In a world where consumer preferences are constantly changing, marketing teams are forced to adapt. A perpetual process that has experienced an unusual scale in recent months due to the pandemic, since companies in all sectors have been forced to make a massive and rapid shift to digital, then to rethink their entire communication strategy. Now that the recovery is here and taking hold, one question remains: what should the new priorities be? What should market plans focus on in 2022?
What are the latest marketing trends?
As HubSpot's recent 2021 report on the evolution of marketing, which collected data from thousands of marketers in world and within the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region, shows, strategies and practices have been largely impacted by the health crisis. All companies, whatever their field, had to urgently change their marketing plans in order to adapt them to a new situation. And their teams now approach marketing mostly through the prism of social media, personalized and conversational marketing for Wikipedia pages and if you want to create one so do contact Wiki Specialist Inc.
If generating more leads, and therefore more sales, remains their main expectation, other priorities are growing: improving customer satisfaction and improving brand image have become essential. Similarly, marketing teams embark on campaigns aimed at increasing the company's reputation among Internet users. This requires increased production of content aimed at answering the questions that users are asking, and creative or live videos to establish contact. Moreover, many brands have become experts in brand content and experts in content strategy.
What advice to optimize your marketing plan in 2022?
1. Develop a personalized customer experience
Having an online presence is no longer enough, you have to offer a high-quality customer experience to differentiate yourself and attract new prospects. However, brands have an ace up their sleeve: never before have they known their users so well, never have they had so much data about them as they do today. They therefore benefit here from a unique and precious opportunity to set up a personalized experience, rich in emotions and messages adapted to each visitor. To better put people back at the heart of the customer journey, and create a unique link with consumers!
Many actions can be taken to improve the UX. We can cite pell-mell: the reduction of loading times, the production and promotion of high-performance SEO content, the correction of bugs (broken links, poorly designed forms), the simplification of routes, and the improvement of the browsing on mobile devices.
2. Strengthen content marketing, especially video
With 82% of marketers surveyed by HubSpot having used content marketing in 2021, compared to 70% the previous year, this technique is essential to reinforce the notoriety and the image of seriousness of the company. Among the preferred formats are of course blogs, which are now used by more than half of marketing teams, as well as infographics which are very successful on social networks.
However, video is now the medium of choice in content marketing. It must be said that the public is there: in 2020, the viewing time of Internet users increased by 85%, to exceed the threshold of 12 billion minutes in total. This is an essential tool for marketers who want to get closer to their audience!
3. Get into social listening on social media
Social media tends to become the first channel for marketers, who appreciate the proximity and immediacy they bring, the rich conversations or interactions they can establish with their customers and prospects. The French having spent more than an hour and a half per day on average in 2021 on the networks, this is becoming a real challenge for brands. That's why it's hardly surprising to learn that 8 out of 10 companies intend to invest in social media marketing in 2022!
Next year, the main marketing tactic implemented on social media should be social listening. That is to say, the establishment of a direct relationship with the audience to find customers and convert them into brand ambassadors. As such, don't forget that practices and codes vary greatly from one social media to another, and that you have to adapt the tone and content to each network to make your marketing campaign a success…
4. Invest in SEO optimization and customer responses
More essential every day, SEO optimization will once again be a key element of any marketing strategy in 2022. Three-quarters of marketers surveyed believe that their SEO tactics play an “extremely effective” role in achieving their goals. objectives, whether through the use of strategic keywords, local SEO, or optimization for mobile. This marketing practice is directly linked to the desire to offer the best possible experience to customers and prospects.
Since search engines are better able than ever to understand the intentions of users, it is important to provide them with the results that will best respond to their searches. Whether it's a long and detailed explanatory article or a short answer in a few words, your content must provide the solution to any problem encountered by a user and to any questioning of a person interested in your products / services.
5. Switch to ultra-personalized and targeted e-mailing
Every year, some sorrowful spirits sing the eulogy of e-mail marketing, convinced that e-mail will finally disappear, in favor of another technology. And yet, every year, it survives! Why? Probably due to its effectiveness and minimal cost. After all, no other channel comes close to it when it comes to ROI and sales generated per campaign. And since third-party cookies are doomed to disappear in the short term, following Google's decision, it is even more essential to rely on e-mails, to know your customers better!
That being said, you also have to know how to live with the times, and use this marketing technique in line with modern tools and current customer expectations. The ideal for e-mail marketing in 2022 is to use ultra-personalized messages that will reinforce the feeling of authenticity and transparency of exchanges. Marketers preferring to send fewer emails, to focus on stronger segmentation.
6. Try conversational marketing
Once considered intimidating, chatbots have become everyday marketing tools in many businesses. The ability to offer 24/7 customer service to answer questions is a definite advantage when it comes to customer loyalty and retention. Already used by nearly half of top marketers in 2020, bots are set to continue growing in the coming years. If you haven't taken the plunge yet, now is the time to make this revolution your own.
Conversational marketing powered by artificial intelligence is only at the beginning of its history. Becoming easier to integrate on websites, and easier to learn, chatbots can now be incorporated into every page or tool you make available to your users. Their faculties also progress over time: personalization of dialogues, possibility of initiating certain actions, etc.
7. Fine-tune your strategy with customer feedback
Marketers have always been interested in the ability to collect, synthesize, and use their customers' feedback to make decisions, whether through custom surveys or market research. The data from all these questionnaires can guide your teams' strategy, develop new ones and design ever more relevant offers.
It is all the more important to invest in collecting these customer comments as consumer behavior is changing rapidly. It is no longer possible to be content with data from 5 years ago… Your marketing department needs recent and frequently updated data!
8. Organize hybrid events for your campaigns
During periods of confinement, virtual events have become an essential pillar of marketing campaigns, replacing physical events which could no longer take place normally, physical distancing requires. Now that the risk of yet another shutdown of the economy is receding, companies are tempted by a “return to square one”. However, it is not certain that consumers are so eager to find themselves in crowded places, even if the urge to gather is strong.
For 2022, the intermediate solution of the hybrid event, with a strong digital component and providing an ideal immersive experience, seems to be a good compromise by making it possible to meet the expectations of all audiences. People who have happily experienced the comfort and immediacy of live events from their couch, and happy to keep things virtual, will find their way here. Just like your customers and prospects who want to interact physically, and in person!
