2022 Tech Trends in Digital Marketing
Examining the digital marketing landscape 5–10 years ago and comparing that with the current state of the practice; we can not only conclude that it has witnessed exponential growth, but also that technology has a huge part to play in it.
As tech continues to advance, the opportunity for precision and personalisation increases.
It’s is not only important that you plan for the future but be prepared to take advantage.
In this article, we highlight top 10 ways technology will affect digital marketing in 2022, and how you can use them to your advantage. We’ll keep this one short and sweet.
1. Augmented Reality in Marketing
By 2030, AR is expected to boost the global economy by 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars.
It is gradually making its way into the digital marketing strategies of big and small brands. It attempts to bridge the gap between traditional and digital marketing, by delivering digital experiences through physical objects. It allows room for digital marketers to promote products more effectively while delivering great personalised experiences to customers.
Apple is likely to lead the charge with its rumoured smart glasses. Snapchat also has just launched an e-commerce AR tool.
Marketers should begin to integrate AR and VR marketing into their digital plans, taking advantage of tools like Spark AR and Snapchat‘s Lens Studio.
2. Privacy Concerns Challenge Advertising
Digital ads rely greatly on data to optimise automatically. New privacy regulations – like Apple’s privacy protection and the pending removal of cookies, have reduced the data available for use in artificial intelligence.
People are becoming more security conscious and privacy continues to be a major concern.
Tim Parkin, a global marketing consultant, expressed that “The war on data will escalate and marketers will lose access to more data they have come to rely on”
He added that “First-party data will become the foundation of all marketing initiatives“ and that “Many organizations, who have not prepared, will scramble to collect this data to stay competitive.”
Organisations should begin / increase the collection of customer information directly from every touchpoint.
3. More Demand for Precision Marketing
Precision Marketing focuses on increasing marketing effectiveness and success, by analysing customer data and constantly reducing segment sizes, for more precise targeting. It is directed at existing customers to encourage loyalty, reduce marketing cost and increase customer value.
The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 – 70%, while the probability of selling to a new prospect is 5–20%. In essence, it can cost 5 times more to attract a new customer than it does to retain an existing one.
According to research done by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company, Increasing customer retention rates by 5% will also increase profits by 25% to 95%.
Businesses are catching on fast, and marketers are advised to upskilling accordingly.
4. Influencer Marketing in B2B
Influencer marketing is set to hit $13.8 billion in 2022 and continue to grow. However, B2B business have been a little more reluctant to adopt influencer marketing than B2C.
Reports show that brands will seek more on-going partnerships instead of one off agreements when engaging influencers.
These partnerships will also tend to become more result driven. They will focus on conversions and not just awareness/ engagement.
B2B companies that have achieved great results with influencer marketing include: SAP, Microsoft, American Express and PwC.
B2B product marketers should keep an open mind to influencer marketing. It may only require more research and a careful selection process.
5. Metaverse and Digital Advertising
There has been a great deal of buzz around the metaverse since Facebook rebranded as Meta.
The metaverse is expected to influence areas of culture, entertainment and marketing, with digital experiences like VR, AR and interactive video. Brands like Nike, Chipotle and Hyundai are already creating branded worlds.
Facebook already holds a large data inventory and although the company is still in its early stages of its transition to Meta, you can expect that it will involve commerce and advertising. Imagine Facebook ads and events in the metaverse.
This technology will provide many opportunities for businesses of all kinds and sizes to reach a wider audience. Marketers should begin to look into opportunities for exposure.
6. Customer Experience is the new SEO
Digital marketing platforms – social media newsfeeds, display ads, social ads, search engine optimization and even emails – are becoming algorithm-driven. Search engine algorithms are constantly optimised to improve user experience.
The trick to cheating the algorithm every time, is to focus on delivering great customer experience on your website(s)
SEO is less of a game and now, more integrated. As the algorithms become smarter, marketers need to focus less on the “tricks” and more on providing outstanding digital experiences.
7. Less is More With Growth Marketing
Continuous increase in digital marketing options, means that many businesses are spread too thin across too many channels. Smart businesses however, should measure performance and focus on a select few that drive the most results.
Growth marketing involves adjusting the strategy, as the customers interests change, to make the budget go farther. It is achieved through data analysis and continuous experimentation.
This process helps to eliminate tactics that aren’t yielding result and keeps marketers goal-oriented.
It is a win-win because the organisation grows faster and there is better use of the marketing spend. Marketers should aim to do fewer things better.
8. Email Marketing Becomes a Force
Melissa Sargeant, the CMO of Litmus, believes that personalisation, automation, and privacy have contributed to the prioritization of email as a marketing tool.
In a State of Email report recently released by Litmus, we see that email has become marketing’s most important channel. “91% of survey respondents maintained email marketing is critical to the overall success of their company,” says Sargeant. “This is up 20 percentage points since 2019, and more than 40% of companies intend to increase their investment in 2022.”
It is anticipated that dynamic and interactive email content, AMP for email, and new personalization strategies will be adopted in 2022.
9. Websites get Faster
Mobile devices generate a lot more traffic than desktop devices or tablets do. However, most websites still don’t have fully mobile-optimized experiences.
The importance of website speed will become even more important as Google’s Core Web Vitals continue to optimise for responsiveness, visual stability and speed.
It is advisable that marketers ensure their website is optimized for speed, adapts well to mobile and is easy to navigate.
10. CX as a Driver of Growth
As consumer spending increases and supply chains find it harder to level with the demand, experts predict that inflation and higher prices will continue to worsen. This will cause customer expectations to increase, as justification for the price increase.
The success of businesses will come down to two things: The ability to meeting customer expectations, and the quality of that process.
Brands that deliver consistently compelling experiences will gain an advantage so that when supply chains normalise, they would have secured a loyal customer base.
In addition – as online advertising becomes more noisy and saturated, earned media and word-of-mouth will become more important to break through the clutter.
Renewed focus on customer experience then becomes critical to business success.
In summary, the marketing landscape is experiencing crucial changes that can make or break the activities of marketers on a large scale. It is important to take advantage of each new development to deliver more value at reducing costs.
Two major areas to note:
- The increasing importance of customer experience
- The technologies that make advertising more precise and reduce cost implication.
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All the best,
Folahanmi Esan.
