What are the Marketing Trends for 2022?

Welcome back to the roaring ’20s, a time where 90 per cent of the country are now active internet users. With practically everyone online, if you have a product or service that could benefit people, it’s important to get your message out to them so they can find out about it. Unfortunately, just about every business owner is thinking the same thing. So how do you stand out?

Like with fashion, the internet has trends and patterns of usage. While flash-based sites aren’t likely to return, some trends with internet usage rise and fall. And then rise again. One of these is the way that searches are done. A lot of people first starting out with the internet would type full sentences into Google. But the results were often less than stellar. Then, the focus became on limiting words to a few keywords to find what you needed. Now, with voice searches on the rise, full sentences are also making a return.

For 2020, we’ve identified 9 important trends in marketing. We’ll touch upon each of them briefly here, but if you’re interested or want to know more about a particular topic, we encourage you to download our free eBook, 9 Marketing Trends for 2022, that you can get by filling out the form on the bottom of this page.

1. Increase in Voice Search

Voice search has been on the rise for a few years and is expected to become even bigger in 2020. Unlike typed searches, voice searches are done a little differently. People are much more likely to search using full sentences on voice than with text, which is a big part of why full sentences are on the rise. With smart speakers getting more popular and voice assistants a given on most phones, voice search isn’t going away anytime soon. Plus with the recent BERT update from Google, it’s likely to become much bigger than ever before.

2. More time spent watching videos

We’ve talked a lot about how video tends to be the most engaging form of content. In the past, most of the bandwidth (data sent across the internet) was from people watching videos. That number is expected to increase even more in 2022. If you haven’t started doing videos for social media, your website, or YouTube yet, now’s the time to start!

3. Featured Snippets becoming more important

A featured snippet is what you see sometimes after a Google search where you get a little box that answers your query. Like if you type in “When did Columbus Reach America?” you’ll get a box that says 1492, and then a paragraph from the source page. This is also the result that you’ll get from a voice search, so long as a featured snippet for the term exists. And with voice search getting more frequent, optimising your page to maximise its chance of becoming the featured snippet will be one of the most important parts of search engine optimisation.

4. Interactive Content getting more popular

Interactive content is anything that lets the audience interact with it. So things like Facebook lives, contests and competitions on social media, animations, and even games. One of the best ways to go viral is to create interactive content that people want to share. Then, they can do a lot of the work promoting it for you!

5. Customers expect faster response times

Gone are the days when a customer makes an inquiry and you can safely put it off for a week before getting back to them. By that point, they’re likely to move on–and maybe to a competitor. In 2022, customers want faster response times, with most expecting a response in an hour; for many, this includes times outside of business hours.

6. Consumer trust is slipping

In 2022, the overall consumer base is becoming more cynical. Rarely are the claims a business makes about their products and services taken at face value anymore. Instead of starting with trust that can be lost, trust and loyalty typically need to be earned. The best way to do this is to provide quality offerings with friendly service and prove why you’re the best around at what you do.

7. Mass marketing isn’t working well anymore

Few people keep their unopened emails at zero. Some people have even gone as far as to make separate email accounts, including an account dedicated to signing up for newsletters and offers to keep their primary inbox less cluttered. When dozens of emails come in a day, sending massive emails out to the entire client base will miss the mark for a lot of people. Wouldn’t it be better if they didn’t get those emails they weren’t planning on opening? Instead of mass marketing, in 2022, personalisation is key. Segmenting lists and targeting are now in; people prefer to only see relevant information, and the more relevant, the better!

8. Provide the best possible customer experience

We’ve worked with some clients who conduct their business entirely online and don’t have a physical storefront. For others, we’re the first interaction they have with dealing with working on the internet and doing digital marketing. No matter where on the spectrum you fall, providing the best possible customer experience is paramount in 2022. This includes interactions in-person, online, and by phone. When all work together seamlessly, customer satisfaction increases.

9. Create accounts on multiple social media platforms

Practically everyone has a Facebook account. (There are over 2 billion active accounts!) But focusing solely on Facebook means you can miss a lot of opportunities. LinkedIn is growing in popularity and is designed with businesses in mind. Accounts are free to make, and immediately make a business seem more reputable. If you’re looking to reach a younger crowd, it could be worth looking into some upcoming social media sites too like Tik-Tok or Tumblr. Doing Snapchat stories could also be a helpful option.

I want to know more about these 2022 marketing trends!

If you want to know more about these 2022 marketing trends, download our free eBook 9 Marketing Trends for 2022 by filling out the form below.