The predictions are hitting the internet like wild fire this time of year; what can we expect from marketers and marketing trends in 2022? From niche messaging on social media to new platform feature roll-outs and AI, there’s always a lot to consider.
This year, the Allee Creative internal marketing team weighs in on marketing trends and what we’re telling our clients to expect in 2022. Our list is short and sweet with a few bonus trends to consider; happy marketing!
Owned media gets top priority
Melissa Harrison, CEO
A recurring, hypothetical question I pose each time I speak during workshops and events goes something like this, “If Facebook closed down tomorrow, would you still have a way to engage with your customers online?”
Case-in-point: Facebook outage October 4, 2021.
It was bound to happen and as we move into the new year I will continue to stress the importance of focused strategies on owned channels first, third-party channels second. Websites, blogs and emails should take center stage for customer engagement and outreach. Social media and earned media comes second.
Before you kick off that amazing social media plan you’ve been working on for next year, understand the value and importance of your owned channels. Because if all else fails, you want control over your messaging and customer touchpoints. Establish solid strategies around:
- Email marketing
- Website content
- Blog posts and articles
- Webinars and in-person events
Some may disagree with me on social media not being an owned channel. Here’s my take: when you don’t have control over who sees your message and where it appears in the newsfeed (or if the message is even received at all due to outages, shut-downs and other uncontrollable algorithms) that is no longer an owned channel. Brush up on owned content before strategizing elsewhere. Take back control of your messaging.
LinkedIn sees stronger focus
Andrea Vuleta-Jensen, content manager
We’re nearing the end of another COVID-19 disrupted year and while companies can start seeing the normalcy on the horizon, we will continue to have economic impacts of the pandemic to recover from. I predict that LinkedIn will be strongly utilized in the upcoming year. As the most trusted social network in the U.S., LinkedIn has already seen an increase in user engagement and company promotions. Though in-person events are coming back, LinkedIn is working on providing brands the capability to do hybrid events. This will help gain more visibility and traction. LinkedIn also recently released a video tool for live meet-ups and is working on creating more functionality for virtual recruitment and training. This will help in labor shortage because employers will be able to easily interview and train remote employees.
In this time of significant change and recovery, new opportunities are being created to help rebuild the market. Utilizing LinkedIn can open up major potential for employers and can help facilitate growth.
Video leads in digital content engagement
Harley Leavens, marketing specialist
A picture is worth a thousand words, but a video is worth a million. Every day people across the globe watch countless amounts of videos online. YouTube has been the streaming leader with over 2 billion users worldwide and in 2020 more than 500 hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute! This demonstrates the increased appetite for video digital content among internet users and that number is only growing with more video platforms like TikTok grabbing the attention of millions.
Video content is visually appealing, extremely engaging and offers an easy way for consumers to learn more about a product, service or activity. Leveraging video marketing for your business can be an effective way to increase engagement. You can create behind the scenes of your brand to help consumers get to know you, inform with educational product videos and tips, or build trust by highlighting testimonials and reviews of your past successful projects. Any path you choose to take, ensure video content makes its way into your digital marketing strategy in 2022.
5 additional marketing trends to watch
Subtle changes in platform updates and tools lead us to believe that there is a good chance we’ll see changes continue well into the new year; while bright-and-shiny is always intriguing, understand the needs of your audience first because jumping on the bandwagon when such changes arise. That said, it’s always important to keep an eye on the trends and tap into what will work best for your brand and resources. In particular:
- Long-form content has its place in your digital content mix with Clubhouse, Instagram Reels and TikTok all adopting longer time allotments for content on the platforms.
- Live commerce continues to make waves in the U.S. with nearly 60% of web purchases categorized as impulse buys.
- Embracing all the features on social media channels provides more bang for your buck. A simple post doesn’t go as far as going live, participating in audio features, video, etc. Understand all the nuances of the social media channels your brand is active on in order to portray a holistic digital footprint.
- Digital budgets matter and you need to have one to amplify your messages in 2022; organic content alone will not cut the mustard.
- Customized content and persona identification will drive successful marketing. Cookie-less tracking, Google’s updated policies, iOS tracking options–consumers have the ability to turn a lot of what we used to know about them “off”; your CRM, customer surveys and in-depth persona development should be a priority in developing content that works.
Need a review of your marketing strategy and recommendations specific to your brand in the new year? We’re here to help. From digital audits to message reviews and digital content strategies, book time with our team to develop customized marketing solutions for your business.
