After the year we have all had, I’m sure we can all agree that we are most certainly looking forward to what 2022 will bring!
With the focus firmly being on the new year, this gives business owners the opportunity to create a new plan on how to acquire new customers. This is when marketing comes in! It is easy to fall into the trap of doing the same old marketing year on year, and although it helps with your visibility online, does it make you stand out? What do you need to look out for in terms of marketing trends to ensure your business is in tune with your customer?
We have put together our top marketing trends to be aware of going into 2022!
Customer Experience
Over the last year, there has been a dramatic shift and consumers now more than ever searching for experiences. They want to have a positive experience and not just be sold to.
From the moment they get in touch, customers want to feel valued and if they have a positive experience they’ll keep coming back. Look at ways you can make each customer feel individual. From personalised messages to offering problem solving for buying decisions, What can you offer customers that can add value?
Look at your entire process online and offline. From the minute a customer gets in touch, right through to daily communications and review your ‘customer touch points’. How can you make the customer experience better? Improving these processes and building these relationships helps build loyalty; focus on retaining customers.
Push Notifications
The email marketing arena has quickly become an over saturated market, however the more savvy marketer is turning to push notifications.
Many users now have push notifications enabled on their devices which means opportunity to really get in front of your customer! This type of marketing doesn’t rely on your customer actively going to your website or social media channels. It works well in securing loyalty and driving sales. These can work particularly well for businesses that are seasonal or offer sales to remind customers to get in touch and buy.
Voice Search
You’ve probably heard of the Amazon Dot or Siri answering your queries but would you consider voice search as an active part of your marketing strategy?
Voice search is most definitely an emerging technology but with users now opting to use voice enabled searches to find exactly what they are looking for; it is certainly one to keep on the radar. Although voice activated adverts are geared more towards big brands with big budgets, this doesn’t mean your content can’t be geared towards voice search.
Voice searchers are also asking more questions within their search queries, so optimise your content to focus more around questions.. Think about what your customers are typically asking; if you frame your content around these types of questions, then voice assistants can grab that content as a solution. This ultimately gives users what they are looking for.
Featured Snippets
With the growth of voice and mobile search, the way we search has changed. Google is now featuring even more information on the search pages and featured snippets are an integral part of this new search behaviour.
Users now want information fast and featured snippets are a great way of displaying information directly on Google without users even clicking through to your website.
Short-form Video
Platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat have exploded over this last year and their success is largely down to short length videos combined with relevant content.
Many businesses have embraced these platforms and have been creating content that is creative, engaging and best of all fun! Customers have short-attention spans and you have mere seconds to grab their interest so why not create a short video to entice them!
Mobile Optimisation
Mobile experiences are more important than ever as users largely use their phones to make purchasing decisions.
HubSpot recently revealed that over 50% of traffic is now on mobile devices. This needs to be factored into every element of your marketing strategy. Does your website work well on a mobile? If you run Google AdWords do your adverts display well on mobile? It may seem like a small takeaway but it can have a big impact if someone engaging with your brand online can’t get in touch easily.
Experiential Marketing
This is personally one of our favourites that is making a comeback this year! This type of marketing strategy is all about creating an Immersive experience to ensure that your audience is fully engaged with your brand. It gives your business a personality, a point of differentiation and most importantly makes you stand out!
Now is the time to plan for 2022
Make sure you start the year with a clear plan and goal. With all of the above in mind, take into account your availability in terms of time. When it comes to your marketing strategy, it is better to focus on a few things and do them well rather than stretch yourself too thin.
Whilst marketing trends change year on year, what does stand out is the importance of good content. All of the above needs content that is well-thought out and relevant to your target audience.
Get in touch today to discuss your marketing strategy in 2022.