Top 10 Digital Marketing Trends To Make Your Business Successful In 2022

The digital marketing landscape changes every year, and some years are more notable trends than others. Whether you’re a marketer or small business trying to keep up with the latest trends in search engine optimization (SEO), social media campaigns, email marketing, paid advertising on Facebook and Google Adwords — there’s always something new happening that could affect your digital marketing strategy.

Before we head into 2022, I thought it would be helpful to look back at something major that happened in 2021.

Google’s latest algorithm change made SEO more challenging than ever. The company released its core web vitals ranking factors and has since been updating them every month.

This update is revolutionary because it puts the power of search engine optimization directly into the hands of marketers and business owners. With Google’s latest ranking factors, it is important to create content that aligns with what your customers are looking for on search engines and update your website to have the best possible user experience. As the world slowly regains its momentum, digital advertising and marketing professionals must start strategizing for the anticipated needs of an evolving consumer population.

Let’s take a look at some of the most important digital marketing trends in 2022 :

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is always a moving target because search algorithms are continually developing. Although optimization will not change significantly in 2022, certain trends can be noticed already.

Google Trends

An attempt to find the necessary data in the Google system permits viewers to see how key terms are being searched. Utilize this to your advantage in your SEO strategy taking into account the specificities of the search engine’s actions and ways of implementing keywords in business development.

User experience

A user always expects convenient and fast work of a product, so additional components, which slow down the load, simply discourage waiting for the outcome. The client needs to receive the feedback right now, the quicker the better, so every extra second makes him leave this site, stop using a certain mobile app, and start looking for alternative options. Also, user experience is currently considered by the pursuit framework, which implies that if a client didn’t sit tight for another site page to load and left — one client, second, and third — the site’s position will be brought down in search engine rankings. This obviously will negatively affect the traffic.

Audio-Visual Content Will Explode

When people were forced to stay home or shelter-in-place, audio-visual content like video advertisements and live streams increased. Digital marketers are trying to take advantage of this content boom in various ways:

Video marketing

Ninety-three percent of marketers say video is a significant part of their strategy. Of these, 84% say videos helped them generate leads.

Ephemeral content

This kind of visual content is accessible only for 24 hours, creating urgency to view it. Ephemeral content is popular on social networks such as Facebook (My Day), Instagram (Stories), and Snapchat (Snaps). Taking advantage of this marketing method enables immediate customer engagement, which will help your brand reach audiences faster and build consumer trust.

Live Streaming

It has become one of the most engaging forms of entertainment online. Live streaming platform Twitch saw 7 billion hours of content watched in November 2020 alone. This is why it has become a good way for marketers to showcase their brands through ads and influencer partnerships.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a type of word-of-mouth marketing that focuses on using key leaders to amplify your brand message to a larger market. Influencers can be well-known celebrities, but more often they are Instagram or YouTube personalities with a huge niche following who can help spread the word about your business or product through their social channels.

Because influencer marketing is generally more authentic than corporate advertising:

For this reason, Iceland, a popular British supermarket chain, switched from ads with celebrities to a campaign that features real-life moms. Teaming up with YouTube community Channel Mum, it now works with a number of vloggers to promote its products in a more “authentic” fashion.

Influencer marketing is also going to be affected by artificial intelligence. With each year, AI is making the process of finding the right influencers to partner with easier and faster. It’s helping identify those with better engagement, fewer fake followers, and a higher chance of generating a positive return on investment (ROI). 

In addition, artificial intelligence is transforming influencer marketing in the following ways:

• Image recognition with ANN (Artificial Neural Networks)
• Determining influencer performance with NLP (Natural Language Processing)
• Predicting incentives with ANN
• Determining an influencer’s influence
• Flagging posts that don’t follow disclosure guidelines
• Elimination of fake engagements and spambots

PPC advertising

First, the good news: PPC advertising will be just as popular in 2022. Digital marketing just can’t be without the high-quality and effective support of these advertising campaigns regardless of what new technologies are going to enter part of our daily lives in the near future.

As you build out your 2022 PPC strategy, remember that businesses still get a $2 return for every $1 they spend on Google Ads (according to Google Economic Impact). While the PPC advertising trends are many, some website owners disagree that this way of advertising can be very effective. Let’s consider the most winning contextual advertising trends for 2022.

Engaging Generation Z: 4 Key Steps

Gen Z was expected to account for 40% of global consumers in 2020. It has approximately $150 billion of spending power in the United States alone. Actively capturing the attention of Gen Zers could prove beneficial, but it has its challenges.

• Catering to this consumer category involves:
• Taking advantage of social media
• Creating video content
• Earning customer loyalty through transparency and authenticity
• Working with influencers

Live Chat Support

In the past, consumers would have to wait hours for an email response from a customer service representative. Or, they would be placed on long holds listening to mind-numbing elevator music. These days, consumers are more impatient than ever. They want their problems solved in minutes, not hours. That’s why live chat support is so helpful for companies that want to create convenient customer experiences. With live chat, customers can connect with a company representative in real-time (typically via their websites).

Live chat support allows companies to provide answers and solve problems faster than ever before. This helps to improve brand image and keep customers engaged. Many consumers prefer to use a live chatbox when they have questions or concerns, rather than calling to talk with a representative. In fact, roughly 73% of US shoppers find live chat support to be the most satisfactory form of communication with a company.

SEO A/B Testing

If you are struggling to get website traffic from Google search results, you are not alone. In fact, over 90% of marketing content receives zero organic traffic from Google. But you don’t need to change your entire SEO strategy to improve your search results. Instead, you can use A/B testing to garner insights into how you can optimize your content for Google’s algorithms.

SEO A/B testing compares two different versions of your content against each other to determine which will generate more organic traffic for your website. In addition, the results of A/B testing can be used to inform future content strategies.

For example, if you are publishing weekly blog posts, the results of an A/B test will tell you which post title, keywords, or word length generates the most traffic.

The easiest way to conduct an A/B test is through a third-party testing platform. This will allow you to receive quicker results while keeping detailed metrics of each of your previous tests.A/B Testing is an excellent solution for any business looking to improve its organic traffic or enhance conversions.

Visual Search

Visual search platforms such as Google Images and Pinterest Lens have transformed the way consumers search for products. Instead of typing out a search query, users can now aim their phone’s camera at an object or landscape and receive search relevant results.

For instance, visual search platforms will identify the model and guide you to local dealerships if you upload a car photo. While if you upload an image of a t-shirt, you will receive similar results of clothing options.

So, how can your business leverage the power of visual search?

Start by uploading high-quality photos of your products/services to your website and promote these images through social media. Be sure to use keyword-rich tags when uploading your photos to drive up search engine rankings.

It may also be beneficial to create an image sitemap to ensure your images can be indexed and recognized by search engines. This will help make your product images more discoverable on a visual search platform and improve the chances of conversion.

Considering that the image recognition market is expected to grow to over $50 billion by 2025 — this marketing method can provide a serious boost to your bottom line.

Rise of AI-Integrated Marketing

Artificial intelligence is probably the most surprising innovation to be integrated into digital marketing platforms. Its ability to collect and analyze data from a wide range of channels makes AI an invaluable tool for any digital marketer.

AI can use data to evaluate customer behavior and search patterns that help marketers understand their audience’s preferences. AI can be used for influencer identification (AI watches and assesses countless influencer videos) and performance-based marketing. Predictive AI enables you to pay for conversations and sales influencers produce. In this model, the return of investment is practically assured.

Users Expect Personalized Experiences

According to a study by consulting company Accenture, 91% of consumers say they are more likely to shop with brands that provide offers and recommendations relevant to them. To thrive in today’s hypercompetitive marketplace, brands need to stay focused on providing personalized content and experiences for their customers.

By doing this, brands have a better chance of making customers feel noticed, having authentic interactions, and convincing them to convert. Personalization can be done in the following ways:

• Giving first-time website visitors an exclusive offer
• Providing personalized purchase recommendations
• Providing ease of access on the website

Popular examples of personalized targeting come from Amazon and video streaming sites like Netflix. Their websites and apps provide tailored content and suggestions.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many new digital marketing trends that your business can implement in the coming year. By understanding what modern consumers want and the technology available to achieve the most success — you’ll be at the forefront of modern marketing.

However, you shouldn’t blindly adopt every new strategy that comes along. Instead, each trend needs to be examined within your current marketing plan to determine the best fit for your company’s goals.

Partnering with a digital marketing agency can be beneficial to determine which trends are best for your company. The experts at Naxtre are happy to provide your company with a digital marketing assessment and a strategy to help you reach your goals in the coming year.

To learn more about our services, contact us today!

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