Digital Marketing Trends for 2022

2022 is here and after the last 2 years of pandemic, it is safe to say that marketing approaches have been turned on their heads! While many are coming back down to rest on their feet, we are seeing some pretty major changes in the way marketeers are approaching this year.

So, here are our predictions for marketing trends in 2022.

Speed is everything

With Google’s recent launch of Core Web Vitals, website speed will become more important than ever. Statista shows that more than half of all web traffic is mobile, yet most businesses do not yet have a fully mobile optimised website. Speed will become the vital element of websites, so now is the time to ensure your website is fully mobile optimised to ensure maximum load speed.

Video content continues to grow in popularity, but not in length!

2022 is going to be all about short videos. TikTok paved the way for short videos with other platforms quickly jumping on the bandwagon. Instagram has introduced reels, and YouTube is starting to focus on ‘shorts’. The short videos reflect the way we consume content. We like quick, informative snippets of information and the best thing is ANYONE can make short video content now, just using their mobile phones. Video content that gets the best engagement is content that the user can get involved with such as polls, questions, or even dances that often trend on platforms like TikTok.

LinkedIn is worth the effort

LinkedIn continues to show significant growth in terms of users and engagement. LinkedIn holds its place as the main B2B social platform. With regular launches of new features to enhance the results for businesses. Invest time in getting to know this platform and this could open many opportunities.

Speaking your truth:

Consumers are bombarded by companies telling then why they should buy their goods or services, in fact consumers are so bombarded by it that they are now starting to see right through this approach and are instead looking for companies to tell their real stories. Show your potential customers how you have helped solve the problem they want solved, for someone else. Show them why they should use your goods or service rather than tell them.

Strategy is key:

Strategy is by no means a new trend, but it is certainly more important than ever! Gone are the days that you can try endless ideas with little to no strategy driving it. Consumers are smarter, and they are choosier about the content they consume.

Focus on what actually drives growth for your business and don’t be afraid to focus on fewer marketing avenues if they work for your business.

Influencer marketing goes up a notch:

2021 saw a decline in the trust element of influencer marketing. Some big names have been caught out promoting products or services that were, let’s say, ‘questionable’. However, that does not mean that influencer marketing is going to dive, in fact quite the opposite, more and more smaller companies are making use of ‘micro influencers’. Micro influencers are more everyday people who have a large following, and who post about something specific. This could be food, travel or even cleaning (Mrs Hinch started as a micro influencer!). Micro influencers tend to have followers in the 1000’s rather than millions, but their followers are engaged and ready to buy, and micro influencers are significantly more affordable than celebrity influencers.

2022 is likely to see influencer marketing become a more common form of marketing for businesses.

Meta and the metaverse are here to stay:

How could we not mention Meta? While some think that Facebook is a declining platform for businesses, Mark Zuckerberg has other ideas. Launching Meta during the pandemic, they stated that “Meta’s focus will be to bring the metaverse to life to help people, find communities and grow businesses.”

So now, we not only have Meta, but also a Metaverse! This can seem a little overwhelming and perhaps a little outlandish(!), but if we have learned one thing since the launch of Facebook and other social platforms, what we once considered ridiculous (sharing pictures of your dinner or updating people on how your morning commute has been), has now become quite the norm.

We are yet to fully understand what the Metaverse will mean for individuals and business, but Metaverse is essentially a combination of multiple technologies, so we can expect plenty more AR and VR, as well more ‘live in’ universes!

Zuckerberg estimates 5 to 10 years before the main features of Metaverse become mainstream, but make no mistake, the transition has started, you just need to prepare for it!

So, what next? Take the time to really understand your customers, know where they are and how they want and expect to be communicated with. 2022 is an exciting year for marketeers, and digital is taking centre stage.