The digital marketing world is often evolving. The changing business landscapes during the pandemic encouraged more businesses to leverage digital marketing platforms to stay connected with their customers. Businesses need to build their online presence and use various marketing platforms to target the right customers.
To stay ahead of the competition, it is important to understand what is going on in the world of marketing. Knowing what current trends are popular with consumers can help you reach and influence your target audiences. In this article, we will discuss key digital marketing trends for the year 2022.
Digital Marketing Trends for 2022
Influencer marketing will become a common marketing tactic
Influencer marketing is marketing done by any influential person who is collaborating with a brand or business. Today, influencer marketing is booming with social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. According to eMarketer, influencer marketing is growing every year and 72.5% of US marketers will use it in 2022. Moreover, in 2021 Instagram was the most used platform (93%) by influencers followed by Instagram Stories (83%) and TikTok (68%).
According to HubSpot, 57% of marketers who leverage influencer marketing vouch for it and 46% plan to increase their investment in 2022. Also, 56% of marketers who invest in influencer marketing work with micro influencers. Micro influencers are influencers with a small following, usually with 1000 to 10,000 followers. Though they have a small following they are still instrumental in increasing brand awareness, conversions, and engagement. Marketers are more likely to collaborate with micro influencers as it is more affordable than hiring a celebrity. In addition, audiences find them more relatable as they are regular people and not celebrities.
Keeping these statistics in mind, it is safe to say that influencer marketing will be more commonly used by marketers as part of their marketing strategy in 2022.
Social media is the most popular channel
HubSpot’s 2022 Marketing Industry Survey states that social media is the most popular and profitable channel bringing in the highest ROI. Businesses will continue to leverage this channel. In addition, 39% who are not using social media are planning to incorporate it in 2022.
In 2022, 51% of marketers plan to increase their social media marketing budget, while 37% will continue to invest the same amount. Clearly, social media is the number one platform businesses trust to reach and connect with their target audiences and will continue to do so this year.
Image from HubSpot
Enhancing mobile experience
Consumers use mobile devices more than desktop as they can access any of these devices on the go. HubSpot states that more than half of half of annual website traffic comes from mobile devices. Consumers accessing any website through their mobile devices expect to have a good user experience. Poor mobile experience can discourage a user from interacting with the website. Mobile optimization is important for any business to provide a great mobile experience to their target audiences. It helps boost engagement and conversions. Enhancing mobile experiences will continue to be important in 2022.
HubSpot states that 84% of marketers focusing on mobile web design will continue to invest the same amount or more in 2022. Mobile optimization is not limited to websites alone, but is also important for other marketing strategies you implement like email marketing or online advertising.
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More use of permanent social media posts
Many businesses use ephemeral content to reach a wider audience and boost engagement. Ephemeral content is temporary content which lasts for 24 hours after being published, for example, Instagram Stories. The main purpose of ephemeral content is to reach and appeal to the younger demographic. It is the type of content that can get immediate response and increase content volume with minimal efforts. Through images and videos brands can draw more users in and convert them to become loyal customers.
HubSpot’s recent survey determines that 44% of global marketers plan to increase their investment in permanent social media posts. Out of which 8% vouch that it generates the most ROI compared to other marketing strategies. In addition, 25% of respondents stated that ephemeral content was the least effective trend they invested in, and 37% marketers say they plan to decrease investment in ephemeral content.
While ephemeral content is not going away anytime soon, marketers prefer to have standard content that can be viewed anytime by their users which they think is more lucrative.
Storytelling through video and audio
According to Forbes marketing predictions for 2022, story is a popular strategy that many marketers find profitable. Brands tell their story through content such as video or audio to help engage their users and increase sales. Businesses continue to use video and audio content to build brand awareness. HubSpot’s research stated that 53% marketers whose companies use content marketing found podcasts or other types of audio content effective for brand awareness and engagement.
HubSpot survey states that video is the most-used content format. Out of the marketers surveyed, 59% say that they use video in their content marketing strategy, while 76% say that it is their most effective content format. Also, 27% of marketers say video provides the biggest ROI. Videos are effective in grabbing the attention of your target audience and connecting with them more than any other type of content. Many businesses also repurpose their video content into audio content like podcasts. In 2022, businesses will continue to tell their brand stories through video and audio content.
Image from HubSpot
Blogging remains a popular content format
Blogs continue to remain a popular content format second only to video. As seen in the image above 48% of companies leverage blogging. In addition, blogging is effective and has the 3rd highest ROI.
HubSpot’s survey says that blogs will continue to grow in 2022, with 29% marketers planning to implement blogging and 10% planning to invest more in it.
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Infographics will grow
The use of infographics will continue to grow. Currently, 45% of marketers stated they used infographics as part of their content strategy. While 38% plan to incorporate infographics in 2022.
Infographics make the presentation of any content more appealing. Audiences like to consume content that is presented in a visual format, and they can understand it at a glance without having to go through paragraphs of text. This makes it more engaging for the audiences.
Brands will continue doing virtual events
During the pandemic there was a rise in virtual events as people could not attend any conferences or meetings in person. Marketers needed to get creative with their strategies to get the attention of their target audiences. According to HubSpot, in 2021 51% of marketers invested in virtual events. Marketers will continue using virtual events to help them connect with their clients or customers. Almost 80% of marketers plan to invest the same budget or more in virtual events for 2022.
AI and Chatbots
Marketing automation has been growing over the years. Companies continue to leverage technology that can help them streamline their marketing and sales processes. According to Emailmonday, 51% of companies used marketing automation in 2021 and. More than half of B2B companies (58%) plan to adopt it. The two key trends of marketing automation AI or artificial intelligence and chatbots will continue to grow in 2022.
Artificial intelligence refers to machines or technology that perform tasks that require intelligence if performed by humans. These tasks include learning, talking, problem solving and more. When these tasks are performed by computers, they are called AI.
One way marketers are leveraging AI is through chatbots on the website that make it easy for users to find the information they need. Chatbots contribute to improving user experience on a website. Instead of live chat a bot will answer certain questions that users frequently ask or lead them to a landing page with more information. HubSpot states that 40% of marketers who use automation leverage chatbots. Marketers will continue to streamline their conversations using chatbots in 2022.
Privacy
Data is important for any marketer or business owner. Each organization operates using data for marketing, sales, customer services and more. The important of thing for any customer is to trust their data with the business they invest in. This data could be contact information, credit card information, location and more. If any information is misused, customers would strongly distrust the business and stop purchasing from it.
Hence, businesses will continue to take measures that help secure the data of their customers. This is important for businesses to remain trustworthy and maintain transparency. Brands are now giving users more control over their data and consumers can choose how they want to release their personal information. Due to the privacy measures, businesses may sometimes lose access to important data and will need to come up with alternative strategies for their marketing campaigns.
Marketing trends will always keep evolving and changing with time. We discussed some of the trends above to give you some insights into what to expect in 2022. If you are overwhelmed about building your marketing strategy for this year, then referring to these trends can make it easy. These strategies are being used by many marketers globally because they resonate with consumers. As the year progresses there may be more trends and updates coming up. It is a good practice to keep a track of all these changes to help you stay relevant to your audiences.
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