Marketing in 2022

Marketing in 2022

December. Already. Time seems to be flying in as quickly as marketing trends are evolving.

2020 and 2021 saw brands re-evaluate their activity, ensuring online activity became a priority in order to reach their customers who were all at home.  From this rush, what we started to witness is rather than creating a brand and expecting it to sell, companies started creating a brand story. It’s not enough to just use hashtags and retargeting ads.

It’s time to talk less and listen more. That means further investment in a brand, using storytelling and measuring feedback to engage with an online audience.

So how can you do this?

We’ve said it several times over the last 12 months – video is key.

Video is the perfect way to create and develop a personality for your brand, which then enables you to connect with a potential customer and earn their trust. 90% of users say that product videos are helpful in their decision-making process. Facebook reports that on average video posts receive six times more engagement than photo or link posts while Twitter has seen an increase in video views by over 160%. 

By using video to communicate with and educate your audience, the more you will build trust, credibility and loyalty.

Content, content, content

Online marketplaces are only getting noisier. It’s a real challenge for marketers. Step forward quality content. Like video, it gives you the opportunity to build a solid relationship with your customers. Think quality over quantity.  It takes time but someone once said, ‘good things come to those who wait’. As you spend time ensuring that your content is helpful and accurate, you’ll be creating the building blocks for a rock-solid brand.

According to Marketing’s Rule of Seven, consumers need to hear your message seven times before they are convinced to buy. So, don’t just publish content then leave it. Repeat, repeat, repeat, so you’re consistently delivering your message to your audience. 

Content is an insatiable beast, but you don’t have to constantly create new content. You can breathe life into old content as the industry evolves.

If your content isn’t of a particularly high quality, how does that translate into a customers’ perception of your brand? Badly. It leaves them with a sense of being ‘duped’ into thinking your content and offering is something it’s not.

Content marketing is an important aspect of any digital strategy and can have a lasting impact on your business, for better or worse.

And talking of content, remember that content on social media channels is just as important. Social channels are all about the visual so great photos and surprise surprise, videos are key. As we said earlier, storytelling is the way forward so using this on social media is the perfect route to market.

It’s going to be a numbers game

As budgets tighten, proving ROI will become increasingly important. Measuring stats on social is one thing but taking the time to forensically examine data analytics of a campaign will give you a fuller understanding of your audience and their behaviour. This should help ensure your strategy is nailed accurately. As well as justifying marketing spend – never an easy one!

More customer focus, less product focus

Selling to your customers will almost be done by stealth. Taking the time to understand them rather than focussing on the strength of your product or service will build a better relationship and create brand loyalty. What is your customer looking for? What are their needs? How can you help them? Treating them as individuals rather than a whole audience will make for a far better customer experience and should then increase conversion rates. And with the ability to use personalisation within your marketing there’s no excuse. Again, talk less, listen more.

An evolution of marketers

Marketing is one of the most agile industries. Marketers constantly adapt to the changing needs of consumers, always aiming for a great customer experience. We learn new technologies to be able to share the latest information. Marketing isn’t just about selling or promoting products anymore. It’s about consumer education, giving consumers the information they want and sometimes information they didn’t know they needed. Detailed content can be enough to convince your audience to buy which is why it’s here to stay.

If you want to chat about how we can help you create an effective marketing strategy then please get in touch, we’d love to help pave the road to future success for you!