The digital world continues to evolve rapidly, and companies must stay up to date in order to adopt effective strategies. These are the top digital marketing trends to keep in mind for 2022.

Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.” — Walt Disney

Optimize the customer journey

Customer touchpoints continue to become more important for marketing strategies, and they’re all interconnected. Customers are unique, and every day they become more digital. Companies must respond to this new dynamic by adopting innovative strategies, and creating fast, bug-free, easy-to-navigate experiences. The challenge over the next few months will be to continue integrating the company’s communication channels. This way, a customer (if they choose) can see an ad on social media, search for the company online, visit a physical store, and buy on mobile. It should be an easy, seamless experience.

Omnichannel Attribution 

Cross-channel user journey optimization goes hand in hand with attribution. Attribution translates to the ability to provoke certain events across the entire funnel: creating relevance, online and offline, along the entire user journey until the moment of purchase. Attribution allows companies to evaluate the effectiveness of their marketing objectives in order to achieve their objectives. Omnichannel attribution helps brands maximize their measurement across all channels to best understand which channels contribute to sales, and which need to be optimized.

Ultra personalization

Adapting marketing content to the behaviour and interests of users is already well-ingrained in our efforts. But in order to beat our ever-more digital competitors, it requires something more: being able to ultra-personalised experiences.  Today, this is possible thanks to data and artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence, which uses information about purchase behaviour and algorithms, is able to offer recommendations and personalized assistance like never before. Some particularly innovative technologies are the ones that can optimize ad campaigns. For example, ad-machina allows for the personalization of ads for every user who performs a Google search, thanks to machine learning and natural language processing. The algorithm and artificial intelligence that it uses to create multiple versions of an ad based on many possible user searches in order to show them the appropriate information, in the right place, at the right time. This shortens the purchase journey and increases conversions.

Data Activation

Data is one of the most important assets that a company has. But companies must recognize that they tend to gather huge quantities of data every day without necessarily using it to improve their strategies or optimize their investments. No doubt, some companies are able to analyze and activate their data sources to gain valuable company insights. Giants like Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify are pioneers in activating Big Data to reach more people effectively. By activating Big Data, it’s possible to identify strategies that use data to predict which users are more likely to buy, as well as when and where they’ll make their next purchase. 

Mobile Shopping

According to a Statista report, at the end of 2021, 73% of online sales take place on mobile. Consumers continue to use their phones more and more throughout the purchase funnel. Also, they feel comfortable making purchases on their phones, a trend that continues to increase. Still, 30% of Internet users abandon their cart halfway through the process if the site is not optimized for mobile use. You must optimize your cross-platform purchase journey if you want to capture this large market of people who make purchases on their mobile phones. Also, be sure to keep up to date on the latest trends to make the most of niches in new markets before the competition gets there first.

The Metaverse

Once again, Facebook started a trend. In October 2021, Mark Zuckerberg changed the name of Facebook (the main company that also controls the social network of the same name) for that of Meta. This news has implications that are much broader than a simple name change.

The name is an abbreviation of “metaverse.” This name, coined by author Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash, denotes a virtual space. With this new name, Meta sets itself as the leader in a future where real life and the digital world constantly cross.  Virtual reality already are present in many people’s lives and many company’s digital strategies. Meta is sure to take this even further.

The concept is a virtual world where individuals can submerge themselves easily. They’ll be able to interact in an interconnected system that will include experiences and activities. Some might include: participating in events or selling Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) – unique digital objects. Forward-thinking companies should capitalize on this impending innovation to exploit the resulting business opportunities. This will also apply in advertising, which will continue to have a fundamental role in marketing strategies.

NFTs

As mentioned before, NFTs are original digital assets, created through blockchain technology. These objects have unique identification codes and, as such, are not replicable.  The market for non-fungible tokens is booming. Companies have spent months to get their share of the NFT pie. For example, in 2021, Clinique organized a contest to gift three NFTs to members of their rewards program as a prize for participating in a social media campaign organized by the company. 

Similar to Clinique, many other companies have started to use NFTs to promote new launches and anniversaries. The goal is usually to increase their followers on social media or to support campaigns – in general, to create loyalty with consumers. This is just the beginning of the world of NFTs and the opportunities for companies are nearly limitless.

Gaming 

The gaming sector has a market worth more than 3 billion dollars, and it’s defined by Accenture as the next “super-platform.” According to its last study, 3.1 billion people in the world (nearly 40% of the global population) play video games.  Video Games have gone from an individual activity to a “place” where you can meet up and socialize. Also, in the last few years, a new type of user has appeared in the industry: spectators. That’s right, there are people who watch other people play video games online, for example on YouTube or Twitch. Some brands have taken advantage of these changes, opening new contact points with a much larger audience that’s historically been more difficult to reach.

Social Commerce 

Whoever sells products or services online and uses social media to promote it is already involved in social commerce. But many are not taking full advantage of it. With e-commerce and social media on the rise, it’s no wonder the phenomenon of social commerce – buying products and services directly from social channels – is on the rise. For this reason, it is important to create your own stores directly on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok using the internal “purchase” functions of the platforms, so that users can purchase the product they’re interested in with a simple click.

It is also necessary to invest in sponsored promotional activities in order to take advantage of the wave of digital buyers. Sponsored promotional activities, thanks to data and machine learning, can maximize the return on investment. Another important and growing trend, especially relevant for B2C, is influencer marketing. These are just some of the possibilities offered by social commerce. Used correctly, companies can take advantage to increase their sales, reach a larger audience, and retain their customers through more integrated experiences.

So, what’s next?

No matter the type or sector of a company, it is important to be up to date with current and future trends. Having an overview allows you to assess where to invest and develop the most suitable strategies for your brand. If you’re not sure where to get started, reach out to our team by sending an email to info@makingscience.com. We have a team of Martech experts standing by to help you achieve your e-commerce dreams!