Today's average internet user is bombarded with messages and ads from all sides — emails, Google ads, Facebook ads, social media posts, YouTube ads, and so on. These are clear signs that marketers are most likely hitting their targets with all these strategies. One thing is clear: digital marketing is here to stay.
But as consistent as digital marketing is in generating leads and converting visitors, it is equally dynamic, evolving from time to time. For instance, one of the lasting impacts of last year's events on digital marketing is that more companies switched to virtual methods of engaging and interacting with clients. This brought about a gradual, but consistent shift from traditional outdoor advertising methods.
As 2022 progresses, we can equally expect to see more changes in digital marketing trends and practices even as users continue to adapt to new trends while looking for solutions to their needs and answers to their questions. The point here is this: staying abreast of current happenings and developments in the ever-evolving world of digital marketing is not only a thing now; it's a necessity. Any digital marketer looking to stay on top of their game can only agree with this.
That said, below, we highlight and discuss 10 digital marketing trends and best practices in 2022 that every digital marketer and business owner should acquaint themselves with.
Digital Marketing Trends
1. Featured snippets are becoming popular by the day
You must have noticed short answers, lists, and definitions that appear in a box, usually on top of search results. These snippets seem like they've really come to stay because they fulfill users’ intents with concise answers. Featured snippets are brief excerpts pulled from webpages and displayed in Google’s search results to provide direct answers to search queries.
The interesting thing about featured snippets is that they help you achieve the same goal as SEO. Note that users do not even have to click on these snippets to get answers to questions, but even so, appearing on the top of result pages establishes you in the eyes and minds of people as a leader in your niche. This is far more rewarding than clicks. To use featured snippets, you must ensure that you provide concise and reliable answers using relevant keywords.
2. An increasing number of customers prefer to do business with companies that are passionate about sustainability
An interesting group of consumers is beginning to voice and express their opinions by way of the brands they choose to patronize. A lot of users are more passionate about the environment than ever before. NielsenIQ reports that 81% of online consumers are strongly tilted towards companies that help improve the environment. As such, sustainable and eco-friendly brands, as well as brands that make green products and communicate their sustainability through strategic branding and messaging, are best positioned to attract millennial customers, which, interestingly, form the majority of consumers online.
3. Beware of ad-blockers
The unfortunate reality for digital marketers is that the average internet user is frustrated by the proliferation of ads everywhere, and will do whatever is possible to block them out. Achieving this, of course, is more or less a walk in the park, thanks to ad blockers. For this reason, many marketers are having issues sustaining their number one means of driving traffic.
A good way to navigate this challenge is to use alternative channels to distribute your message. But this depends on your target audience and where you post your ads. The harm might not even be significant, but if it is, you should consider adjusting your marketing budget and switching to other effective means.
4. Image and video searches are gaining popularity
Today, people can use images to conduct searches on search engines. This technique works the same way people use long texts and keywords to search for images and videos. You can bet that as more people learn about this visual search technique, it might change how SEO works in general.
To properly position yourself for this trend, you should ensure that SEO tactics are well adjusted. Some of the things you should take note of include always using alt text in your image descriptions, adding images to your sitemap, using your target SEO keywords as the file name of the image, and finally, making sure that all the images you upload are top-quality images and videos.
5. Emphasis on easy-to-consume content and user experience
As Google crawls and indexes webpages, it also uses an algorithm that picks out the webpages that offer the best user experience. The website’s load speed, ease of navigation, and accessibility of information on the website all go into determining whether the website will rank or not.
On the other hand, people are also gravitating towards easy-to-consume content like videos, podcasts, and pictures than others such as texts, graphs, etc. Studies indicate that 55% of Americans listen to podcasts compared to 14% that read newsletters during last year's lockdown. These kinds of findings should guide you on how to reach your target audience effectively.
Digital Marketing Best Practices
6. Chatbots & conversational marketing
Websites with chatbots can engage customers and visitors using cost-effective technology. Chatbots offer you a great way to benefit from conversational marketing. They are intuitive, can keep you up and running 24/7, and are cost-effective. The rapid adoption of messaging apps is an indication of how effective they are as a tool.
7. Use of voice search
The number of voice search users continues to increase every year, and so also is the number of people using voice to shop lately. A survey showed that about 22% of shoppers use voice to buy things online. So it makes sense to restructure your content to align with voice search algorithms. Using conversational language and providing rich answers to questions is sure to help in this regard.
8. Personalization
Companies that use personalization often record significant increases in customer engagement. People are more likely to stay when your content is personalized to them than when you push content that is not personalized to them. 48% of consumers engage with and spend more with brands that personalize their experience. One way to do this is to implement a conversational marketing strategy. Here is a resource that will share everything you need to know. Conversational Marketing: What You Need to Know
9. Video Marketing
In the digital marketing space, this is a force to be reckoned with. Users engage with videos a lot more than texts and pictures. And if you’ve got captivating stories to tell, then you can be sure of keeping a lot of people on your site. That's how effective video marketing is. You can distribute content on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Pinterest, and so on.
10. Local SEO
Local SEO is an effective way to position your business and target people searching for specific businesses within their location. If well implemented, local SEO can prove more profitable than broad SEO. Also, keep in mind that Google is constantly updating its local SEO algorithm, so it makes sense to stay updated and adjust when necessary.
To get your business started with local SEO, you need to sign up for Google My Business and get verified by Google.
There’s more to talk about, but as you already know, the digital marketing landscape is both broad and dynamic. Conducting more research and implementing what you’ve discovered is the best way to get started. But most importantly, it takes consistency to stay in tune and realize the results.
Want to learn more? Contact us today at The Mission. As leading growth strategists, sales, and digital marketing experts, we are here to take through every step to creating smart digital marketing goals. We provide you with help on how to implement them successfully. Also, as leading partners in the PEO, HR, payroll, and benefits outsourcing marketplace.
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