The world of digital marketing evolves at lightning speed.
We’ve seen just how quickly the marketing industry can change since the COVID-19 pandemic began early in 2020. We’ve also seen how necessary it is for marketers and business owners to adapt to the ever-changing marketing landscape.
As 2021 comes to an end, businesses are planning their 2022 digital marketing strategies, and we expect some dramatic changes.
As Canada’s Premier Digital Marketing Agency, we asked our team of Candyboxers to share the future marketing trends predicted to make waves in the New Year.
HERE ARE THE TOP MARKETING TRENDS ALL BUSINESS OWNERS SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IN 2022:
1. Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a trend every business owner should understand. Influencer marketing refers to partnerships between businesses and social media influencers. Essentially, influencers become brand ambassadors and promote products or services to their trusted online audience.
Through videos, social posts and tags, influencers provide brands opportunities for conversions by creating high-quality, engaging content. Not to mention platform features like Instagram Shop, which allows influencers to tag product links directly in their social posts.
We predict influencer marketing to be a huge trend in 2022. With lower costs and higher engagement, we can expect more brands to partner with influencers and run campaigns on Instagram IGTV, Reels and Tik Tok.
2. SMS Marketing
SMS marketing, or texting, allows brands to reach their customers where they spend the most time; their phones. While SMS is not an entirely new concept, the power of SMS marketing is predicted to skyrocket in 2022.
With direct delivery right to customers’ phones, SMS has killer engagement rates. On average, response rates are about 6x higher on SMS than email.
Businesses can leverage SMS for targeted campaigns like new product launches. Or automation campaigns like appointment reminders and delivery confirmations. The opportunity with SMS is endless, and the ROI is pretty awesome.
3. Programmatic Advertising
Programmatic advertising brings data into the media buying process to make it automated. As a result, programmatic makes it easier to serve ads to the right audience at the right time.
With 100% automation, programmatic advertising delivers unparalleled speed and efficiency. Business owners will benefit from programmatic because of its transparency to digital marketers. In real-time, we can view the sites your ads are reaching, the type of customers viewing your ads, and any additional costs related to your ad space. As a result, programmatic advertising increases ad efficiency and reduces advertising costs.
If you’re already running paid ads, now is the time to make the switch to programmatic to save time and ad spend.
4. Chat Bots
Chatbots are artificial intelligence (AI) software that automates communication with website users. Businesses use bots to automate customer service interactions before using a live representative. This is especially helpful for small businesses that don’t have the staffing to have a live rep on call 24/7.
As the New Year approaches, we’re expecting the capabilities of chatbots to expand drastically. Chatbots will offer even more convenience to customers and business owners alike. For example, we expect bots to handle more payment processes and even be available in multiple languages to ease customer use.
Expanding the capabilities of your chatbot in 2022 is a must. With a chatbot, you can streamline your communication and enhance your customer service experience.
5. Bite-Sized Video Content
If you aren’t already, it’s time to get on board with video as the top form of online content. In 2022, we expect bite-sized videos to explode even further as a trend marketers and businesses are leveraging. Think of platforms like Tik Tok and Instagram Reels as a perfect example. These platforms gained massive popularity and online views so quickly because short-form content appeals to online users’ short attention spans.
While long-form videos offer depths of valuable information, we’ve seen that shorter videos are much more effective. Bite-sized video content is also easier to produce, with most influencers and brands recording their videos from home.
Short-form videos are excellent tools for repurposing content, from social media to paid ads. With the right narrative and platform, video can help you build an engaged online audience.
6. Audio Branding
Good branding engages with customers visually through colour, images and logos. But, great branding engages customers through multiple senses. As a result, we predict audio branding will become the newest tool to create a brand identity in 2022.
The opportunities with audio branding are endless for business owners. You can opt to share valuable insights with your audience through a branded podcast, participate in the social audio era or create a custom branded soundtrack. We predict audio branding will become necessary to create a memorable experience in the New Year.
LEVERAGE THESE MARKETING TRENDS IN 2022 WITH CANDYBOX
If you’re a business owner in the midst of planning your marketing strategy for 2022, you’ve come to the right place. Contact our team today to learn how we can help you take your marketing to the next level in the New Year!
If you’re not convinced these 2022 marketing trends are right for you, check out our services. Whether you want to enhance your content marketing through blogging or strengthen your push and pull marketing strategy, we’ve got you covered!
As this year draws to a close, we’d like to wish you a Happy New Year! The Candybox team is here to make digital marketing even sweeter in 2022.
For information or insights on digital marketing, reach out to us! We’d love to hear from you.
