What You Need to Know as a Digital Marketer Going into 2022
We are in the early months of 2022. Like all things, trends come and go. Digital marketing strategies are forever changing just as our technologies and consumers are. As a digital marketer, it is a priority to familiarize yourself with the digital marketing trends of 2022.
I have compiled a list of digital marketing trends that we can expect to see as we move through this new year.
Table of Contents
Dive Into The Metaverse
The term metaverse itself is a vague concept. The best way to describe it is that it essentially is a virtual or augmented reality where users can interact, game, and explore worlds much like the real world.
I, myself, am skeptic on the impact this concept is going to have on our everyday lives. However, digital marketers are seeing it as the best new opportunity to engage, promote, and overall sell products and services to consumers.
Digital marketers are flocking to the metaverse simply because it is a new and “growing” space that offers them the opportunity to target their audiences in a whole new way.
An example of a successful metaverse marketing campaign can be found with the Vans World, an “Off The Wall” Roblox Experience. Roblux is a popular online platform and Vans saw this as an opportunity to engage, interact, and essentially sell their products to consumers through a gaming experience.
As the metaverse begins to gain popularity it is only suitable that digital marketers find an authentic way to dive into these new realities. Whether it be as simple as advertising in a virtual city or as complicated as hosting complete digital concerts.
Video, Video, Video
Video content is yet again on the list for digital marketing trends in 2022. It is more important now than ever to start allocating funds to producing high quality and engaging videos.
TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter. Companies are thriving by uploading videos on these platforms.
Take TikTok’s increased popularity for example. It is a social network consisting of short user created videos. The app itself is addicting where users scroll endlessly. As of 2020 the company has an estimated of 837 million monthly active users. YouTube itself has 2 billion active users!
Audiences want to engage with videos. Videos are a great place to showcase your product or services. Whether it is educating your audience on your company or teaching them how to use your products, a video offers a great opportunity to do so.
It is also worth noting that video can be a main contributor to increasing your website’s SEO.
So, bite the bullet and go buy a camera. It’s time as a company to focus on shooting quality content users want to see.
Funds For Paid Digital Media
There has been a great decline in traditional media over these last couple of years so as marketers we need to find a way to still reach our target audiences.
Think about it…
Consumers are no longer driving past billboards. Commercials are becoming irrelevant as streaming services take over entertainment. Radio is being replaced by podcasts. Direct mail more than likely ends up right in the trash.
The solution is to allocate funds to paid digital media. This is pay-per-click advertising, personalized banner and display ads, paid social media ads, etc.
There are pros and cons of paid media. However, paid digital ads can be more personalized now more than ever before. You can pin-point exactly who you are trying to target with paid digital ads.
Which bring us to our next trend.
Personalization Pays
It’s known that personalization leads to exceptional customer experiences, boosts loyalty, and increases overall sales. Personalization offers your customers a tailored experience which will lead them to engaging with your brand longer.
Customers in 2022 want to be heard and are more likely to interact and overall purchase from companies that appear to be listening to what they need or want.
Personalization has come a far way from personalized subject lines in emails. Digital marketing strategies today consist of campaigns that use various points of data to fine tune and create messages, images and experiences that are best suited to the consumer that is being targeting.
First Party Data Is Your Goldmine
Building on top of personalization, digital marketers are prioritizing the use of first party data for creating digital ads and experiences.
First party data is the data collected by your company containing information about your customers. It consists of digital interactions, a customer’s purchase history, behavior, and preferences.
Why is first party data becoming more popular?
It is simply because this data can be used to create more specific and personalized targeted ads for individual consumers. It’s also worth noting that first party data is free since your company owns it.
Second- and third-party data have been found to be less accurate when profiling consumers. The effectiveness of creating campaigns with second- and third-party data may not always be positive. In 2022, it is best to use your own company data collected from your actual consumers.
Wrapping Up 2022 Digital Marketing Trends
There is no perfect digital marketing strategy. It takes extensive research to find what exactly is effective and performs well.
These trends are just a few of the things I noticed early on this year. As we progress it is best to keep an eye out on what other companies and competitors are doing as well.
Evaluate your digital marketing strategies and determine if what you are producing is as effective as it can be.