Every year we see something new pop up in the digital marketing world. Any company that wants continued success needs to stay abreast of what’s happening.
Using some of the latest trending technology to market products and services is a great way to stay ahead of the game and know that you’re reaching a customer base using the latest technology. Some tried, and true methods still work, but you should consider adding some of these trends to your marketing plan if you want to stay up-to-date with what’s going on.
The Metaverse is Much More than Facebook
Maybe Facebook shouldn’t have been allowed to use Meta as its new name because it can be confused with the actual Metaverse. This new virtual world of augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D holographic avatars, and video is a fun place to put your products and services for people to see what you’ve got to offer them. This is a place where people work, play, and socialize, and it’s one of the best digital places for your advertising to show up and entice your audience.
Privacy is Making Marketing More Difficult
The among of privacy settings offered to online users is making it much harder for digital marketing teams to target audiences with specific ads and offers. Some advertisers are trying hard to get around the privacy settings, while others are working with what they have and creating more generic advertising campaigns aimed at a broader audience. These new privacy settings mean that most marketers only have the data provided by users to give them a segmented audience for targeted advertising.
Email is Still One of the Best Marketing Channels
Piggybacking on the privacy issues facing marketers, those lists, and users they do have emails and contact information for creating a veritable gold mine. Email marketing is still one of the most effective forms of marketing. This allows the user to control the settings and receive or open the emails they want to see and respond to. This control is one way that users are much happier with marketing efforts than widespread push ads, content that’s filled with more ads than actual content, and overt marketing efforts.
Data Collection Becomes More Independent
It sounds like the last three, including this one, are all the same digital marketing trend, but they are not. The privacy settings and controls block information from reaching marketers unless users desire them to have it. Email is a form of marketing that can use the data collected by the marketing team. Next year, Google will eliminate 3rd party cookies, which leave marketers out in the wind unless they collect data now to ensure they can continue to offer targeted ads.
Influencer Marketing is on the Rise
Using influencers helps many companies grab a larger audience and become more visible. This is a great way for a small company to benefit from a person talking about products in posts and blogs. This influencer has a large audience they can persuade because the audience trusts their opinion. Many companies have reported incredible immediate returns from influencer marketing. Typically, this type of marketing costs more than others, but the returns are often much greater than the expense, making it a worthwhile investment.
Non-Fungible Tokens are Unique and Becoming More Widely Used
Many people still don’t understand what NFTs are, but those that do are ahead of the curve in the digital marketing world. These digital creations exist on a blockchain and can only be purchased using digital forms of currency. As NFTs become more popular, we see some brands we know, such as Campbell’s, Charmin, and Coca-Cola, issuing NFT collectibles recently. This is another way to use digital space to increase income in a space that otherwise wasn’t adding to the bottom line of a company.
Why is Mobile Optimization Still a Trend?
We’ve talked about mobile optimization of websites for several years, and in 2022, it shouldn’t continue to be a trend, but it is. Not all websites have been optimized for mobile devices, which puts them behind. If your website is one of them, you’ve got to get your head out of the sand and get up to speed. In fact, future websites are almost entirely going to use a mobile-first process which means a priority for the mobile user, with desktop applications becoming secondary.
Loyalty Programs Will Mostly Go Away
Some companies still use loyalty programs, but many will disappear. These programs are typically free, and members build points that can lead to discounts after spending a specified amount. These programs will be replaced by membership and subscription services, which will cost money for membership. This will allow only those willing to commit to a program to benefit from it, instead of the casual shopper receiving the same benefits as the person who frequently visits a website or store for their purchases.
Shoppable Live Streams Are the Future
Companies will schedule live streams and be able to respond to customer comments and questions immediately during the live stream. This digital marketing tool is already used by Sephora and allows the company to place products in the video and talk about the features and benefits without the need to pitch the items much at all. These events create a sales platform in real-time that allows shoppers to get their questions answered and then make the purchase decisions with this information.
More Long-Form Content is Necessary
You might think that we’re moving away from a time when the written word is necessary, but that’s not the case. Google still needs content to crawl and rank, and an explanation of products or services to go along with the videos and images is extremely helpful to shoppers. In fact, the trend is toward longer content of more than 3000 words to promote products or services. Companies investing in this content enjoy increased visibility, expertise, and customer engagement. The rankings on search engines are much higher for long-form content than typical short-form versions.
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