It’s extremely difficult to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing. In today’s world, marketing strategies and best practices can change daily. In 2022, consumers are still recovering from the pandemic and expect a considerable amount from the brands they love and support. Brands are recovering from the digital shift and are speculating on where in-person or print advertising goes from here. There are many tips and tricks, and it is often overwhelming for small businesses to navigate. It’s important to test different tactics that may work for your business and analyze the performance of each.
Here are five ideas you can implement to stay ahead of the game for the remainder of 2022 and beyond:
1. Mobile Optimization
Now more than ever, it is important to optimize your content for mobile devices. Nearly half of all online traffic comes from a mobile or tablet device, so it is imperative that your site and other resources look great (and function well) on a mobile platform. This means that designing for dark mode and optimizing the size of your graphics for load time should always be considered. The same can be said for email marketing, as most people will open those communications on their phones or tablets. As millennials and Gen Z have heightened buying power, it only makes sense to optimize mobile communications to capture as much earned revenue as possible.
2. Social Responsibility
Consumers care about the brands they purchase goods and services from. With many global turning points since the start of the pandemic, brands have taken to social media to express the company’s beliefs and standings. These include workplace culture, inequality, diversity and inclusion, and so much more. While this may not result in immediate ROI, it plays to a brand’s human side and makes consumers more likely to engage in the long run. Gone are the days of staying out of politics or simply not communicating on a stance. It’s important to be tactful and sensitive to your employees, consumers, and the world at large.
3. Inbound Marketing
As the work-from-home lifestyle has grown more popular and virtual events took a foothold in almost every industry, the marketing landscape as we know it changed. The typical “marketing equals sales” funnel strategy hasn’t proven as successful anymore and companies have adopted a more fluid/circular model instead. This starts with attracting a new wave of consumers by putting out meaningful content through digital platforms. This approach ensures you are capturing new clients with whom you will engage to elicit trust in your brand and see it as a need. At this point, the internal process to retain and get referrals is the next best piece of the puzzle. This keeps your customer base in a circular flow, while still pulling in new leads and potential partners.
4. Native Advertising
Native advertising includes paid ads on third-party websites or social media sites and over 40% of brands claim they will be testing this advertising strategy in 2022. These ads are intended to blend into a consumer’s everyday feed, rather than seem intrusive like pop-ups or more traditional forms of digital advertising. Because of this, the probability is higher that the ad will get more engagement and will result in a conversion. Social media platforms today really aide in this strategy as brands can now tag shoppable products and incorporate the checkout process from within the platform.
5. Types of Content
In 2022, platforms that specialize in video, such as TikTok, Instagram/Facebook Reels, and YouTube, reign the supreme medium of choice for most users. As brands navigate the importance of leaning into these platforms and how to leverage them; the struggle comes with the balance of the other mediums. Social media will always be lucrative to a brand’s worldly presence but blogging and email marketing aren’t going anywhere in terms of maximizing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and engaging consumers. Infographics and case studies are also continuing to serve as popular forms of marketing, while delivering the most information in effective and digestible ways. It all boils down to finding the right mix for your organization and what works for your specific target audience.
We recommend putting a few of the above strategies in place and making sure to test and tweak as needed. Learning from the analytics of these new approaches will help dictate the best scenario for your brand and your overall marketing plan. Reach out to us today if you would like help in navigating the ever-changing digital marketing landscape!
