Growth Marketing is a funny game. A side of it looks as still as a lake, while another looks like wild sea waves. If you’re a savvy marketer, you know where to look at. While we might be using the same old marketing channels that we did 10 years ago, we’re about to witness some massive changes in the world of marketing – both on a micro and macro level.
You must constantly educate yourself to stay toe-to-toe with these changes if you’re a marketer. We’re just about to help you do that. This blog post will talk about the 10 marketing trends that will rule in 2022.
Let’s get started!
1. Growth Marketing is Here to Rule
The days of Don Draper style advertising are long gone. That’s because customers no longer buy a product just because they saw its advertisement. They want to know more, interact with the brand, find reviews from past customers and do hundreds of other things. As a result, marketing has evolved from a top-of-the-funnel to a full-funnel approach.
It means that brands need to be persistent when it comes to interacting with customers throughout the lifecycle and give more emphasis on retaining them. Another trend that is set to continue from 2021 is the data-centred marketing approach. With marketers trying to get customers’ data using every possible way, the shift from ‘gut feeling’ based decisions to accurate decisions is here to stay.
Be it multinational companies or baby startups, growth will be the prime focus of marketers. As a result, growth marketing is set to be on the lips of many.
2. More and More Personalization
“Marketers ruin everything,” said Gary Vaynerchuk, the CEO of Vayner Media. He’s not much wrong here as the internet witnesses 500+ million tweets a day, 72000 hours of YouTube videos, 319 billion emails, 95 million Instagram posts, and thousands of other things that we cannot even list here.
This bombardment of information leads to only one thing: a decrease in the attention span of users. It’s been estimated that the attention span of a typical internet user is less than three seconds. Now, how do you use those three seconds to catch the eyes of your target audience? Well, you know the answer. Yes, we are talking about personalization.
However, many marketers fail to realize that personalization is not just about sending Hi [Customer’s Name] emails or sending Christmas wishes. It means serving content based on their needs, platform, demography, culture, etc. Therefore, the brands will have to spend a lot more time creating tailor-made content for their audiences.
3. Video Marketing is a Must for Brands
Thanks to our constantly shrinking attention span, most people have shifted away from reading. This has led to an increase in the consumption of video content. Accordingly to a study, 66% of people prefer watching a short video to learn about a product or service, while only 18% would instead read a text-based article, website, or post.
Companies understood this a long time ago, and that’s why 85% of businesses were using video as a marketing tool in 2021. Video marketing has been adopted so extensively that it’s hard to imagine a marketing strategy without it. Videos allow you to show visuals, people and add human voice. All of this helps you build customer trust and establish brand credibility. If you’re not using video, you’re pretty likely missing out on many things!
4. Influencers will Continue to Influence
The last few years have been nothing short of a boon for content creators, but if we go by the omens, 2022 will smash all the records. One of the reasons behind our confidence is Facebook’s plan to pay $1 billion to content creators in 2022.
It’s no surprise as all of us switch back-and-forth between Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube throughout our day. Many of the content we consummate is created by influencers or creators.
If you’re a business that can benefit from influencer marketing, there is no reason to give a second thought to it. Before approaching influencers, you must first perform in-depth audience research and build a customer persona.
5. Customer Trust is Going to be a Key
It’s no secret that customers are sick of websites using their information to bombard them with advertisements. This has not only decreased their trust in privacy, but they’re no longer taking ads seriously.
To put a brake on this ads bombardment, Google Chrome has decided to discontinue support for third-party cookies by 2023. Many marketers were disappointed when the news came out as customer data plays a crucial part in their marketing strategy. This is set to continue as we expect companies to tighten privacy and security rules.
However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Smart marketers don’t label anything bad news as they are always keen to adapt to changing circumstances. The shift to greater privacy and security will open the doors of trust and a transparency-based marketing strategy. Apple has been a champion at it for years as customers don’t have a shred of the doubt when thinking about where Apple stands in protecting their data.
The secret here isn’t to create a shrewd marketing strategy but to make your product or service trustworthy and communicate it genuinely. This will help you build long-lasting relationships with your customers, and it’s much more effective than any tactic out there. Honesty is the best policy, after all!
6. Conversational Marketing: Keep it Real
With a personalized marketing approach, the lines between marketing, sales, and support are getting blurred with each passing day. As a result, brands are looking to engage in conversations with their customers and give them a personal touch. Social media and chatbots have made it possible for even big brands to interact with their audience.
Conversational marketing speeds up the customer journey as it allows you to solve their pain points. AI-powered chatbots can be a great boon as they allow you to talk to the customers based on previous interactions. Although they cannot entirely replace human efforts, the latest developments reduce them to a great degree.
Apart from the interactions, the conversational approach will also be seen in content marketing. We’ve seen brands shifting away from formal communication and emphasizing on more human approach. Such communication establishes trust with customers. Conversational marketing is set to continue its steady rise through 2022.
7. NFTs and Crypto are Going to be the Talk of the Town
We’re witnessing massive investments being made in NFTs, and a good portion of it can be credited to FOMO (fear of missing out). After Cryptocurrencies, NFTs have created a buzz like a dot com bubble, and whether it bursts or not, it would be foolish to ignore it.
Many giant companies have understood it and have started jumping on the bandwagon. For instance, Facebook supports using NFT display options, and Twitter integrates crypto payments. One thing is for sure; marketers will have to leverage these technologies by any means. Thus, even if you don’t see your business getting into it, it’s worth keeping an eye on it.
8. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are Going a Notch Higher
The AR and VR systems are estimated to be a $97 billion industry by 2025. That means there’s every reason you should be following it to take its advantage.
If you’re confused about AR and VR, let us clarify it once and for all. Although both visual technologies are employed to change how we view and interact with the physical world, there is one significant difference. AR puts a layer of digital element over the real-world view, while VR gives you an immersive real-world experience through devices.
Snapchat lenses and 360-degree videos are the most popular applications of virtual reality. At the same time, apps that virtually allow you to try glasses and furniture are examples of augmented reality applications. Such AR and VR technologies enable marketers to give an experience to customers, thereby increasing chances of conversion.
As per HubSpot, 35% of marketers implemented AR and VR applications in their marketing strategy, and 42% of these are planning to increase the investments they made in 2021. Thus, it’s safe to say that experiential marketing will be a reality in 2022.
9. Artificial Intelligence is Going to Play a Key Role
Thanks to technological developments, we’re seeing a proliferation of artificial intelligence across many industries. It is no longer a monopoly of big companies as even smaller companies are incorporating AI to perform many functions.
We’ve seen the adoption of chatbots and voice search assistants when it comes to marketing but AI is not limited to it. We’ve already seen considerable advancements in AI over the last few years and a tremendous increase in the number of businesses using AI-powered technology and automation to assist their marketing efforts. It has also played a crucial role in Big Data as it helps brands learn about their customers using existing data and perform predictive analysis.
AI helps companies by predicting their customers’ next move or need. For example, if a person bought a loaf of bread today, they are likely to need it in the next few days. You can show a bread advertisement to increase chances of purchase. If this made you go ‘wow!’, then there’s a whole lot more that can be done using AI-powered data analysis. Any marketer needs to have AI in their arsenal.
10. Education is the New Marketing
Marketing is typically considered a channel through which businesses can increase the reach of their products and services, which ultimately leads to increased revenue. While the objective might remain the same, the means are no longer the same.
Marketing is no longer only about selling the product as it has become much more complex than ever before. People no longer want to hear only about a particular product or service as they’re first looking to educate themselves about it. Moreover, they care about many such things such as environmental and social impact, company culture, people running the business, and many more such things.
As a result, marketers need to wear many hats. These hats might be of educators, thought leaders, changemakers, etc. Before buying the product, the customers want information, and there is no option but to give it to them. All companies on top of their marketing game emphasize educating their target audience.
Thus, it won’t be an exaggeration to say that marketing has changed.
Concluding Thoughts: Marketing is Becoming a Long-Term Game
You would likely find a pattern emerging if you paid close attention to all of the 10 points above. Whether it is personalization or the latest technologies such as AI, almost everything is done, keeping the long-term picture in the centre.
2022 is set to bring the winds of change in the marketing world, and you must embrace this evolution to stay on top of your game. Constant education and experimentation are going to be your best weapons.
We at LeanSummits, are a Growth Marketing and Digital Marketing company that helps private sector customers in a variety of locations to discover their most valuable opportunities, solve their most pressing problems, and change their businesses.
Let’s book a free consultation call to learn how you can grow your company in 2022.
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