A decade ago, the top digital marketing trends that are a hit today were bordering on the “ridiculous”. The current online landscape is both crowded and competitive. Tidal waves of marketing messages continually hit consumers. It’s becoming harder to cut through the advertising noise and reach the audience.
To keep up with the ever-changing business environment and break out the clutter, follow these top 4 trends that will help you conquer the right target segment in 2022!
1. Personalized Marketing
Whether sending out emails or messaging on LinkedIn, always know that customers like personalization. For instance, take a look at the giants such as Netflix and Amazon. They are true examples of what the power of personalized content can do. People are continually drawn to it, and it can be easily said that there is very strong brand loyalty.
Here is how Cadbury aligned its campaign with the concept of personalization:
Cadbury launched an innovative campaign in 2014 that introduced the world’s first flavor-matching Facebook-powered vending machine. The marketers at Cadbury focused on the old marketing technique that required the customer to fill a questionnaire and get a product tailored to their preferences.
By following the same lines, Cadbury used the chocolate lovers’ social media profiles and helped them discover their true Dairy Milk chocolate flavor, which they would get from the “joy generator” for Free! The campaign was an absolute success as there was a 65% click-through rate and a 33.6% conversion rate.
As a marketer of a startup or a company that is on a growth trajectory, here is what you can do to tilt towards personalized marketing:
- Encourage user-generated content to create custom designs or services. This will increase engagement and brand recognition.
- Personalized video in emails will humanize the brand and lead to higher open rates.
- Offer tailored recommendations and dynamic content through personalized web pages. The behavioral insights can be collected by configuring visitors’ demographics and interests to increase conversions.
- Bring consistency across all communications mediums such as social media platforms, websites, and emails.
2. Storytelling
Your reviews should indeed speak for themselves; however, you should also make efforts that will put your brand front and center in the minds of your target customer. Unfortunately, most brands make one mistake because they think storytelling is all about talking about themselves.
So, they attempt to shape the language to convey that their brand is better than the competition. It might work in situations where you need to stand out from the competition, but not all the time. Consumers today want to know if you deliver on your promises. What success factors will they achieve when they opt for your brand, and what will they miss out on if they don’t.
For instance, let’s take a look at Airbnb. It is, without a doubt, 100% customer-oriented. However, instead of diving deeper into the company’s story, the brand managers used an approach that involved the customers. To turn this concept into a powerful marketing magnet, they made a section solely for “Stories from the Airbnb Community.” In this way, they positioned the customers at the center and made them the brand.
3. Social Media Video Content
There is no surprise that social media platforms have adapted to the marketing changes and are now offering us the best solutions to increase brand awareness and engagement. It is well-known that people are drawn towards visual content rather than just plain text.
Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram embrace this factor and encourage brands to shift towards video content. Recently, Instagram combined IGTV and feed videos in one format called the “Instagram Video” to improve the content on the platform.
The short-form media is now moving towards long-form. In 2021, we all saw an explosion of TikTok and the introduction of “YouTube Shorts.” In addition, Instagram reels were adopted by a wide-scale of users. However, now, these platforms are increasing the length of the videos so that brands can deliver the complete story. An example of this can be TikTok which allows video length options of 15s, the 60s, and 3m.
As a marketer, you can show the customers exactly what the brand is about and how it loops in customers. So, tell a story today and take steps to develop trust. A fantastic approach can be recording testimonials or showing your product or service in action. You make the perfect engaging content, and these top social media platforms will offer the support to reach your target segment.
4. Conversational Marketing
The past was all about the in-store experience with a formal sales process. The representatives were the 24/7 customer support to answer any customer’s query. Today, we have chatbots. They have taken the brunt of customer services.
This strategy helps the brands create more meaningful relationships through dialogue and messaging. These are delivered how the customers want and when they want. As for the placement, websites, social media platforms, and even physical stores can be engaging.
Interactive messaging platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are popular channels for customer inquiries. These enable continuous brand engagement through real-time interaction with the consumer.
By optimizing this strategy and bringing in chat automation, chatbots and live chats will be a game-changer. Instead of letting the people scroll through the website and shifting from page to page, this strategy can help people find what they want. In addition, this technology can spark the visitors’ interest by developing good customer and brand relations.
Get Ready for 2022
Now is the perfect time to strategize and develop plans based on the current marketing trends. Then, whether it’s your website, content, or overall digital marketing, set clear goals to achieve them by the end of the year.
Get in touch with Be Eminent if you need help with any of these areas. Our team will ensure that you tell the right story through the suitable medium at the right time and platform.