By Robin Anderson

As marketers, one of the many challenges we face is anticipating trends in the way we communicate our brand with how, where, and always when. One of the attributes we have had to build into how we do things is the ability to be flexible. The ability to shift your focus, change your output and revise your communications to reflect the environment at a moment's notice.

2022 marketing trends builds on the effort of reaching your customer with how, when and where they prefer to buy, and extending that to positioning that customer in the center of your marketing efforts. Think of your customer as the intersection of all your marketing efforts.

What does this mean?

Social responsibility

Consumers are more interested in brands that align with their values. They are more concerned about the environment, sustainability, and the role companies are doing to help rather than hinder climate change. Companies that incorporate social responsibility into their business will have a competitive advantage to those that do not.

Bombas 

Randy Goldberg and David Heath launched Bombas in 2013 after they learned that socks are the most requested clothing item in homeless shelters. The company’s mission is, “to donate one pair of socks for every pair purchased.” In 2013 they raised $145,000, 2014: $1 million, and by April 2020, they had donated 35 million pairs of socks. They are building on this effort with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Importance of Inclusion

The inclusion of underrepresented groups points to another movement in marketing, called inclusive marketing. According to Deloitte’s 2022 Global Marketing Trends report,  high-growth brands are 1.9x more likely to have DEI-related talent objectives than negative-growth brands. 

This  trend is particularly important for the younger generation, your future customers. 57% are more loyal to brands that commit to addressing social inequities in their actions. Authenticity is key. Consumers will know those who are genuine versus those who are not.

Target

In February 2020, Oliver Garza-Pena and his mom, Demi, were shopping in Target. Oliver was nearly 2 years old at the time and wheelchair bound. Upon entering the boy’s clothing department, his mom witnessed something unexpected. Her son stopped “dead in his tracks” staring at an ad showing a smiling boy in a wheelchair. “I could immediately see that he knew he had just seen a boy like himself. Something he has never seen before.” This experience was shared on social media which went viral.  

2022 Marketing Strategies

Making the customer the center of your marketing efforts will drive the need to look for the most efficient ways to invest your marketing dollars. 

Content

Storytelling will continue to lead the way for creating and sharing content. Having your employees tell your company story from their perspective, and using customer testimonials are ways in which you can help strengthen your brand and build a loyal relationship with your audience.Take storytelling to the next level through use of video, audio, and photos. Share with your customer base in a way that everyone can relate.

Social

The importance of building and maintaining a brand community is the number one trend. This includes upping your game by providing full-service customer care through social media, particularly if you are targeting a younger audience. Going into 2022, TikTok is THE social platform to interact and engage with audiences. It gives you the chance to show your brand personality. For B2B, look to Twitter and Instagram to reach and engage with your audience with focused content and targeted personalized social ads.

Interactive Experience

Create an interactive experience for your customers using short form video and audio to tell a story. With social media driving the need for short-form content, creating short-form video and audio is leading for marketing investments. While video leads content marketing efforts, audio is a very strong channel to reach your audience.

Influencer Marketing

In 2021, influencer marketing provided B2C brands the best returns. For many, influencers are more trustworthy than brands. An influencer that is aligned with your market provides great opportunities for partnership, particularly on platforms where you have little engagement. For 2022, leverage this channel, however look to micro-influencers with under 100K followers for cost and a more focused reach.

New technologies

Use AI to deliver a customized experience for your customer. It allows you to provide the information they need when they want it, where they want it and how. It can also help predict customer behavior. 

AR and VR are increasingly becoming a thing. Take advantage of the technology to enhance your customer experience - such as enabling your customers to ‘try on’ your product. Warby Parker has made it very easy for prospective customers to shop for new eye frames by enabling them to try them on virtually. The interactive experience drives sales and increases satisfaction while reducing costs of returns.

Use your data

With so much data available, focus your efforts on the data to determine what content to create and optimize for your audience. Personalize your emails. And now that we can no longer use 3rd party cookies, use automation tools which can help you connect data sources, such as a loyalty program, throughout the customer journey. 

With all of this, it still remains important to plan. Put a stake in the ground. Use your analytics as one way to determine if your implementation is on target. 

Start planning and exploring Web 3.0

Web 3.0 is the next evolution of the internet based on blockchains. It will focus on decentralization of content, referred to as intelligent information accessibility. Using tokens, content creators will be able to control the experience through tokens and NFTs.  

From the Economic Times, search engines in the Web 3.0 era will return personalized insights based on your search context. Centralized servers will be replaced with information present on multiple computing devices. Overall, it will be more of a peer-to-peer internet with no single authority.

Not to be cavalier, there is an element of ‘just roll with it’ when it comes to planning for 2022. Flexibility - being able to change a course relatively quickly will help customers to see that you are there for them no matter the situation. To stand out in 2022, be more creative. Create immersive experiences for your customers through video, audio and community. Tell stories. Interact. Embrace the fun.

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Fun Fact

One of the most viewed social media posts of 2021 was that of Bernie Sanders wearing mittens that were made by a Vermont teacher at the Inauguration. The image was shared widely, becoming one of the first and most popular memes of 2021.