To make a solid plan for the short term, it’s important to keep an eye on where you’re heading in the long term. Nobody can say with 100% certainty what the future of marketing will look like, but industry professionals can offer useful insights and predictions into some of the possibilities.Nobody could have predicted how 2020 would change the face of marketing. Those who meticulously planned out their marketing activities based on what they knew at the start of that year found themselves needing to scrap their plan and start from scratch.
Technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, so of course, some of these trends are focused around technology. However, there’s also a pushback against the increased digitization and automation of interactions between brands and consumers. Today, there’s a desire to make marketing more human again. While technologies such as AI and data-driven marketing continue to grow, the overarching focus will be on people, not technology.

Here are 10 trends we believe small businesses should take advantage of in 2022:

Video Marketing is must:
As a digital marketer you must focus more on video marketing, as power of video cannot be challenged by simple text based content. Everyone has smart phones and they are continuously bombarded with lot of videos from various brands. Video marketing is highly engaging because it is not only entertaining but the impact it creates on audience remains intact for a longer time. The current trend is live video interaction where we can see lot of celebrities, athletes & musicians interacting with their fan club and trust me this is like a big attraction & very much in trend. Hence, digital marketer can also think about going live about their products by hiring some influential personality.

Content Marketing is still in demand:

Content Marketing still remains the essential part of digital marketing. Even though there is lot of content available but what matters is the quality. And because of this neck to neck competition, preference is given to those content which are qualitative, detailed , precise, accurate and of course relevant. Therefore, while creating the content all the above mentioned points must be considered by digital marketers.

With mobile devices and voice services like Microsoft Cortana and Google Assistant increasing in popularity, voice search is one area where your small business can stand out among your competitors. If your business is online, there’s an increasing chance people will find your website or content marketing materials via voice search in 2022 and beyond.

“A few years ago, we had to adapt to the growing use of mobile,” said Chris Hornak, owner of Blog Hands. “And now, according to Google, mobile searches are over 50% [of searches]. Marketers will need to begin adapting to voice searches, which currently make up 20% of mobile searches, and that’s expected to continue its growth similarly to how mobile has.”

A simple technique you can apply in 2022 is to provide answers to questions that customers frequently have about your product on your website, according to Hornak. “Remember to be detailed and conversational with your answers.

New areas in e-commerce

Trends in e-commerce pivot around Web3 where businesses use DeFi trends to boost their profiles to new heights. “DeFi” means decentralized finance and refers to blockchain, cryptocurrency, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – the whole new world of business conducted over the blockchain with novel opportunities for marketing.

There are technologies like the shared P2P ledger, which makes for faster, cheaper, more secure and transparent business. Blockchain offers smart contracts that verify, guarantee and enforce transactions. Of course, there is also cryptocurrency, or digital coins, that replaces physical money to attract a different type of consumer. 

New York-based Magnum Real Estate Group, for example, recently listed its three retail condos in Manhattan’s Upper East Side for Bitcoin. At the same time, blockchain technology gives agents real opportunities to network and share their expertise, gaining financial reward in the process.

Brands are also using NFTs, uniquely created digital assets, as a next-generation trending way to market their products.

The metaverse

The metaverse is today’s futuristic blend of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI), culminating in a new 3D immersive experience where users blur the physical with the digital.

Examples include interactive ads like NASCAR’s on interactive gaming platform Roblox. Users can create their own avatars that allow them to “feel” experiences without actually buying them. This has led to the marketing industry’s newest term, “gamevertising,” where marketers and brands use gaming to advertise their products. According to technology agency Wunderman Thompson, this trend of gamevertising dominates the movie and music industries.

On the retail frontier, brands also use technologies like augmented reality to create blended shopping experiences where buyers, through their avatars, can “try” on clothes, “sit” on chairs, “live” in certain geographical areas, and so forth.

Marketing by using multiple platforms:
It is very important to engage in Omni Channel Marketing wherein we are marketing our brand on diverse platforms. For instance, we are engaging our customers through email marketing, message marketing, connecting with them on various social media platforms, publishing blogs on websites etc. By adopting this approach better connection can be established with customers on more digital touch points which will definitely lead to better user experience.

Marketing through Messages:
Social messaging applications are not just limited to personal use but now a days business are using them as a platform to build their connection with the target audience. Brands should make maximum utilization of the message marketing because people are actively using these applications. Hence, it will help brands to get more visibility and expand its reach. Therefore, in 2020 you can expect to see more marketing taking place through messages.

Email will always remain in trend:
What makes me say that email will always remain in trend? Because it is a channel of communication that is being used at all levels whether it is for personal, commercial, industrial, legal, scientific or academic. Hence, email marketing continues to be a vital one. Now generic email marketing doesn’t prove to be that effective. Email Marketing would be able to create an impact only when a personalized touch has been given to it.

Visual Searchisual Search

Instead of typing a description into Google, users can now upload an image and get information about an item just from a picture. If they’re uploading a plant photo, the search returns species information, while a landmark image will return historical data. When a user searches a product, it returns similar products and where to buy them. Google Lens, Pinterest Lens, and related search tools turn a user’s camera into a search bar.

How can your business leverage visual search? You can Add high-quality images tagged with descriptive keywords, introduce an image search into your online inventory, and (if your target market uses Pinterest), consider advertising on this platform. Brands that advertise with them get the benefit of boosted search results.

Additionally consider the following:

• having an image sitemap will increase the likelihood of your images being discovered by search engines
• use descriptive filenames for images before uploading them to your website
• add alternative text to all image aka “Alt tags”.

Personalisation at scale

We’re approaching a new era where traditional marketing is reshaped by machine learning. Marketers are getting smarter about customer experience and personalisation at scale as machine learning can help understand customer journeys to increase engagement and add value at key moments.

By responsibly using this information, it can make marketing more personal, human, and omnichannel. The ability for machine learning to understand and adapt allows for extremely individual and relevant consumer engagement. Car manufacturer Škoda15, for example, has successfully used this technology to personalise their video ads at scale.

Creative-led campaigns

Have you seen one of the world’s first ads developed for TV? It was a repurposed radio ad. History repeats itself when we see long TV ads edited down for online video. In reality, campaigns that are creative-led have a bigger chance to make an impact.

In 2020 there will be a stronger focus on creative-first strategies based on consumer insights. This approach allows for more flexibility and better measurement — and room for creativity. It can also be adapted to show relevant ads to the right people at the right time, with opportunities for beta testing and on-the-spot measurement. For creative inspiration, have a look at Nescafé Dolce Gusto’s video campaign.

So as we can see that the trends and methods keep changing in the field of digital marketing. So when I talk about digital marketing Artificial Intelligence, Video Marketing, Interactive Content will be trending more in 2020. If a brand wants to survive in this competitive world then they will have to cope up with the new trends. Well I could remember a famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi, “Do or Die”.