Happy New Year! Who can believe it’s 2022 when it feels like 2019 was only yesterday? But as time passes, trends do too, so we’re having a look ahead at 2022 for the key marketing trends to keep an eye out for.
Marketing moves at the speed of light – 2021 showed us how quickly we all had to (and can!) adapt and make changes due to the evolving digital landscape around us. Keeping up with these changes isn’t always easy, but to succeed in the fast-paced marketing world – and maintain a sense of relevance with your own audience – it’s vital to stay ahead of the game.
Whether you are ready to implement these recommendations into your own marketing plan or just inquisitive about what the future of marketing might look like, we are going to give you the lowdown on five of our favourites…
Ignoring online marketing is like opening a business but not telling anyone.
1. AR/VR AUGMENTED REALITY & VIRTUAL REALITY
AR/VR – Not to be mistaken for Antelopes Run Very Rapidly…
Let’s face it, this will be spoken about in nearly all 2022 Marketing Trend blogs but that’s because it is worth talking about right now! With Facebook changing to Meta and creating the Metaverse, a lot of businesses are starting to turn their heads towards the world of Augmented Reality,Virtual Reality and how it can benefit them.
Now, it’s no surprise that this has been an ongoing conversation for years with only a slight uplift in marketing strategies. It can be expensive and is anyone really sure if it will take off? The retail seem to be dipping their toe in the water more frequently, for example a different type of ‘try before you buy’ strategy with things like Harrod Beauty’s Magic Mirrors. But whilst there is still a way to go before it’s embedded in everybody’s marketing strategy, marketers across all sectors are certainly starting to think more about how to apply these types of technologies to their wider plans.
Are you ready to embed this in your current strategy? We would love to hear if you have, and with what success.
2. IT’S ALL ABOUT PURL-SONALISATION
PURLs have been around for a while but the reality is that they just aren’t being used to their full potential. What could be better than a completely personalised landing page for your key prospects? Think welcome video, tailored imagery and case studies, personalised packages and proposals, all tailored by name and company with one easy link.
Sounds complicated and expensive? It’s really not.
They’re a simple and cost effective tool for making something stand out above the noise and designed to make a real impact to a customer, or prospect. Who wouldn’t want to be pitched in a simpler, more impressive way? The fact that it also allows them to gain all of the information that is advertised on your website but in one tailored page under a URL that is customised for them is a mega bonus. Personalisation is a term we’re often bored of hearing, but it’s still very relevant and individual, personal connections are big goals in marketing right now. PURLs are such a great way to achieve this.
3. AN OLDIE, BUT DEFINITELY STILL A GOLDIE
SEO is the grandparent of digital marketing, invited to all the digital marketing dinner parties and if left alone, will most likely fall asleep and will forget to wake up for the meal. But, what businesses need to remember is to occasionally give the good old SEO grandparent a nudge to make sure they are still awake and involved in the party. After all, they are the head of the family!
With Google constantly changing its algorithm we know that SEO can be a hard one for many to get their head around, let alone keep on top of, but it’s key to website and search engine success. Whilst this isn’t an exciting new insight into the future of digital marketing, and unfortunately we don’t have all the answers on to how to be the SEO king, going back to the basics here is one that just can’t be missed on your marketing strategy.
Give SEO a line item on the plan, the budget and the time allocation and it will be more than worth it in the long run. But always remember to play the long game on this one, it’s absolutely a marathon and not a sprint. Tortoise and the hare and all that…
4. IT’S COOL TO BE GREEN
We all want to do our bit to help the planet that we call home and now could be a great time for businesses to also start looking inward at their own economical practices and what they can do better to help the environment moving forward. Digital Marketing isn’t a saint for sustainability, despite helping combat deforestation and waste, it requires more power consumption than ever before so it might be time to start reflecting on how we can all improve.
Green marketing is going to be a key trend for 2022 and beyond and is simply the strategy of promoting your products and services using more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. Whether it’s switching to a more energy efficient hosting provider or choosing to support a charity that aligns with your own company’s efforts to be greener, it needs to be considered in your wider marketing plan.
It’s important to do your internal marketing here too, the green message that might start at the top has also got to filter down to the wider team in order to truly become a brand message throughout the company. Get everybody on board and you’ll be halfway there!
5. SOCIAL MEDIA 2.0
With just under 80% of the UK population actively using social media, it’s safe to say it needs to be quite an important part of your marketing strategy. And we know that it can be quite daunting if you have never used social media for marketing purposes before, but think of it as social media 2.0, where it’s simply a slightly different version of what you do normally online.
People still buy from people – that’s not changing as much as we think, so a human element in your social media is still very important. You don’t have to sell, sell, sell, especially if you are a small business, but it’s worth having a strategy and plan for what you want your social media efforts to look like. But don’t be afraid to ask for help too, there are updates and changes all the time across multiple platforms and we know it can be quite tricky to keep on top of, so use 2022 to understand the key platforms for your business and how you can effectively utilise them to engage with your audience.
And whilst you might be wondering why we’ve even included social media as a trend, because it’s a given right? The types of content used for social media are trend-based and for now it’s all about video. So get those TikToks made, focus on your reel content, keep posting to the grid and prioritise your content pillars in order to ride the social media wave. It’s not going anywhere, so let’s all work together to enjoy the ride.
There you have it, you’re up to speed…for now. And of course, whilst this isn’t a complete guide to marketing in 2022, these are definitely something that all of us as Spinks Creative will be looking at with a beady eye.
But, if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the idea of keeping up with all these insights, don’t worry. We will be publishing regular tips and updates on our blog and we invite you to take a read! Who’s ready to get going? Get in touch.
