marketers need to prioritize users’ wants. With the removal of cookies, setting up strategies such as audience targeting and cross-site audience targeting could become impossible in the future. Thus, digital marketers will need to raise their efforts in collecting and collating first-party data.
In this regard, it’s important for your brand to understand the use of Google’s Privacy Sandbox or Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC). These will come in handy for personalization and consumer targeting without interfering with their privacy. Zero-part data, which is information released directly by consumers to a brand, is expected to gain traction. Additionally, brands will need interactive tools, surveys, and CRM strategies for marketing success.
2. Content Continues To Wear The Crown
Digital content has always been the king, and it’s expected to remain so. Valuable links and properly written content will continue to be prioritized by Google when it comes to the website’s ranking for search results.
With Content Marketing Institute claiming 93% of the most successful B2B content marketers working for highly companies that are highly committed to content marketing, we can only expect the sales of content to continue to rise.
To be effective, the marketing department of any company must have a well-defined content strategy that is in line with their overall business goals and the consumer experience. Regardless of the content being delivered, it has to be engaging, beneficial, and informative.
3. Search Is Still Centred On Semantics
Semantics is a key factor in search engine optimization. This refers to the use of words and their relationship, especially in specific contexts. Semantics is at work when Google’s algorithm could take search query, and it’s close to or matches the content on your page. Regardless of whether the query is grammatically incorrect or random, it can still help users find what they need.
While semantics is integral to User Experience and SEO, it is expected to be felt more in voice assistance. Generally, voice assistants help listen and react to queries or commands in colloquial language. Some popular voice assistant programs include Alexa, Siri, and Google Now – all rely on semantic searches significantly. Thus, online marketers need to integrate voice searches in their content marketing plan to keep sustaining their brand’s relevance in the long term.
4. Rise Of AI-Integrated Marketing
Not many innovations are more useful and surprisingly becoming an integral part of digital marketing than artificial intelligence. AI helps collect and analyse data from several channels.
With artificial intelligence, digital marketers can assess customer behaviour and search patterns to understand their preferences. It’s also useful for influencer identification, performance-based marketing and enable payment for conversations & sales influencers to produce. Using AI comes with assured ROI.
5. Users Expect Personalized Experiences
Before an eCommerce can compete effectively in the current hypercompetitive digital market, it’s important to stay committed to delivering personalized experience and content to end-users. This gives clients a sense of being recognised and helps them believe that the company values them.
If you are looking to offer a personalized experience to your customers, consider offering first-time website guests an exclusive offer, seamless access to the site, and personalized purchase recommendations.
6. The Use of Audio-Visual Content is Growing Rapidly
When individuals spend more time at home, their consumption of audio-visual material (such video commercials and live streaming) rises. During such a period, savvy digital marketers win more customers via video marketing, live streaming, and ephemeral content such as Snaps on Snapchats, My Day on Facebook, or Stories on Instagram. This helps generate immediate customer engagement, reach a wider audience, and create customer trust.
7. User-Generated Content More Important
Here is another key tool that can help keep your brand competitive from now into the future. User-generated content (UGC) means content created by customers without any direct involvement from the brand.
This can occur in the form of written reviews, special publications, video content (featuring first impression and reviews), written evaluations on popular platforms such as Yelp or Trip Advisor, ephemeral content, and use of influencer marketing.
The use of influencer marketing, in particular, has turned UGC into a genuine means of marketing that makes the brand more relatable and accessible to the audience.
8. From Celebrity Influencers To Micro-Influencers
In recent years, influence marketing has grown massively as brands move from traditional advertising to partnering with influencers. These individuals help spread their products and services by using words. Before now, this used to be done by celebrity influencers.
However, brands are now moving away to micro-influencers, who may not have huge numbers as celebrities, but possess the most loyal followers.
Usually, micro-influencers often have a specific niche that enables brands to reach target audiences who are quite likely to need their products. With this type of marketing, brands are able to connect with their target audience organically.
9. Engaging Generation Z: 4 Key Steps
Currently, Gen Z accounts for over 40% of global consumers with a spending power of $150 billion in the United States only. Thus, a smart brand will do well to continue getting the attention of Gen Z-ers. To do this, it’s important to harness social media, create video content and earn customer loyalty via transparency and originality. Also, working with influences will always do the trick.
10. Digital Campfires As Marketing Venues
Due to the global lockdown during the pandemic, the video gaming industry relished a massive prominence. The user engagement with video games increased massively and led to the development of online hubs, such as digital campfires, for gamers and esports fans.
This allows individuals from different walks of life to play and/or interact with one another. Many marketers are harnessing the qualities of digital campfires to improve their online awareness and connect with the target audience.
Conclusion
Reputable online brands like BK8 that keep giving their customers a personalized experience, top service delivery, and harnessing digital marketing trends will also continue to enjoy more relevance, prominence, and sales. If you would like your brand to enjoy similar boosts, it’s important to make necessary changes, especially in the marketing departments.
As a marketer, finding novel and smarter ways should be non-negotiable. In this way, you’ll be able to cater to the growing demands of end-users and prepare for any unexpected occurrences in the future – keeping the ten trends herein in mind will help in the short and long run.
