Shine in 2022 with 5 Critical Things Top Experts Exhort You To Do With Your Digital Marketing ( Can’t-Miss Tactics )
A look at five digital marketing activities that may help you have a more successful 2022
2022 looks to be another year filled with uncertainty, but there are notable trends you can count on when it comes to digital marketing. Staying on top of these trends will help your business stay relevant in a world where information spreads quickly through social media and the internet. The trends in digital marketing for 2022 are not only exciting, they’re also diverse!
Whether for B2B or B2C products or services, today’s consumers have new ways of interacting with each other and the world around them. People now see more faces on their screens than they do in real life, and this is not due to Covid but rather by choice. In addition, today’s consumers expect information constantly and instantly available. So your company needs to be user-friendly and deliver the immediacy and personalization that site visitors expect.
Here’s a list of old and new, but effective marketing activities we expect to see this year.
Classic SEO will still matter!
How has something as “old school” as SEO optimization for your organic search terms stayed not only relevant but critical to your online success? In a nutshell, it is because of “Intent marketing.” Search engines are focused on attempting to determine the intent of a searcher. Google determines whether someone searching has a question, wants to know how to do something, or wants to purchase a product or service. Therefore, SEO consultants must bring search intent awareness to your target search keyword list. Your content and the words you use must address the searcher’s intent, or your content is unlikely to be presented on a search result page, or if it is, the click rate will be minimal.
What does this mean? Your website and other online content must answer questions and solve problems to be successful. If your web copy is all about the stuff you sell, it will not be successful in most market segments. Examine your content, and if you see that your content is self-focused, you will need to walk several miles in your prospects’ shoes and consider how they view what they need. Ideally, you want to attract a visitor who has a problem. If you are fortunate, their problem is, “How do I buy some of those.” However, it is much more likely that their situation is my old widget broke, I need to be more efficient, or I am unhappy with my current X.
SEO services look at the language and search terms that bring traffic to your website and those of your competitors. It identifies keywords gaps, and just as importantly, content gaps. You will then apply this knowledge to your content marketing strategy to have appropriate digital content for every searcher’s intent. While Invite Them Home SEO focuses on your website and YouTube content, the same techniques, and SEO insights will help your social media content posts.
Video Shorts
The explosion of social media platforms Youtube and TikTok and Instagram Reels’ introduction show how vital video marketing will be in the coming years. While new social media may replace the platforms themselves, the concepts they represent will remain. The trend to video content is not just in younger viewers. Instead, we are all getting our “fix” of socialization via video clips on our smartphones and tablets and reading less. Increasingly short attention spans also mean that videos must be quick and to the point. The statistics support the need for investment in digital marketing.
As of November 2021, 86% of businesses utilize video marketing, which is understandable considering 94% of consumers claim that watching a video has helped them make a purchasing decision (LemonLight). Furthermore, when it comes to maintaining current clients, 93% of consumers state that videos help them understand the product after purchase, increasing customer satisfaction that will keep them coming back (Animoto). These numbers are likely only to grow, meaning video marketing is not only a valuable addition to your strategy but an indispensable foundational component.
Digital Storytelling
According to Forbes “Digital Storytelling Separates Amateurs From Pros.” They state that “there has been a large focus over the past year on digital storytelling.” Our reaction to this is a loud Amen! If your digital content is not accessible (due to poor SEO) or relatable to your target audience, you will have a cold and lonely year in your marketing department.
Your content must answer questions and solve problems for your visitors. They must feel confident that you understand them and their pain. The browser back button or their scroll wheel gets a workout if they do not. For example, is your product used in more than one market? Let’s look at a pump manufacturer as an example. Customers may be using the same pump in refineries and wastewater treatment plants (good job there, Herb, what an appealing example!) They will need to tell success stories for each of those markets to build credibility and buyer confidence to get an order.
Influencer Marketing
When developing your social media strategy for 2022, you should strongly consider influencer marketing. What exactly is an influencer? An influencer is any presence on social media that is known as a trend-setter, thought leader, or subject expert. They can range from celebrities (think Kim Kardashian) to a Joe Schmo making YouTube videos in his basement that suddenly go viral. At the beginning of 2021, Forbes highlighted the importance of influencer marketing in the new digital age. People want to buy products with a strong reputation, and a native advertisement by an influencer is seen as more personal and authentic than a traditional ad.
While your exact ROI may vary, there is no doubt an influencer’s review of your brand, product, or service can make or break your company. Some studies have even shown 11x ROI for influencer marketing. While your ROI may not reach that number, there is an influencer out there that your business could team with to gain visibility and exposure to your customer base. Tools such as NeoReach and Awario can help analyze and track the benefit of influencer marketing for your brand.
Geofencing
How do you ensure that your ads are getting to the right people at the right time? The answer is Geofencing. While it may sound like a fun Medieval activity, it is a modern tool that will be a crucial strategy in 2022. Geofencing uses a device’s location, provided by WiFi, GPS, RFID, and Bluetooth, to send notifications immediately relevant to the user. For example, your company will set up a geographical “fence” to focus your marketing. When users cross the boundary into your designated area, they will be pinged with your ad.
This strategy is beneficial for stores and restaurants with physical locations. Geofences can also be utilized as an offensive strategy against the competition by sending ads to your competitor’s area users. Statistics show that ads which use geofencing get double the click-through rate, and 53% of users will visit a retailer after receiving an ad in response to their location. Finally, geofencing can give you valuable insight into consumer behavior.
Suppose you are not a brick and mortar product or service provider. In that case, you will use the same concept in your PPC advertising and for your Google My Business listing to focus your attention and resources on your target market area.
Looking Ahead
The coming year will be significant for digital marketing, so it’s time you stay ahead of the curve. Several trends will impact your business in this rapidly-changing environment. For example, video-based social media and influencers can help push products from your existing customer base into new markets with just one post or Instagram story! In addition, take advantage of new market segments and demographics with content personalized with use cases and problem solutions you have not yet addressed. Above all, constantly monitor your digital marketing and SEO strategy to be agile as conditions change.
