After all, it is very important to prepare the annual marketing plan for your company. In addition, the year 2020 brought drastic changes to digital marketing. All the changes brought about helped to reframe the way companies and customers relate. So everything indicates that this will become permanent and increasingly complex as early as 2022.
Therefore, staying on top of trends and implementing them in your own marketing strategy is essential. In addition, it is one of the best ways to get out or stay ahead of your competitors in the market. So it is essential to ensure that your company never uses outdated or ineffective strategies to reach its audience. This can lead your business to a spiral of negative events.
That is why we have gathered in this article some forecasts for the digital marketing sector in 2022. In addition, we also brought some suggestions and tips to prepare your company for what is to come. So read on and start planning your company’s 2022 now!
Social media content, strategies and innovations among digital marketing trends for 2022
The year 2020 brought a series of new scenarios for the performance of companies on social networks. After all, the pandemic has increased the traffic of people in the relationship channels. As a result, many companies that had not yet implemented the digital transformation were forced to make quick adjustments to maintain their operations.
Here’s what to expect in digital marketing trends for 2022:
1) Interactive marketing
A good, functional, responsive website designed to offer the best UX possible has always been essential. However, this became even more fundamental with the pandemic. So now it is necessary to go further and think of new baits to attract traffic to your company’s website.
Adding interactive elements to your website or social media is a great way to add value to your visitors. In addition, it gets them involved with your brand and learn more about your products.
For example: a company that operates in predictive maintenance can add a checklist of industrial equipment operation on its website. In this way, the company is offering value to its visitors. In addition, you learn more about them at the same time, based on the data entered in the resource.
Other examples of interactive marketing include:
- Assessments,
- Questionnaires,
- Games,
- Polls,
- Interactive videos,
- Researches,
- Contests.
2) Micro Influencer Marketing
Influence marketing has been a widely used marketing tactic for years. Originally, brands thought it was more beneficial to partner with great influencers. Also known as macro influencers, they are those who have millions of followers.
This approach proved to be very expensive and, surprisingly, not very effective. In fact, celebrities or influencers who have accumulated more than a million followers ask for values in the five or six digits per post.
So the margin for ROI is always tight. After all, with this high price, many companies reported not seeing the expected return. After all, although these individuals have many followers, their engagement rates are low. Especially when compared to influencers of smaller layers.
In 2020 we saw a new layer of this select group of professionals coming to the fore: the micro influencers. This new generation has become much more popular – both among followers and marketers. This has been growing since people discovered the effect they have on purchasing decisions.
Micro influencers offer more loyal followers. That way, most of the time, your followers are more dedicated to being actively involved with your content.
Micro-influencer marketing also offers a very different approach that is usually more effective in reaching target individuals. These smaller influencers often have a more specific niche. This way, it is easier to impact audiences who are really interested in your products or services. This also increases the chances of conversion.
Betting on the marketing of micro influencers will be one of the great trends in digital marketing for 2022. So start looking for influencers related to your area of activity. After all, the followers of these people are likely to be interested in the products or services that your company sells.
3) User generated content – highlight among digital marketing trends for 2022
As the name suggests, user-generated content (UGC) is that created by your customers and users. Thus, there is no direct interference from the brand on this material, which can be of the most diverse formats:
- Comments on the brand’s own posts,
- Text and video posts on users’ own social networks,
- Reviews on blogs and specialized publications,
- Evaluations on social networks and platforms such as Trip Advisor, iFood, Yelp, among others.
UGC is one of the most authentic forms of digital word of mouth marketing. So it becomes a great way to make brands more accessible and relatable to your audience.
Since the rise of influence marketing, UGC has become the cornerstone of many brands’ marketing strategies. Currently, a large number of big name companies and brands now redirect the content of their followers and supporters.
It is proven that the UGC far exceeds the content created by the brand. Therefore, it is essential to attract customers to not only generate your content, but also to market your products for you. Undeniably, this is a strategy that promises to be paramount among digital marketing trends for 2022.
Old trend, new point of view
We know that this type of content is not exactly a new trend. Word of mouth advertising has always existed. However, the rules and restrictions of social distance experienced by everyone this year generated a big increase in the UGC. After all, without being able to know and try products in person, many consumers turned to reviews in order to understand if that product was the right solution.
This was boosted as more brands adapted to the digital landscape. By looking among their customers for the type of content they want to see and publicize it themselves, brands encourage other customers to do the same.
The main appeal of the UGC is the high level of authenticity and relationship opportunity that it provides. Today, social media is becoming an endless stream of produced art, sponsored posts and unattainable lifestyles.
On the other hand, these contents brought a freshness to the communication of the brands. There is a growing appetite for a more authentic representation of ordinary people, lifestyles and experiences. This is especially strong during this year of crisis and social change. Your company needs to bet on this to stand out.
4) Sales through social networks
Some recent changes in social platforms have allowed many companies to start using their profiles on social networks as a sales channel. In addition, this movement intensified after the arrival of sales catalogs on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
As a result, social commerce is on track to become one of the biggest trends in digital marketing for 2022. Currently, a large number of online shoppers are now shopping through social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. In the meantime, another substantial portion turns to social media for inspiration – through reviews and social evidence.
So it is now more important than ever to make your brand, products and services available for purchase on social media. Especially at this moment, when more and more companies are transitioning to digital in order to adjust to the changes caused by the COVID-19 crisis.
Embraced by companies of the most diverse sizes and services, buyable posts are becoming the way of the future. Customers are now more likely to buy when presented with a simplified shopping experience. In this way, social commerce gives brands the opportunity to optimize the shopping experience across multiple channels and platforms.
Another path is in the Commercial Representative – Digital. One way to expand its areas of operation, make negotiations possible in locations where its team of representatives does not arrive easily and serve customers quickly and effectively. Find out more by clicking next.
Digital sales representative – UP2Place
5) Lives – one of the main trends in digital marketing for 2022
In the past year, live video has quickly become one of the most popular types of online content. After all, Instagram Live and Facebook Live have become even more popular. It is estimated that about one in five Facebook videos were live streams and 1 million Instagram users watched live videos every day.
Since these numbers appeared, other platforms have adopted the format. Currently Twitter, YouTube and, more recently, even LinkedIn – are exploring live video as well.
In 2019 alone, Internet users watched 1.1 billion hours of live video. While that number has certainly grown by itself, the global crisis has certainly added fuel to that fire. Today live video has become a vital channel for many sectors.
During this period, many influencers and brands promoted lives on social media. In addition, many typically offline events – such as festivals, fashion shows, concerts and galleries – have also adopted live video. In this way, it was possible to allow the public to get involved and experience them remotely.
For many people and sectors, lives were saved in 2020. After all, the convenience and the ability to identify and accessibility brought a new look to many audiences that might not normally be involved. So we are sure that this will be one of the strong trends in digital marketing for 2022 and will drive other news.
Clubhouse: strong marketing trend this 2022
February brought great news to the sector: Clubhouse, a new social network for voice streaming. Designed to work along the lines of lives, the platform is an excellent channel for strengthening relationships between brands and the public.
For many brands, this first moment of the chain in Brazil also brought a way of directly accessing big names in the sector and potential leads. Not only for the shortened dialogue, but also for the great volume of relevant information about each interlocutor, obtained in the chats provided by the thematic rooms.
For now, you must have an invitation to the Clubhouse to access the platform, which is still restricted to iOS users. Ensuring access now is a good way to be present among digital marketing trends for 2022 and access your audience before the competition.
6) Ephemeral content on different platforms
Ephemeral content is that type of visual content accessible only temporarily (usually 24 hours). It is a very popular type of content on social networks such as Facebook (Meu Dia), Instagram ( Stories ) and Snapchat (Snaps), in the following formats:
- Photograph,
- Video recorded or broadcast live,
- Polls,
- Tests,
- Product demonstrations, among others.
When contemplating digital marketing trends for 2022 in your planning, experiment and promote your brand with the use of ephemeral content.
Remember that Facebook has more than 1.66 billion active users every day. Instagram has about 800 million. In addition, Snapchat’s 187 million daily active users create 1 million ephemeral content every day.
Think that this type of content gets an immediate response from the public – as an urgent purchase need. It also allows your customers to engage with your brand, expanding your reach and building trust and strengthening relationships with the right type of content.
7) Nostalgia Marketing
Fashion is one of the most cyclical movements that we can observe. It is very common to find pieces from past seasons (too much or too little) redesigned back to the editorials and catwalks. Now other industries have lived through this moment – called nostalgia marketing.
Actions today are everywhere – and not just in the digital medium:
- Turn on the TV (or go to YouTube) and you’ll probably find an ad with an actor from a show you watched when you were a kid,
- Open Spotify and you’ll be able to hear a selected piece of music on purpose to take you back in time,
- Go to a supermarket and walk between the gondolas to easily find products with retro packaging or old hits back on the shelves.
Essentially, nostalgia marketing aims to capture (or rather, recapture) your audience’s attention. To do this, it explores the oldest and most familiar trends of the past. It is a feature that always works.
Successful TV shows, like Mad Men, inspired 1960s nostalgia for audiences around the world. Meanwhile, Netflix’s Stranger Things series paid homage to the classics of cinema and pop culture of the 1980s. Both became big hits.
But why would this be one of the main trends in digital marketing for 2022? Because digital actions can cost less and have a greater and more targeted impact on your audience. Your company can take advantage of this wave by rescuing old packaging, cases and stories from the past and much more. By bringing these past trends to 2022, you can arouse the attention and loyalty of current and former customers.
Technologies gain prominence among digital marketing trends for 2022
The digital transformation has changed the way companies do business. Not only that, it also changed the way they relate to their customers. Certainly we will still see many other news coming up, starting in 2022. Check out the main technological trends for the next year that your company needs to keep on the radar:
1) Improved retention through segmentation
Keeping your existing customers requires less money. For this reason, experts at Up2Place Digital always recommend that your company devote more effort to the intermediate and final stages of the customer journey.
Satisfied customers tend to tell their friends and provide referrals to help increase revenue. They are also more likely to provide direct and honest feedback on issues to improve their brand.
Make sure to keep them informed about your organizational changes or processes that would affect your relationship. To do this, use email marketing or interact with them on social networks.
By collecting data and segmenting your customers, you have the opportunity to save costs. Your company can also target them in a more economical way. That way, it’s easier to stretch your digital marketing budget even further.
We know that lean budgets will be one of the great trends in digital marketing for 2022. So any action that can optimize your investments next year is more than welcome.
2) Google My Business among digital marketing trends for 2022
Ensuring that your company is listed locally, with information verified and updated on various research platforms is an essential care.
Therefore, you must keep your Google My Business in order at all times. This helps to provide valuable information about your hours of operation, services and geographic location. In addition, it is one of the main factors in the research. Nowadays many entrepreneurs are surprised to know how many products can be sold out there.
Having a geographically defined service area in local listings really helps your business appear in searches “near me”. This is because many search engines (especially Google) prioritize location in their search algorithms.
Another advantage of keeping My Business up to date is the ability to communicate quickly:
- Changes in your opening hours,
- New products,
- Promotions,
- New articles on your blog, among other information.
Among the digital marketing trends for 2022, having Google My Business updated is one of the most strategic.
3) Automated bidding on Google Ads
Managing Google Ads campaigns can be a chore, especially if you don’t have a digital marketing agency at your disposal. These professionals can constantly adjust campaigns, keywords and bids to get the most out of your advertising dollars.
Automated bidding, which allows Google to automate past moves to adjust your bid in real time, can be an everyday alternative. This support of automatic bidding tactics allows small businesses to dedicate their time to optimize other aspects of their operations.
Automatic bidding (launched in 2016) is nothing new. However, continuous improvements, made especially in 2020, have positioned them as one of the strong trends in digital marketing for 2022.
4) Semantic Research
In the future, much of the SEO universe will be shaped by the way people search for things on the internet. And although this seems like a simple thing, it is rooted in something a little more complicated: semantics.
Semantics is usually the study of words, their relationships and what those relationships mean in specific contexts. Something that works very well with search engines like Google, right?
In 2022 and beyond, semantic search will be how search engines will use the huge variety of data available to determine:
- Context,
- Intention and
- Meaning necessary to classify the relevance of the contents.
In layman’s terms, semantic search is how Google’s algorithm can take your search query and deliver the result. Even an incomplete, grammatically incorrect and seemingly random search can get you exactly what you were looking for.
Semantic search encompasses both UX and SEO. Search engines now take the burden off users to use exactly the right search terms to find what they need. It is no longer necessary to use that perfect sequence of words: search engines are taking responsibility for interpreting our jargon, fragmented language and obscure questions.
The role of voice research among digital marketing trends for 2022
So that brings us to another very important point: the voice assist devices. Google Now, Alexa, Siri – features that are at the heart of this broader shift to semantic search.
By their very nature, voice assistants are designed to interpret and respond to surveys spoken in colloquial language. For this reason, they are driven by semantic research resources.
We’ve already talked about the importance of updating your content marketing strategies for voice searches. So now it’s time to take this new look and put this and other digital marketing trends into practice in 2022.
5) Marketing automation – highlight among digital marketing trends for 2022
The trends in digital marketing for 2022 show that next year promises to bring even more advances in technology. That way, organizations will need to adapt. For that, they will be able to count on the use of new tools, that will allow a better personalization and customization of the contents.
Your company will be able to target the interests or actions of a potential customer with economic, highly strategic and personalized messages. You can also optimize your marketing team’s time for effectively strategic tasks.
Considering the current scenario, in which digital traffic has grown considerably since the growth of the home office, automation can help your company to sell more, relate and keep your loyal customer.
6) Chatbots
The theme may not be a novelty for companies. However, everything indicates that the feature will gain improvements and more space among digital marketing trends for 2022 and beyond.
The chatbots are proving to be extremely useful to provide better customer experiences. At the same time, they bring benefits to companies. This because:
- Reduce pressure on the customer service team when dealing with simple solution problems;
- They are great for lead generation, helping the sales team to successfully convert more potential customers;
- Allow you to collect customer data that can be analyzed to gain valuable insights about your audience and what motivates them;
- They ensure that your company operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is great for customers who don’t fit the typical pattern or customers who prefer to get involved in a more flexible way. It is also great for addressing global markets, where customers live in different time zones;
- Provide greater customer involvement. Your company will always be available to interact with the customer;
- They promote long-term cost savings for the company.
Chatbots will become even more popular going forward. Especially if augmented by initiatives like UX Writing.
7) Online-offline integration of Customer Experience – highlight among digital marketing trends for 2022
For many companies, the 2020 pandemic brought the need to create or enhance their digital presence in order to remain active and active in the market.
Many online retailers and digital brands have experienced an increase in the number of deals made through their digital channels. But that does not mean that physical stores have come to an end. After all, many consumers still prefer to manipulate or view products in person, before making their purchase decisions. Therefore, brands operating in both spheres must adjust their marketing strategy to take advantage of this growing digitalization.
The bet between digital marketing trends for 2022 is the deep integration between online and offline experience. In this way, physical stores are no longer just a place to shop, but become a place where brands can really engage with their customers and improve their experiences.
In addition, RV and RA technologies will bring more shopping experience home, improving the online shopping experience.
What are the next steps for your company in 2022?
All of these digital marketing trends for 2022 that we brought here are not a complete list. However, they are undoubtedly a great starting point for planning your 2022 strategy.
Most CMOs today could improve their chances just by shifting more resources to social media and local research. In addition, they can add more personalized and interactive content to their audience.
These top trends can help you increase traffic to your website, generate more leads and increase sales. In addition, they can at the same time provide the retention of your customer base achieved so far.
These trends are also essential to help you better understand what to expect in 2022. And also how they will impact the broader competitive landscape.
