The future of digital marketing is shaped by the new and unexpected trends that emerge every year. Yet again, we have not been disappointed even in a chaotic year such as 2021. If anything, the marketing trends in 2022 are set to be some of the most groundbreaking to date.
The start of the year saw the continuing rise of TikTok, which has now taken over all other platforms as the leading social media channel among Gen Z users. Facebook changed its name to Meta and Google announced it would phase out third-party cookies by 2023, leaving advertisers and digital marketers under two years to navigate new channels to reach their customers.
All in all, there are a lot of new and exciting developments in the digital world that will impact the way we communicate with our audience. Below are some that we have highlighted:
- TikTok will continue to grow and brands need to take it seriously: TikTok has shifted the landscape of social media away from status updates and curated photo grids in favour of short video posts. When talking about social media, TikTok is a platform to consider if you’re not already using it. It has enormous engagement and offers individuals and brands the opportunity for their videos to go viral. The great thing about these short videos is that everyone can put together a quick video that isn’t super polished through a phone.
- Conversational marketing and quality interactions: Brands have been communicating with their customers for years, so conversational marketing isn’t anything new.
- Consumers are hungry for information. They want answers to questions and are comfortable finding them online, whether it be through social media, a forum or a chat. But with the rise of social media and chatbots, consumer behaviour has changed the landscape of how businesses interact with their customers. Consumers expect a response to their query no matter the time. They won’t wait until three days later to get a response. This desire for answers has seen conversational marketing explode as a way to engage customers. The good news is that conversational marketing done right can reap huge rewards for companies and brands. The bad news? If you’re not on top of your communications, slow to respond or have an inconsistent message, you run the risk of turning customers off and away.
- Artificial intelligence in digital marketing: Artificial intelligence (AI) has led to more intuitive reporting, automating general marketing tasks like monitoring site traffic and boosting search engine optimisation for organic reach. But rather than focusing on what we already know from AI, it’s time to look to the future and how it impacts digital marketing. AI can analyse more data, more quickly. For this reason, it can take a larger data set and analyse the purchase history and behaviour of customers. AI predicts your customer’s next move and you can target them with the product or service they need, right when they need it. This type of targeting will lead to high conversion rates and the sense that you understand your customer and their needs without being intrusive or overwhelming them with irrelevant targeting.
