The Four Most Effective Trends For Marketing In 2022
Mohammad Firikh - Strategy Consultant and Founder of Ceres Consulting
1. Personalization, a way to grab the split second decisions
Building relationships is key in making your brand or organization an irreplaceable choice for clients in the digital age where brand and product choices are made in seconds, and competition for market placement and customer preference is at an all time high. Making your brand personalized and relatable to your clients will go the long way for your organization as customers will feel compelled to explore your brand more as they feel like they know it, or rather "it knows them".
New studies show a rise in customer demand for brands that understand their needs and tailor their products and services to address them. Likewise, a brand's marketing should form a bond of likeness and understanding that gives the feeling of "We walk in your shoes". Ultimately, clients will relate more to this personalized style of content marketing for brands and will place them in subconscious shortcut when making final decisions about products and services they wish to buy.
Personalization can be applied in brand communication and messages such as emails, social media content, targeted SMS campaigns and others. Furthermore, you can personalize your brand's style by creating ad campaigns that reference or directly incorporate the lifestyle of potential clients to highlight how the brand represents them and the lifestyle they wish to pursue.
In short the year 2022 will see a continuing surge in personalized marketing that will make "robotic" marketing methods obsolete.
2. Video Based Content
Statistics show that unlike the three previous decades, people are now more likely to make purchase decisions online rather than in face to face events such as launches or unveiling ceremonies.
When surveyed, 80% if the population preferred to engage and make decisions with video content instead of image/reading content provided on social media. TikTok and YouTube, and Instagram will continue to play the biggest role in social media marketing in 2022. Make sure you utilize the power of their LIVE features as they are the most effective way to tap into your audience's "engagement zone" and push your potential clients to interact with your products and make decisions based on real questions they can ask.
The good old cheese stand at the supermarket will always help, but it will never outvalue the power and reach that video content will give you in the next 5 years.
3. Effortless Content
As a rule of thumb it is well known that good marketing doesn't sound like marketing! What that means is that your brand, despite putting its best efforts to strategize marketing correctly, should produce content that is easy for clients to consume without effort. Even though Gen-Z has not completely overtaken the work environment yet, it has in fact dominated social media engagement. That being said it is important for brands to ensure their content follows formats that are easy for the audience to understand in a short period of time. An example of that would be focusing on simple, straightforward language, avoiding long paragraphs, and sticking to topics that are relatable.
4. User Generated Content
Building social credibility is key for a brand to succeed in 2022, and their is no better way to do so than user generated content or "UGC"!
In simple terms UGC is the use of your users' input and feedback to market your own products and services. A great example on how effective this method is would be Amazon's feedback and reviews section. By highlighting client reviews as a key performance indicator for product success, Amazon created trust in the platform, sellers, and products they offer to clients. This also allowed clients to feel compelled to buy products more often as they could see their usefulness in their lives. Benefits of UGC include:
- Boosting brand reputation and loyalty
- Increasing sales revenue
- Adding trust to social media content
- Creates ample opportunities for influencer collaboration
Many more trends have become noticeable throughout the past year, such as inclusiveness, sustainability, goodwill shopping, VR, and many others. The key to creating a great marketing strategy is to focus on what your audience aligns with and create a good mix of the trends they follow and are influenced by. The more aligned with your clients' behaviors your marketing is, the more touchpoints you will create, and the more results your marketing will achieve.
