If you’re serious about marketing, you’ll reconsider your 2022 plan. Marketing used to be about putting your name out there, as we all know. In 2022, however, it will all be about developing a great brand, telling compelling tales, and evaluating the effectiveness of those stories. It is no longer sufficient to create a brand and expect it to sell. Effective marketing tactics in the past have relied on utilizing the appropriate platforms for promotion, building social media advertising that targeted certain groups or demographics using keywords and hashtags, and retargeting campaigns where available.
Businesses who are willing to take chances, invest in their branding, and listen more intently than ever before when engaging with clients online will prosper in 2022, as competition grows at an unprecedented rate. “Excellent marketing, in my opinion, combines both long-term planning and short-term fast wins,” says Daniel Foley, Founder of Daniel Foley Consultancy “which is why excellent storytelling will be more vital than ever before to a company’s success.”
Some of the most crucial trends to follow to be successful are as follows:
TikTok’s Brand Awareness Will Grow:
TikTok became popular three years ago, bringing a new medium through which marketers may engage with consumers without being salesy. The social networking platform currently has 1 billion users around the world and appeals to a diverse audience. There are even websites that allow users to buy TikTok followers. TikTok has just added advertising and marketing options for companies and creators, putting it front and center in the competition to obtain the greatest quality content, the highest proportion of users and producers, and brands that will continue to interact with it for marketing purposes.
In 2022, 67% of marketers expect to expand their TikTok investment, with 10% of marketers that utilize social media as part of their entire marketing strategy expecting to invest the most in TikTok.
Video marketing is crucial to the success of your marketing strategy:
Although this may seem to be an exaggeration, there is evidence to back that up. YouTube reaches more 18–34 and 18–49-year-olds in the U.S. than any cable network, according to Google. Video posts on Facebook receive six times the amount of interaction as photo or link posts, while view counts on Twitter have surged by nearly 160 percent.
So, in terms of marketing, what does this mean?
If you don’t incorporate video in your strategy, you’ll be missing out on a huge chance to interact with your audience and win their trust. Video is vital for creating client connections because it provides the firm a human voice, which boosts confidence and loyalty among consumers, according to Mitchel Harad, Financial Analyst at Over Draft Apps
Anthony Mixides, Director at The London Vape Company “says, “As we approach 2022, marketers must expect even more fragmentation and noise, making it more challenging than ever to penetrate through the chaos with only advertising messaging. Content marketing is one of the most important aspects of any digital marketing plan. Customers have turned to content as a powerful tool for interacting with them, engaging them, and winning their trust”.On the contrary, “Bad content may be disastrous for your company. It will do more harm than good in terms of brand awareness and customer emotion toward that product or brand” states Daniel Carter, Marketing Manager at Perspective Pictures. Good content builds credibility over time, which indicates that once you’ve attracted new leads, they are more likely to buy from you. If visitors see low-quality material, on the other hand, they may lose trust in your business, sending them down a path when searching for comparable products on competitor sites, adds Daniel Carter.
We’ve all heard of popular social media sites with big followings. Despite considerable criticism of its tactics, Facebook’s earnings report showed a year-over-year increase in daily and monthly active users. On the other side, other platforms have emerged that give a fundamentally slimmed-down media paradigm, aiming at making socializing among small audiences easier to manage more safely as a community. Surprisingly, they aren’t all social networking platforms. Upstarts include podcast services such as Spotify, live chat platforms such as Clubhouse, newsletter systems such as Substack, and sub-communities inside major social media platforms such as Twitter Spaces. All of these projects aim to empower customers to develop true connections with their favorite creators or groups, rather than relying on algorithmic suggestions for involvement.
“No one is seeking for a venue to be the “new Facebook” any time soon,” says Tim Parker, Director of Marketing at Syntax Integration. He clarifies, “It’s impossible to make money with these slimmed-down company tactics. It’s a last-mile issue with a lot of money possibilities for influencers and platforms from subscriptions, gratuities, and ticketed events. Spotify and Twitter may be able to make use of this benefit more rapidly, either for existing business models (like Spotify’s podcasts) or for new offers (such as Twitter Tips). As a result of these platforms, I believe marketers will have to provide non-attention-getting customer experience solutions “.
Sasha Quail, Business Development Manager of Claims UK adds, “Data analytics will become more important for marketing departments. Because firms are spending less money, proving a return on investment (ROI) would become increasingly important in validating budgets and expenditures. If you want more exact information on how your consumers behave so that you can make the correct decision for your company, data analytics will be an important part of this process. Marketers need access to a wide range of numbers in one form or another to understand exactly who their audiences are and also what makes them tick. With so much focus on customer service, marketing teams must first learn what customers believe and do before making important branding or product development decisions.Marketers will pay more attention to social media content:
Social media sites like Instagram and Facebook have come a long way since their creation. Marketers are finding it difficult to keep people’s attention for long periods as they browse through their feeds. “The times of the hard pitch on social media are long gone,” says Mathew Bowley, Marketing Manager at Solmar Villas, “which is why marketers must begin with a story-driven strategy rather than a traditional hard sale.” Since social media has grown more visually oriented, firms must provide high-quality photos and videos to stimulate potential customers’ attention. According to Yousun, marketers should focus their efforts on creating interesting content that will be shared by customers outside of the business.
Customer Demands, Not Product Features, Drive Marketing:
“The future of marketing will be focused on customer requirements, not sales,” says Mark Osborne, Director at Country Hardwood. “Using big data and the internet, customers’ online actions may be utilized to create hyper-personalized experiences. Customers can establish better long-term relationships with companies that understand them. Understanding what makes each person unique, as well as how to effectively serve them, leads to higher brand loyalty and, ultimately, larger revenue opportunities “he continues.
To be successful with their marketing efforts, companies must stop attempting to push their goods on consumers and instead focus on the needs and motives of their target audience. Instead of concentrating on a message such as “Buy my product,” focus on the characteristics that your potential consumer is seeking” Robin Antill, the Director at Leisure Buildings, adds. People desire to be treated as individuals rather than as clients. With this in mind, marketers should focus on building relationships and providing value before pushing their products or services; or else, conversion rates will decline.
Marketing and Product Development Collaboration for Improved Conversion Rates and Customer Experience:
In terms of design and marketing, partnering with your research and development team might be beneficial. Product teams are usually enthralled by the prospect of producing a wonderful user interface or a fascinating new web app, but they sometimes overlook the need of writing effective marketing copy to concentrate on those aspects of their work. “You’ll be able to market your product successfully and efficiently if you have a solid collaboration between the two parts of your firm — one focused on research and UX design, another on message strategy,” says Daniel Foley SEO Specialist at Planday. Consumer experience has risen to the top of every company’s priority list, implying that all departments must collaborate to provide it successfully.
This reorientation is challenging, but with the correct resources, it may result in a more lasting customer experience, leading to increased brand awareness and sales. “Marketers are no longer just advertisers; they are also educators and leaders,” says Aquif Shaikh, Founder of Blogging Ocean. “Marketers used to be someone who sold things, but they now have a distinct function. Customers should be educated and collaborated with rather than merely being persuaded to buy something. This is a difficult transition for some, but it is necessary. As the marketer’s role grows, so does the need for them to change their viewpoint. It’s no longer simply about selling things; it’s become far more complex over time.”
Marketers must start thinking like educators. It can’t just be about selling people goods anymore. They must take time to explain why a product is important to customers. It’s not easy, but it’s become necessary if companies want to remain relevant and start competing against larger companies with larger expenditures, says Daniel Carter, the Chief Editor at 88Vape.
Marketers that want to succeed in the next several years should concentrate on educating their customers. Rather than an aggressive push, today’s consumers want more information. You may take this opportunity to set yourself apart by producing comprehensive content that educates and solves all of your audience’s questions. If you handle it this way, you’ll become less likely to lose prospective customers because they don’t comprehend what you provide or how it benefits them.
Final thoughts:
Nobody knows what’s going to happen next. Marketers seldom have time on their hands. The only way of dealing with uncertainty is to take action. And perhaps, as you progress, your road to success will become clearer. Whatever the future has in store for digital media marketers, one is for certain: it will be bright. There’s never been a better time to be creative, innovative, or advance your career. Take control of the situation and grasp the opportunity!
