Over the pandemic consumer needs have changed dramatically, with more time in front of screens and an increase of digitalisation, marketing trends in 2022 are predicted to take an alternative route. With more emphasis on personalisation and targeting, see how else you can optimise your approach for the year ahead!
1) Personable is key
Consumers love to see brand values as it separates businesses within highly saturated markets. How you act as a company and what you stand for can connect personally with a consumer, and immediately create a connection.
Social media posts about your brand and what you stand for can invite viewers to find out more, and interest them in working with you to explore these views.
“The global pandemic has created a huge shift in how brands and consumers interact. It has accelerated digital maturity on both sides has led to a heightened awareness of social, community, and environmental values, with customers calling for organizations to take a stand on action-based priorities, and brands aligning their business values with consumer beliefs.
In 2022 we will see more sustainability storytelling, and meaningful connections with local networks, nonprofits, and philanthropic causes. These will be weaved into the value proposition, rather than as an add-on.
It will be these authentic connections at the core of the marketing strategy that will build engagement with hard-to-reach audiences and ultimately build true advocacy.” Rhian Harris
2) Interactivity
Due to Covid-19 and the increased online engagement from businesses, interactive marketing has now become an expected practice by consumers. Quizzes, polls and Q&As are what consumers want to see from brands, without these 1-2-1 activities brands are now seen as less personable and therefore harder to build relationships with.
Creating quizzes or polls on social media are great ways to find out insight about your audience, to add to that, sharing the results provides your viewers with valuable content within similar sectors.
‘If you want ROI from LinkedIn, there are 3 things you need to focus on:
- Add value: Stop obsessing about tactics, focus instead on the “Why?”. How can you help them rethink the way they work, or go about their lives?
- Find solutions: Your audience can sense a mile away when you’re trying to sell to them. Instead think to yourself, “what’s the biggest challenge my audience is facing?”, and how can you help them solve it?
- Personalize: Rather than messaging thousands and hoping something will stick, focus on a niche. Target groups with specific messages.’ – Danny Bermant
3) User Opinion
Many businesses are now using their audience to generate content, asking viewers to vote in polls about topics. Business owners can use this tactic to tailor their approach by asking their audience about industry topics or services. Content can then be made about the most popular answers helping to stay relevant and appeal to audience needs.
4) Paid advertising
Paid advertising has increased massively over the last two years, with over 79% of marketers using some form of it within 2021. Despite its lack of relevancy to some business owners, due to its increase in popularity, it is important to be aware of it.
It is now possible to use paid advertising on most social media, even LinkedIn. Using paid promotion can be great to raise awareness of your businesses or promote a product and event. Ad techniques can be targeted to reach the ideal audience and lead to the best outcomes for higher ROI.
5) Consistent and meaningful social media
On average we see over 20,000 marketing messages every day, and we only retain 10% of what we see, meaning most social media posts and ‘fairy dust’ marketing will not impact your viewers. That’s why it is so important to create content that is valuable to your consumers. Not every post needs to provide a magical solution to all consumer worries, but there needs to be a point to the post.
This could be providing factual or insightful knowledge about a topic or providing a CTA in which users can be benefitted. However, just posting for the sake of it will not create tangible results for your businesses. Plan your social media to ensure each post has a purpose and an overall objective.
However, whilst being personal is vital to gaining the attention of an audience, having a strategic plan in place is vital for achieving your business objectives! Want to discuss your marketing plan for 2022? Arrange a free 45-minute chat with us, we’d be happy to help!