Bill Gates once said, “if your business is not online, it is dead.” I guess people took it very seriously. Almost every other business has gone online. Going online is merely a beginning. Connecting with your target audience is what will power your business to continue online. So how do you connect with your target audience? Digital marketing. It is the most effective way of connecting with your target audience online.
But just like any other industry, it has evolved so much from the day it started. There are so many new trends that are shaping the way digital marketing is done. In this article, we have listed down the latest digital marketing trends that will work in 2022.
Beginning with,
Mobile Marketing
A significant chunk of internet traffic comes from mobiles. In 2020, a total number of unique mobile internet users stood at an astounding 4.28 Billion, and globally, 68.1% of website visits came from mobile devices. So not optimizing your campaign for mobile can prove to be fatal for your marketing campaign, as you are missing out on so many potential users that can be your customers.
Chatbots
In any business, customer service is among the top essential elements that define the integrity of a company. A customer would only like to purchase from you when he is completely convinced that your product will help them. If your company is a B2B model, the convincing part becomes more crucial because your client will scrutinize your product closely as the amount they pay for B2B products is relatively high compared to B2C.
So, coming to the point, chatbots are the hot cakes in the marketing world. Steadily replacing customer service agents. Chatbots and voice assistants are revamping how customers interact with businesses. Chatbots give customers a personalized experience. Your customers don’t have to wait on the call for extended minutes for your customer service executive.
Marketing Automation
Marketing automation is the process of making systems and processes occur automatically at a preset time. Marketing automation can help reduce the load on your team and streamline your marketing efforts. It will help you free up your staff’s time to focus on more pressing matters that require attention. An automation can help you do all the heavy lifting that consumes time, such as consistent social media posts.
Marketing automation also helps you increase your lead generation and conversion rates. And the most important thing is tracking the performance of your marketing campaign. An automation software will give you all the analytics necessary for understanding where your campaign is headed, and with that, you can tweak your campaign accordingly.
Video Marketing
Although it has been a while since video content was used as marketing material, and in recent years, videos are gaining more steam in both B2B and B2C business models. We all know how effective a picture is when it comes to explaining things, and with videos, the effectiveness increases 3X.
Videos are SEO-friendly as well. Google likes optimized videos. It is also a reason for many websites to rank better on Google’s SERPs compared to the ones without any videos. An average modern consumer likes sharing video content over the internet. You can create some really amazing videos using templates readily available on some websites.
Read more about YouTube Video marketing here.
Community Building
Lately, many big organizations are indulging in building communities on social media platforms as part of their social media strategy. Community building has proven to be a cost-effective yet successful strategy to increase customer loyalty and trust, helping you increase your customer return rate. Building a community will help your business by constantly maintaining your brand awareness among your target audience.
Retargeting
You must have come across an ad for the same shoe you had window shopped in the morning. This is called retargeting marketing. Often used by e-commerce sites, it is an excellent way of decreasing the number of abandoned carts. Retargeting allows you to complete sales cycles by showing ads to visitors who left your website without making a purchase. An ideal retargeting ad must have a clear CTA button and promote an offer enticing the customer to make the purchase.
You would be surprised to know that 97% of website visitors that leave never return. (Mailchimp)
And, the consumers who return to a website after clicking a retargeted ad are more likely to convert by almost 70%, compared to those who aren’t retargeted.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is gaining popularity like fire spreads in a forest as social media becomes an integral part of our social life, influencer marketing booms. People are getting influenced by their favorite Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube personalities when it comes to making up their minds regarding a particular product.
Research suggests that 86% of women use social media for purchasing advice. And, 42% of internet users use Ad-blocking technology, making it hard for many brands to reach them. Under such a scenario, influencer marketing can still help you spread your word out in the market.
Voice Search
Although not very popular on mobile phones and not at all popular on desktops. Voice search is gaining enough traction on AI devices such as Alexa, Google Home, Google nest hub. These devices are so addictive that 65% of people who own a smart speaker can’t imagine going back to their days without a smart speaker. With smart devices becoming more compatible for various usages, voice search will be the thing in the future.
So, what you need to do is create audio content as well as audio ads. This means Alexa will tell its owner the answer along with the word from her sponsor.
Push Notifications
The implementation of data privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA have impacted the effectiveness of email marketing. I’m not saying email marketing is dead. It is still the most effective way of marketing your product when your business model is B2B. In B2C, a much larger audience that falls on the younger side prefers to engage with brands differently with as minimum touch points as possible.
And many brands have come up with the idea of browser push notifications and installed applications push notifications. They are getting more sophisticated with time and are getting more personal. In marketing, personalization is the best element to win your prospect.
Conclusion:
So there you go – our comprehensive guide for the nine best digital marketing trends that have worked out in 2021 and will definitely work out in 2022.
Digital marketing is a dynamic industry, where the best techniques constantly change according to the current generation’s mindset. It has evolved and will continue to do so. What has worked five years ago will not after five years.
For now, you can use this article to keep yourself updated with the latest trends in digital marketing.
