Eight marketing trends to watch in 2022

1. Blogs are here to stay

There’s a lot to be said for offering your loyal and potential customers answers to their queries, suggestions on how to use your products, and allowing them to get to know your business and its values. Of course, without SEO, your blogs might struggle to reach the right audience – but we’ve got you covered there!

Far from being a new method of content marketing, blogs have been around for so long because, when done right, they provide a great ROI. Generating free, organic traffic to your website through optimised blog content can take a long time, but it can be the difference between a potential customer choosing you or a competitor.

2. Voice is the new search

Just because blogs have been around for a while, it doesn’t mean they aren’t changing with the times! We need to talk about Alexa…

You might not have heard the term ‘voice search’, but the emergence of smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home has changed the way we search for information, and they’re not likely to go anywhere in 2022. With more people looking for answers to their queries without reading a blog entry or even looking at a screen at all, it’s important to bear this in mind when writing content.

One way to do this is to optimise your written content for search engine featured snippets – from which voice assistants typically take their responses – and incorporate the use of questions into your SEO strategy, so you have ready answers to your customers’ spoken questions.

3. Video and audio are on the rise…

Combine your traditional blog content with video and audio, and you’re onto a winner! While video of all shapes and sizes has been around for a while, audio platforms for podcasts and audio chatrooms are on the rise.

In the UK alone, there were over 19.1 million podcast listeners in 2021, and those numbers are expected to keep on rising. Engaging with such a large audience has the potential to expose your business to a huge number of potential customers.

4. But keep it short and sweet

With platforms like TikTok and mediums like stories and reels exploding into popularity over the last few years, users are more and more likely to swipe or scroll away from content that doesn’t catch their attention immediately.

While there’s no right answer to how long content should be, you can get to know your audience by analysing how they respond to different types and lengths of content.

Social media is a great tool for this – over time you may see a pattern forming in the average number of seconds (yes, seconds!) they watch. Then, you should aim to get the most important information in front of your audience before they switch off.

5. The Metaverse is expanding

A chat about marketing trends wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the Metaverse – specifically augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) which are set to keep on wowing audiences across various platforms.

These techniques can be used at home to allow customers to get up close and personal with products, or at events to offer engaging and memorable experiences that can be shared with friends and family to increase brand awareness.

Take IKEA’s PLACE app as an example of how AR can be used to view and arrange furniture in your living room, or 360-degree (VR) images that you can share with friends on Facebook.

6. Stay true to your values

But it’s not all about tech and the latest gadgets. Many customers are looking to invest in companies who stick to their values and take social responsibility seriously in 2022.

Whether it’s inclusive advertising that represents customers from all walks of life, or the use of ethical materials and practices in your business – your customers want to hear about it!

Include references to your charitable work or sustainable practices in your content, or show real examples of how you’re working hard to make the world a better place in your social media bios. It might just be what brings a customer to you, and keeps them there.

7. Try native advertising

If you’re looking to implement paid advertising as part of your marketing strategy, native advertising is a great place to start. Instead of standing out and taking users’ attention away from what they’re doing – like scrolling on TikTok – these ads are designed to blend in and take a more subtle approach to advertising.

Users are more likely to interact with posts that look like they belong on these platforms and could have been posted by someone they follow. It’s a good way to engage new audiences who might not otherwise come across your content, and allow them to interact with your brand seamlessly, without interrupting their experience.

8. Build relationships with influencers

Another way to do this is to appoint brand ambassadors and work with influencers who have already built a relationship with users in your target market. The nature of their work means they are pros when it comes to their platforms and are already a dab hand at knowing what content will appeal to potential customers.

And they’re not just for companies who can afford to pay the big bucks. More businesses are working with micro-influencers, who have a smaller following (in the thousands, rather than millions) and tend to have higher levels of engagement on their posts.

What’s more, because consumers tend to identify with micro-influencers more so than out-of-reach celebrities, they may be more likely to trust their recommendations and agree with their opinions.

That’s all for now…

So, these are the top marketing trends we expect to see continuing in 2022. Did you see any that surprised you? Visit our blog to hear more thoughts and musings from this bunch of industry geeks!

Or, if you’re not sure where to start with your marketing strategy in 2022 and need a helping hand, just drop us a message.