What to Expect in Digital Marketing in 2022

What digital marketing trends in 2022 are changing the ways marketers approach their way?

Over the last couple of years, marketers have become accustomed to adaptation. 

Constant change amid unprecedented circumstances has forced organizations to adopt new ways of reaching out to customers and prospects—predominantly through the use of digital tools and technology. 

The new year looks to push the boundaries of innovative marketing trends that have persisted for the last few years. Read on to learn more. 

How Digital Marketing Has Evolved in Recent Years

Digital marketing is a game of adaptation, with businesses constantly assessing interests, platforms, trends, and demography to better understand and appeal to their target audiences. 

When you further consider the changes brought by the global pandemic that monumentally shifted the way people interact with businesses; it’s become clear just how central digitization is to modern marketing. 

Personalization, in addition to the need to use digital channels to appeal to new customers, has significantly driven the direction marketing is headed, is now a core aspect of how operations are conducted today. 

74% of marketers say targeted personalization increases customer engagement

Audiences are implicitly and explicitly increasingly asking if a business knows where to look, how to get their attention, and what to do with it once they have it—organizations that cannot effectively answer these questions need to understand the role of modern marketing tools in their strategies. 

Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in 2022

2021 was another year of adaptation to these changing norms, and 2022 looks to be building off those trends further. 

Here’s what you should know heading into 2022 about the direction of digital marketing and what to focus on going forward.

1. Marketing Automation

Marketing automation continued to find use in more ways in 2021. 

One of the biggest innovations of the last few years has been the popularization of chatbots and other customer-facing technology using automation to interact directly with customers to improve their experience. 

Related Post: 2 Customer Experience Pain Points and How to Solve Them 

67% of global consumers interacted with a chatbot last year with a 40% response rate

In 2022, marketers are looking to implement marketing automation services to incorporate artificial intelligence into processes that concern customer journeys, such as: 

• Sending personalized emails and content based on past browsing history 
• Analyzing more data to identify audience segments to appeal to customers more effectively 

90% of CMOs implemented marketing automation tools by the end of 2021

These are only a couple of ways in which marketers are using automation to improve processes and improve the efficiency of their marketing campaigns in generating leads and keeping the existing customer base satisfied.

2. Customer Retention 

Marketing isn’t just about finding new customers; it’s also about retaining the ones you have and achieving repeat customers by continuing to engage with them post-purchase (aka the “Delight” section of the HubSpot flywheel and the reason it was created in the first place!) 

“Delighting” customers comes in many forms, but it means considering ways to re-engage through content, giveaways, discounts, and other incentives to come back. 

79% of marketing professionals say the priority of their CX strategy is to improve customer retention

Focusing on customer retention will not only help to keep customers and encourage them to do repeat business, but it also improves their overall experience and increases the chances of them creating referral business by telling their friends, colleagues, or partners. 

Businesses will continue to invest in technologies like customer relationship management (CRM) platforms that can allow them to better assess and understand their customers, providing an opportunity to shape a strategy around appealing to them more effectively. 

Customers tell an average of nine people about a positive experience with a brand, but they will tell nearly double that number (16) about a negative experience.

3. Content Marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

82% of marketers are investing in some form of content marketing solution, more than ever before. 

Businesses are leveraging every form of digital content to pursue their audiences—from blogs to video series—to raise awareness of their business online and attract new customers. 

46% of all searches on Google are for local businesses and services.

Content is a surefire way to engage with online audiences—something which considerably increases the opportunities and chances for them to convert—and helps boost the profile and visibility of a company’s brand. 

In 2022, businesses will continue investing in content and pushing the boundaries of the types they can create, focusing more on videos, podcasting, and other multi-sensory content. 

66% of marketers in a survey expect their 2022 content marketing budget to increase over the 2021 budget.

4. Social Media Strategy

Social media is the most dominant channel used in marketing in 2021 and social media use is at an all-time high. 

Social media is quickly becoming one of the primary means through which customers interact with businesses, and that’s why 8 of 10 companies are currently investing in their social media presence.

28% of Americans with a social media account would rather engage with a brand on social media than go to a physical location.

In 2022, this is a trend that will continue in new and interesting ways. 

One of these ways is through social listening. Social listening is just as it sounds; the act of tuning into your audience via their preferred platform and looking for trends in the form of comments, likes, retweets, shares, and polls. 

People will tell you what they’re thinking, if they had a bad experience, if they had a great experience, what they wish they had, where they are, and what they’re doing. 

All you need to do is listen, adapt, and use this information to drive your campaigns, improve the customer experience by understanding their concerns, allowing organizations to improve the overall digital marketing strategy as a consequence.

5. Reporting and Attribution

Reporting is the first step of the two and involves using the data collected from your website to identify trends in your audience. 

For example, demographic reporting can tell you who your target audience should be with data like location, age, gender identity, etc. 

You can also learn about the types of content your audience engages with (social posts, blogs, webinars, videos, etc.). 

Together, all this information will give businesses a better understanding of who they’re marketing to and what their audiences want from them, allowing them to guide their brand identity, voice, tone, and content with more specificity.

87% of organizations agree traditional experiences no longer satisfy the needs and expectations of customers today.

Attribution is the process of following a user along their path to becoming a customer. 

Where did they first land on your website? Where did they come from? What content or web pages did they engage with while on your site? What page converted them into a lead? What email caused them to call a salesperson? 

All of these aspects of the customer journey, once understood through data, can be modified and improved in order to provide the most effective marketing funnel that converts prospects to customers. 

Together, these two aspects of digital marketing give businesses a fuller understanding of what’s working within their digital marketing strategy and what they can do to improve it. 

Having the attribution reporting steps in place allows businesses to track this data and build a stronger journey that is more successful and a better overall experience for the customer. 

Bottom Line

Staying on the cutting edge of digital marketing trends can seem next to impossible, especially if you or your team is already overburdened with content creation, social media management, data analysis, and all of the other responsibilities of a modern digital marketing team. 

To stay on top of it all and ensure you don’t fall behind, consider partnering with a partner like Impact. 

We have a dedicated team of experts in every field of digital marketing ready to help build and grow your brand with a tailored, data-driven strategy. 

Want to learn more? Explore Impact’s managed marketing services today and speak with an expert on how your business can get started.