Digital marketing trends tend to evolve quickly in our industry, so Digital Ethos’s digital PR and copywriting consultant Lucinda Batchelor has drawn out the most important ones to focus on now for transformational growth.
Digital marketing is one of the world’s fastest-growing kinds of marketing. You can utilize digital marketing to target specialized markets, allowing you to reach out to customers who may not have previously considered your company. Fast-growing also means ever changing and evolving.
We’ve outlined three trends in digital marketing that we will see more of in 2022 to help you stay with the times and adapt to consumers’ wants and needs.
Using featured snippets
Long gone are the days where we turn to books to find the answer to our questions. Instead we turn to Google, which has grown to become the world’s biggest search engine with 1.2tn searches processed annually.
Featured snippets provide direct answers to user questions. Google’s featured snippets are the answers that Google highlights in a box at the top of the organic results on the search results page; also known as ‘Position Zero’ in the rankings.
For example, if you were to search ‘top 10 best restaurants in London’, the answer will be suggested to us in a paragraph box at the top of the result page. These boxes often come with an image and all the information we’re looking for displayed in an easy-to-read box.
In the case of our restaurant query, we’re offered a map of central London and a small selection of restaurants rated 4+ stars with their price range, style, address and opening times all available to see at the click of a button. There’s also an option to view more restaurants by clicking a ‘view all’ tab – meaning there is no need to go hunting through articles below to find what we’re looking for.
If a search engine includes information displayed on your website in a Position Zero box, it indicates that the content you offer is worth reading. All that needs including is attention-grabbing information in these snippets to lead them away from the box and to entice them to explore more content on your website.
Utilize visual content
Create a dominance of visual content in your strategies. These can include images, videos, gifs, memes and animations in order to stand out to users.
Visual content has the power to cement your brand’s identity in consumers’ minds for a longer period compared to text. It is also easier to communicate complex ideas via visuals than the written word.
Visual search is now bigger than ever. Pinterest, Google Lens and many e-commerce platforms now allow customers to search by uploading an image. To make the cut in these searches you’ve got to populate your content bank with high-quality and brand-relevant visuals.
Why not repurpose your blogs into video content and infographics with the same keywords and tags? This way search engines can reach them easily, they are easier to digest and it also helps with SEO.
The key is personalization
While every consumer values privacy, they also favor personalization too. Personalized campaigns see a higher rate of engagement, conversions and glowing reviews from consumers. The key is to allow customers to opt-in for data tracking and analysis so they are aware of how their data is being used.
This 2022 digital marketing trend holds the potential to make your brand’s marketing campaigns go viral. Consider Spotify Wrapped, for example – every customer gets unique, tailored, personalized content. #SpotifyWrapped also trends worldwide at the end of every year, with millions of social media users sharing the results with their followers.
Personalized campaigns often rely on data analysis software, insight tools and customer data, but it’s important not to forget the role of design. Even in personalized campaigns, customers expect branding consistency in design and your answer to this is pre-designed templates. Having these at hand helps you save time, ensure branding consistency and save costs on redesigns.
