Digital marketing is a direction in which it is impossible to keep up with trends, especially in the last two years. Technology is developing so rapidly that the main quality of a good marketer is the ability to improvise and generate new ideas on the go. We offer you an overview of the 12 most promising areas that you should pay attention to, because. it is highly likely that the main sensations of the year will be associated with them.
1 Short videos
Video content is rapidly capturing social networks: already now it occupies the majority of traffic on the Internet, and in 2022, according to some forecasts, its volume will be up to 82% of traffic. Not the last role in the popularization of video content was played by TikTok with its short video format. Similar platforms have appeared in all major social networks: Instagram stories, YouTube Short Clips, VKontakte short clips. The short video format will not lose popularity in the coming years because:
- This saves time. According to Elite Content Market research, 66% of Internet users watch short videos when they want to evaluate a product, and only 18% prefer articles with illustrations. According to other data, 68% of users will definitely watch the video to the end if its duration does not exceed 60 seconds.
- It's popular. The number of TikTok users in 2021 has passed the 1 billion mark, which means that short video ads have already become a marketing standard.
- It's fashionable. Short videos go viral faster than other content.
- The audience of short videos is growing up. In the early years, active users of TikTok were mainly young people – schoolchildren and students. Today, the platform is being mastered by middle-aged bloggers (over 25 years old), while the interest of young people in the format is only increasing.
2 Omnichannel Marketing
Omni-channel in marketing is replacing the outdated multi-channel. Multi-channel marketing involves interaction with the client through different channels that are not interconnected, each of which has its own strategy and features. This approach suited the client quite recently, but with the development of information technology, with the increasing availability of different types of devices, multichannel is gradually becoming inconvenient. The focus of importance shifts from the channel itself with multichannel to the user with omnichannel.
The meaning of omnichannel marketing is that no matter how many channels a client uses, he remains the same client, which means that services on different channels must recognize him and work with him in the same way. Let’s say that on Facebook, a buyer who subscribed to an email newsletter viewed a certain category of products. This means that in the next newsletter he will receive recommendations based on his actions on Facebook. For example, a notification about discounts on products from the target category.
3 Geofencing
This is a technology of interaction with the owner of the gadget when it moves from one geographical area to another. GPS tracking provides businesses with many organizational opportunities, with marketing being the most valuable. With geofencing, you can:
- Unwind new points. For example, knowing the geography of movements of 1000 people, you can sort 200 of them as constantly visiting a kilometer zone around a new store. Such people can be sent a personal invitation by e-mail with a promo code. When he learns that a new supermarket has opened near him and they give him a discount, he will probably want to go there.
- Attract customers to existing outlets. For example, when crossing the target zone, a person receives a push notification with an invitation to drink a cup of coffee at a personal discount in an institution that is just nearby. This works in 53% of cases according to current statistics and this direction will develop every year.
- Study behavior. Having data on the movements of a person over a significant period of time, you can understand his needs well and show him the ideal targeted advertising.
4 Voice assistants
Digital assistants in their early days were used primarily for entertainment purposes or to control the basic functions of gadgets. Today, they are used to make purchases. In 2022, the value of voice purchases is projected to rise to $40 billion. The most popular voice assistants are Google Assistant, Siri and Alexa. Which also knows how to accept payments. According to Google statistics, 52% of smart speaker users use them to receive commercial information, so companies can already consider them as a channel of interaction with customers.
As the technology of voice interaction with the user improves, the commercial direction will be one of the most developed. In 2022, an increase in the number of voice purchases and the expansion of the functionality of personal assistants is expected. In addition, targeting is also expected to improve with smart devices that hear and see the user 24 hours a day.
5 Engage non-profit organizations
There is a trend in the world to support businesses that benefit society. According to statistics from Ernst and Young, up to 70% of consumers say this is the responsibility of brands. Millennials, according to the same statistics, show a high propensity for value-based brand choice. 83% prefer a company whose values match their own. 81% declare their readiness to support such businesses.
Cooperation with NGOs is one of the most relevant ways to attract a new audience in 2022. Concerns about social problems in developed countries have remained at a high level for the past 10 years, especially young people show concern and call on influential leaders to become more responsible. The trends continue to include:
- ethical food and the issue of animal cruelty;
- problems of climate change, environmental pollution;
- combating racial discrimination;
- child care;
- slavery and human trafficking.
6 Opting out of third party cookies
The trend to reject third-party cookies is dictated by the protest of users against tracking their activities on the Internet. Google has announced plans to completely disable third-party cookies in the browser in 2023, with extensive testing in 2022. Bing so far only restricts the transfer of cookies to other services, while Firefox and Safari have completely abandoned them. The development of the trend will be driven by competition and the growing demand for safe internet surfing tools. For marketers, this is problem number 1, because ad targeting will have to be built on new principles. Nobody is going to refuse the most targeted advertising, but the value of user data with the refusal of third-party cookies will increase significantly.
According to some forecasts, demand for end-to -end analytics tools is expected to grow , also dictated by the popularization of omnichannel marketing. End-to-end analytics allows you to target ads based on information about the client's actions obtained from various sources.
7 Artificial Intelligence
Marketing is one of the promising areas for the introduction of AI in 2022. Already today, at least X directions of its use can be listed:
- Segmentation of the target audience and drawing up a portrait of the client. AI not only analyzes, but also adjusts the interaction of the service with the client based on his preferences (for example, managing push notifications).
- Collection and analysis of information online.
- Marketing automation. This direction has been developed since 2019, its goal is to improve targeting using machine learning technologies.
- Individualization of interaction with the client. For example, mailing lists can be compiled in such a way that each client will receive letters at the most convenient time for interaction. This level of service cannot be provided by human labor without cosmic cost.
- Development and content management. Surprisingly, machines are already learning how to write articles. In the near future, machines will simplify the development of content strategies through the analysis of consumer behavior.
8 Metaverses and Virtual Reality
The user is reluctant to provide their data for commercial purposes, which is the main obstacle to the development of the direct-to-consumer sales model. But the real economy is being replaced by a virtual economy based on metauniverses, in which the user acts as an avatar. Within the metaverse, a direct-to-avatar sales model becomes possible. Virtual universes such as Roblox and Fortnite provide all the necessary tools for this. Virtual marketing in 2022 will develop at an accelerated pace, because. interest in the metaverses on the part of Internet users is growing steadily.
Behavioral features of the avatar is a promising direction for study, because they are very different from the behavior of a real person. Selling to avatars is subject to its own laws, which have a long way to go. Everyone has a chance to become a pioneer and make a breakthrough. The emergence of new super-popular metaverses in the near future is not ruled out, it is important to recognize them at the stage of development and not to miss the moment.
9 Convenient payment formats
Users appreciate the trend to expand payment options. If you provide the buyer with a full range of opportunities, this will positively affect the image of your company. Even experimental functions in this direction should not be neglected, because fashion is often more important than practical applicability. Popular trends for today are:
- Services of social networks and messengers. For example, using VKontakte's own services, you can make a purchase on the Internet without going to the seller's website.
- Chatbots. Telegram bots already know how to accept payments, you can make purchases without closing the messenger.
- Voice shopping. They have already been mentioned above, this is an independent trend that breaks popularity records.
- Payment without entering data. Services from Apple, Google and Samsung are gradually weaning users from driving card data online. This is long, unsafe due to fraudulent sites, there is a risk of making a mistake when dialing a number. Cases of refusal to purchase have become more frequent if the site does not have a payment button via Google Pay and the closest analogues. Read more about this below
10 Shopping without unnecessary clicks
The trend to reduce clicks when paying is explained by the psychological characteristics of a person. The more buttons you need to press, the more likely the customer is to:
- get distracted and forget;
- changes his mind, postpones the purchase for a more convenient time;
- decides to look at other options, go to the competitor's website;
- will lose the first “wow” impression of the product;
- will not want to go through a long and routine payment procedure;
- decides that it is better to buy goods offline;
due to age or disability will be forced to wait until other people help him make the payment;
As you can see, there are plenty of reasons to cut back on activities. At the same time, ensuring payment security should remain a priority. Google Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay are leaders in this area. If your site does not provide for the possibility of paying through these services, be sure to ensure that such an opportunity is added in 2022. If a meaningful alternative does not appear soon, users may start to abandon online purchases masse in stores that do not provide payment options using these services.
11 Predictive Chatbots
These are answering machines or guides that accompany the client or serve him when contacting the support service. The modernization of chatbots leads to an increase in the speed and quality of service and a reduction in the cost of maintaining the staff of consultants and operators. Ideally, the buyer should be able to get answers from the bot to any questions regarding the product or service. This is achieved through the introduction of artificial intelligence, bots become learnable, the user gets more benefit from interacting with them. In 2022, the demand for smart bots will increase.
Another key function of them is to increase the conversion of visitors into customers. When a visitor opens a page of a site or a product, the bot immediately attracts his attention, provides important information, and offers help. There are ready-made offers of predictive chat bots, it is enough to set them up and add them to the website page. Developer platforms are also popular, allowing you to create your own solutions. Today, bots are predominantly under the control of operators, but their autonomy will increase in the near future.
12 Work with influencers
Every network user has someone they listen to. Preferences depend on professional activities, hobbies, tastes. The general trend is as follows: a person is drawn to useful content. If this is an entrepreneur, he subscribes to the blog of a successful entrepreneur; if an athlete, he watches sports bloggers. Receiving useful information from their blogger over and over again, the subscriber gets used to considering the source authoritative. Therefore, the recommendations of an advertising nature from an influencer are perceived by his audience less critically than just a commercial, no matter how well it is filmed.
This is only to the advantage of the bloggers themselves, because. cooperation with brands as an ambassador brings them considerable additional profit . In the recent past, micro-influencers were in the trend, and the main bet was on quantity. In 2022, a quality trend is expected, i.e. the number of subscribers + the right audience. But this does not mean that other scenarios of interaction with influencers will come to naught. In any case, you should choose the blogger's audience, as well as take into account factors that may affect the loyalty or change in the quality of this audience.
