Top Digital Marketing Trends For 2022

Innovative digital marketing strategies are a pivotal part of any organization’s business strategy. In today’s competitive world it’s necessary for companies to be on top of their game and adapt to the changing landscape, and evolving trends of the business ecosphere.

If the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that going digital is the only way for businesses to survive and thrive under harsh economic uncertainty. Digitization and automation of manual processes have been a priority for all businesses, and rightly so. Digital marketing affords organizations greater flexibility and visibility in terms of customer reach. Hence more businesses are shifting away from traditional marketing, to digital marketing.

Here are the digital marketing trends that business owners need, in order to thrive in this ever-evolving digital world

1. Artificial Intelligence
Augmenting artificial intelligence has been at the forefront in the last couple of years. Automation can help with customer service activities, easing the pressure of sales and marketing teams. AI, with its self-learning capabilities, can resolve customer issues, gather customer behavior insights, and enhance cognitive engagement. AI has increasingly been used to write formulaic articles and reports. The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press use AI to write thousands of articles and reports each year. AI uses Natural Learning Generation (NGL) software, to create a short conceptualization of longer text, with the help of algorithms. AI enables faster data analysis and highly personalized narrative. This trend is likely to be used by more organizations to churn out more content, to gain a competitive advantage.

2. Smart Ad Bidding
With the widespread reach of the internet and the use of social media, paid ads on online marketing platforms are set to overtake traditional advertising as the more viable option. Google and Facebook ads topped digital advertising spending in 2019. Google and Facebook ad bidding is aimed at providing the best ROI. The smart automated bidding system introduced by Google uses AI to maximize conversions and lower customer acquisition costs. Google and Facebook are offering their services to small businesses to create more localized experiences that connect local businesses and consumers. Smart bidding can save businesses time, and allow them to develop ‘set and forget’ campaigns.

3. Chatbots
We are seeing more organizations using chatbot technology to communicate with their customers. The integration of chatbots into the company’s technical environment allows them to provide excellent customer service 24/7. By the end of 2020, 85% of all customer service interactions will be through chatbot technology. In fact, 63% of users prefer to communicate with a company through chatbots than a representative. Consumers prefer chatbots because of their around-the-clock availability, accurate responses to questions, and knowledge of users’ history, which enables faster resolution of issues. Businesses like Uber, Amazon, Whole Foods, etc, use this technology to create a seamless positive customer experience. 

4. Video Marketing
Video is the king of content. It’s one of the fastest-growing trends today. Approximately 54% of consumers would much prefer to see video content from the brands they follow or like than any other form of content. Video marketing has revolutionized how businesses connect with their audience. Videos on landing pages can increase conversion rates by 80%. Video content is better equipped to drive organic traffic compared to text, because it is visually more appealing, and visitors are able to absorb more information through a video format than from text. Read our blog Why Video Content Is King, to get a greater understanding of why you should incorporate video marketing as part of your overall marketing.

5. Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing has been on the rise for the past couple of years. Influencer marketing is using internet personalities such as Instagram & Youtube stars with immense online clout to promote your products and services across multiple social media channels. Since 63% of consumers trust the recommendations of social media influencers over a brand’s ad, it’s a great marketing tool to build brand awareness and acquire new customers. A study conducted by Mediakix predicts that influencer marketing ad spending could reach 10 billion dollars in 2020. According to 89% of marketing professionals, the ROI on influencer marketing is comparable to, or better than, other marketing channels. Read our blog Should You Be Hiring An Influencer to know more about influencer marketing.

6. Shoppable Posts And Stories
Shoppable posts and stories on social media platforms are seeing an incredible explosion in 2020. Most businesses, especially e-commerces, are waking up to the realization of the massive impact that social media posts can have on their traffic and conversions. According to Instagram, out of its billion-plus active users, 90% of them follow are a company/brand on the platform. This trend provides businesses with the opportunity to convert their online followers into customers while providing seamless user experience without ever leaving the platform. It is a cost-effective, and time-saving marketing strategy, that amplifies your brand awareness and loyalty.

7. SEO Structured Data
Google and other search engines are continually emphasizing visually rich search snippets to improve their user experience. Search engines use structured data to understand the content on a website and serve it for relevant queries. The importance of structured data is that it helps to boost rankings, increases click-through rates, decreases bounce rates and drives higher conversion. The implementation of Schema markup and open graphs for rich snippets is a big part of structured data.

8. Push Notifications
Push notifications are being increasingly used by more businesses, with 85% of online stores using them in 2019. It’s a better marketing strategy compared to the newsletter because twice as many users are more likely to subscribe to push notifications. Almost 54% of users are converted from personalized push notifications. More brands are adopting personalization in their strategies to achieve higher conversions.

9. Interactive Content
Content marketing is crucial for businesses because it helps to build credibility and trust among their customers. Content marketing has lower upfront costs, but greater long-term benefits. Content marketing is 6 times more effective in increasing conversion rates, compared to other marketing channels. Interactive and dynamic content is on the rise. These are being used by organizations to enhance their customer engagement and overall brand experience. We are seeing more quizzes, polls, embedded calculators, and 360-degree videos, being incorporated into the website and social media content. Interactive content is compelling and engaging for the users, and it’s likely to generate better results than just text-based content.

Final Thoughts

While digital marketing trends continue to evolve with time, agile organizations need to incorporate new technologies into their strategies to remain competitive and relevant. These strategies are more likely to give better business results, compared to older models. The primary goal of any business is to always stay ahead of the curve. Our services at Alkye are designed to create personalized digital solutions that help drive growth for your business.