You may think your company has its digital marketing strategy down to a science, and you may be right. But never forget that everything in business evolves. What works today may not work tomorrow. Such is the case with most digital platforms.
Anyone who has followed SEO over the last 15 years is fully aware of how quickly things can change. Savvy SEO developers also know that just a single change in the way Google does things can lead to a complete overhaul of a company’s digital marketing strategy. So even if your company’s strategy is working right now, that could change on a dime.
With that in mind, Salt Lake City’s Webtek Digital Marketing says it is a good idea for marketing firms to keep an eye on trends. And for 2022, there are some key trends that could truly shake up the market.
1. Influencers Will Lose Their Influence
Social media and YouTube influencers have pretty much had the run of the place for the better part of 5 years. But that is changing. Over the last 12 months or so, a number of well-known influencers have run into problems that have damaged their reputations. Companies are fearful that consumers no longer trust their favorite influencers. So they are more wary about putting money into influencer-based marketing.
This could be the year that influencers lose their influence. Keep an eye on things. If that turns out to be the case, your marketing team will have to find other ways to use social media and YouTube.
2. Voice Search Will Get Stronger
Google has been promising since 2019 that voice search would dominate. It hasn’t happened. However, voice search is gaining ground as more and more mobile phones are capable of using the technology to maximum advantage. It only stands to reason that voice search will grow stronger throughout 2022 and into 2023. This suggests that your digital marketing team should be optimizing for voice search now.
3. Search Engines Will Be More Personal
As Google continues refining the art of collecting and analyzing user data, they are getting better at targeting search results to specific users. More often than not, users no longer have to go beyond the first page or two of search results because they find exactly what they are looking for early on. Expect this type of personalization to get better. Google isn’t harvesting all that data because it has nothing better to do.
4. Marketing Will Expand to the Metaverse
While Google continues working on search personalization, Facebook has taken the lead in establishing the metaverse. Whether you are in favor of the metaverse or not, it is coming. Expect Facebook and other metaverse pioneers to aggressively push metaverse marketing in the coming months. They are going to do everything they can to monetize the futuristic platform in its early stages.
5. Video Will Become Standard
In the current digital marketing environment, video marketing is often viewed as an extra. Marketers start with text-based content, infographics, and link building as their primary marketing tools. Expect that to change in the next 12 to 18 months. Expect to see video becoming a standard service offered as part of a basic marketing package. Companies will be encouraged to embrace video as a normal part of doing business.
Digital marketing continues to evolve alongside the habits of internet users. It is in the digital marketer’s best interests to pay attention to current trends so as to anticipate ways to better compete in the future. That being said, 2022 could be an interesting year for marketers.
