The world of digital marketing is in constant motion. New technologies and channels are evolving rapidly, and companies must continually adapt to stay relevant. What are the emerging trends in digital marketing in 2022? And what will digital marketing look like in the coming years? Only those who are always up to date will be able to continue to build on success in the future. In this article you will find some tips and tricks on how to do that.
Digital marketing in 2022: A look into the future
Digital marketing will continue to gain importance in the coming years. Companies will increasingly invest in the digital world to connect with users and differentiate themselves from the competition. In doing so, you should access different channels and platforms to spread your messages. The challenge for digital marketing in 2022 will be finding the right channels for your audience and designing content to display well on all devices.
You can read about what marketing of the future will look like and what marketers need to prepare for here.
New channels and formats for digital marketing in 2022
In recent years, several new channels and formats have emerged in digital marketing. These new developments will continue in the coming years. It is becoming increasingly important to be present on multiple channels and to use the various formats. This will make it easier for you to attract the attention of users. Social media offer more and more entertainment options and their users are also becoming more demanding. Accordingly, they expect not only informative but also entertaining content. Using different social media channels will help you build a relationship with your customers and strengthen it.
Find out why you should no longer do without social media for your digital marketing in 2022 here.
Influencers continue to play a major role in digital marketing in 2022
Influencers played an even stronger role for digital marketing in 2022. Since they are often trusted by a large audience, you can use them to draw users’ attention to you and your products more easily. This will enable you to reach even more people. However, you should make sure that the influencers you choose also fit your brand. Otherwise, the hoped-for success of your collaboration could fail to materialize.
Videos & Reels in Social Media
Videos and reels are a great way to share content and connect with potential customers in digital marketing. That’s why they remain an essential part of many entrepreneurs’ social media strategy in 2022. According to a study by the Content Marketing Institute, 86 percent of B2C companies and 77 percent of B2B companies already use video in their social media work. Most of them (61 percent) rely on YouTube, followed by Facebook (52 percent) and Instagram (36 percent).
However, videos alone are not enough. You should also choose the right platform for them. Choosing the right platform depends on several factors, including your goal, the audience, and the type of video. When thinking about which platform is best for your business, you should first ask yourself the question: What goal do I want to achieve with the video? Do I want to draw attention to my business? Do I want to present my product? Or do I want to achieve something else with it? Once you have clearly defined your goal, you can choose the right platform. YouTube, for example, is a good choice if you want to draw attention to your business or showcase your product. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, on the other hand, are better suited for distributing short videos. If you’re not doing video marketing yet, you should start in the next few years. Because videos are an effective way to share content with people and connect with them. What’s more, they are relatively easy to produce and can be shared on all popular social media platforms.
If we look at the last few years, one thing is very clear: videos have taken the social media world by storm. Whether it’s Instagram Stories, Facebook Live, or YouTube, people everywhere are looking for interesting and entertaining videos. And that will not change in the coming years. Experts therefore assume that video content will continue to play a key role in digital marketing in the future. However, it is important to develop the right strategy and adapt the videos to the target group and the respective social media channel.
Digital marketing with the help of social audios & podcasts
One of the mega trends of the next few years in digital marketing will certainly be social audio. This is a new type of content that focuses primarily on the use of speech and audio. Podcasts, audiobooks and other formats are already very popular and will continue to grow in importance. There are also numerous opportunities for companies to become active in the area of social audio – whether by placing advertisements or producing their own content.
Yet social audio is not a novelty. The Clubhouse platform already caused a stir last year and showed that this format interests many users. In the coming years, social audio will continue to establish itself and become a serious competitor for traditional social networks.
But what actually makes social audio, like podcasts, so interesting for digital marketing in 2022? On the one hand, they reach a very specific target group, and on the other hand, you can hold the listeners’ attention for a longer period of time. Podcasts provide an opportunity to get your message across to an audience that already has an interest in the topic. This means that you can connect with your target audience without having to spend large amounts of money on advertising. Podcasts also allow companies to use their experts as hosts, building credibility and authenticity.
The new trend for digital marketing in 2022: live content
Live content is a relatively new phenomenon that has only really taken off in recent years. This refers to content that is broadcast in real time – similar to a livestream. This content can be used to connect with customers and build a strong relationship. The great advantage of live content is that it is extremely authentic. The audience feels as if they are witnessing the action live. This sense of closeness is crucial to the success of live content – especially when compared to other digital marketing efforts. So if you’re thinking about what digital marketing you want to use in the future, you should definitely consider live content. With this trend, you can set your business apart from the competition and reach your target audience in a whole new way.
Shoppable Content
Shoppable content is a digital marketing format that allows customers to buy products directly from the content. This format is becoming more and more popular as it offers customers an easy and convenient way to purchase the products they want. At the same time, Shoppable Content works on almost all platforms – from Instagram to Facebook to your website. So the future of e-commerce lies in the combination of content and shopping – so you can offer your customers a whole new world of experience and bind them even better to your brand. So if you want to be successful in 2022, you should look at shoppable content and how you can integrate it into your digital marketing.
Mobile marketing
Mobile devices are increasingly coming into focus. Accordingly, customized content and websites should be considered for your digital marketing in 2022. Apps also play an important role here in retaining customers or attracting new ones. Mobile marketing is no longer a trend, but has become established – and companies that don’t start addressing this target group now soon risk missing the boat. The use of smartphones and tablets is rapidly increasing around the world, which means you need to adapt your marketing campaigns to the needs of these users. Some of the trends that will develop in the coming years are:
- Due to the advancement of 5G networks, more people will be online on their mobile devices.
- Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are increasingly being integrated into marketing campaigns.
- Chatbots and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly being used for customer service. This facilitates communication and saves both time and resources.
Digital marketing in 2022: Addressing current issues
In order to keep up in the constantly growing field of digital marketing, it is essential to pick up on current topics and hypes. Study industry blogs and websites as well as social media channels to find out what’s hot right now. Then you can adapt your own digital marketing accordingly and reach your target audience with the content they’re looking for. However, you must not make the mistake of implementing everything that is “in” at the moment. It is much more important to analyze your own target group and find out which channels are relevant to them. When you know what engages your target audience, you can create and distribute targeted content that resonates and generates interest. Also, don’t forget to regularly measure the performance of digital marketing efforts and optimize based on the results. This is the only way to ensure that the budget used is used effectively.
Current topics for your digital marketing in 2022:
- Diversity
- Gender Shift
- Sustainability
- Health
- Globalization
- Social responsibility
Storytelling
The importance of storytelling will also continue to grow. Storytelling is a method of conveying content in a comprehensible and emotional way. The story helps the customer empathize with the brand or product and build a relationship. In times of social media and personalized marketing, stories are becoming increasingly important – because personalized messages speak directly to people and encourage them to get involved. At the same time, companies can use stories to convey their values and stand out from the competition. It is important to find the right platform for the story. For example, Instagram stories should be designed differently than Facebook posts or tweets.
Cookieless Tracking: The New Challenge for Digital Marketing
As of 2023, Google will no longer support third-party cookies. That’s why you need to find other ways to collect and track user data. Cookieless tracking is a new, more privacy-friendly method of measuring the success of digital campaigns that does not require the use of cookies. In general, this has the advantage of being more inconspicuous for users and better protecting their privacy. It also allows you to reach those who have cookies disabled. However, to successfully implement cookieless tracking, marketers need a range of new technologies and tools. First, it’s important to have good customer relationship management (CRM) software that allows them to manage all relevant customer data. Second, they need a robust analytics platform to evaluate and analyze the data.
However, it should still be openly communicated why which data is being collected. In addition, only necessary data should be obtained and an option to reject tracking should be set up.
Video and image SEO
In the next few years, in addition to search engine optimization for Google, video and image SEO will continue to gain importance. With the increasing prevalence of smartphones and faster internet connections, people are consuming more and more online video content. This development also has an impact on search engine behavior: More and more users are searching for information on the Internet with the help of images and videos instead of the classic Google search. To rank well in search, you need to optimize your content accordingly. By using proper tags and keywords, you can ensure that your videos and images show up in the right searches. Using targeted tags for your audience is also very important to make sure you reach your target audience. Social media is also increasingly being used for search. That’s why you also need to be aware of what algorithms social media platforms use, as they can influence the way your content is displayed. You should therefore optimize your content not only for Google search, but also for social media.
The growing role of artificial intelligence for digital marketing in 2022
Artificial intelligence (AI) is what will drive us forward in digital marketing in the coming years. But what exactly is AI and how can it help you and your business? AI is the ability of a computer to mimic human tasks. AI systems are capable of solving complex tasks that previously could only be done by humans. Some of these tasks include automating routine tasks, creating personalized content, and predicting search queries.
For example, AI text generators like neuroflash help you to generate marketing texts from product descriptions to social media posts to meta descriptions for Google and Co. in just a few minutes. This can effectively bypass writer’s block and create high-quality content in a short amount of time. Additionally, neuroflash offers you the possibility to rewrite already existing texts. By creating new, unique texts every time, neuroflash offers you an inexhaustible source of inspiration, so there are no limits to your creativity. Try it for free and take yourself and your texts to a new level.
The personalized future of digital marketing
Nevertheless, people are still the focus of every marketing campaign. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important that these are personalized. This is the only way to attract customers’ attention and retain their loyalty in the long term. This is especially true for the younger target group, which is confronted with a flood of advertisements and information. So to be successful, your digital marketing in 2022 will need to be increasingly responsive to your customers’ needs. One way to do that is to use data. By gathering information about your customers, you can target their needs and increase the likelihood that they will use your product or service. However, it’s not enough just to target the right customers – the right message must also be delivered. That means you have to focus more and more on individualization. This way, you can ensure that your campaigns are aligned with the target audience and elicit the desired response. So the personalized future of marketing lies in the combination of data and individualization. This is the only way you can give customers the attention they deserve in an increasingly noisy world.
Digital marketing in the metaverse
Even though it is still a futuristic idea, the Metaverse is already in the works today. This is understood to mean a digital universe that can be used by everyone and in which everyone can decide for themselves how to present themselves. In the Metaverse, there are no physical boundaries, so users from all over the world can interact with each other. It is considered the next step in digital marketing and offers many new opportunities.
For example, a virtual trade show booth could be visited or a virtual product demo could be offered. The metaverse also simplifies and improves communication with customers and partners. Companies can create their own virtual worlds and design them the way they want. You can also collaborate with other companies to create customer experiences that are not only entertaining, but also informative and useful.
In the metaverse, people will no longer be mere consumers of content, but active participants. You will be able to interact with companies and share in their experiences. This means that digital marketing will be much more interactive than it is today. Therefore, you should learn how to communicate with people in the metaverse and get them excited about your products or services.
The metaverse also offers entirely new opportunities for personalized advertising. Since people reveal much more about themselves in the metaverse than they do today, you can run targeted ads to reach your customers even better.
Companies need to learn how to succeed in the metaverse and what strategies work best. It is important to keep in mind that the metaverse is a completely different environment than the real world and therefore has completely different rules. So you have to be willing to adjust your thinking and actions to successfully do digital marketing in the metaverse.
You can find out more about the Metaverse and its possibilities for digital marketing here.
Frequently asked questions & answers
How will digital marketing develop in 2022?
Customer expectations are constantly rising, attention spans are continually shrinking, and competition is getting tougher – all factors that force companies to constantly adapt their strategies or risk losing out. At the same time, digital technologies are opening up new avenues for creativity and innovation in digital marketing – for example, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are rapidly evolving and offering novel opportunities for interactive campaign experiences.
What role will artificial intelligence play in digital marketing?
Artificial intelligence will play an increasingly important role in digital marketing, helping to better understand target audiences and create more relevant content for them.
What is one trend we will see in digital marketing in 2022?
One trend we will see in digital marketing is personalized advertising, tailored to the needs and interests of individual customers.
Useful tips for digital marketing in 2022
- The use of social media will continue to play an important role in connecting with customers and informing them about news and offers.
- The use of personalized content will continue to grow to capture the attention of customers.
- The target groups will be further specified in order to address the right customers.
- Budgets for digital marketing campaigns will continue to rise as companies realize the value they can add.
- The use of AI and machine learning will increase to improve the effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns.
In the coming years, digital marketing will continue to evolve and adapt to meet the needs of consumers. For your digital marketing in 2022, you should increasingly rely on personalized and individual campaigns that are tailored to the needs of the individual customer. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly important to strengthen customer loyalty and attract new customers. This will only be possible if you carefully analyze your customer data and understand what they really want.
