Top 5 Digital Marketing Trends in 2022 - Lambourn Digital

As we  begin 2022, we present the Top 10 trends to help you with your digital marketing strategy in 2022 that will transform your way of thinking about your target audience, data and experience strategies. 💡

Keep reading & if you have any queries or would like to share your knowledge about Digital Marketing trends 2022 that we might have missed,
Feel free to give us a shout!

The Power Of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence is not a new term but in 2022 AI powered features will be integrated into Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing (SMM) and Paid Advertising strategies. Businesses that will fail to leverage AI will be missing out on many benefits including business and consumer behaviour forecasting, automated reporting on web traffic, keyword recommendations, among others. According to Google, 76% of companies that use AI tools and automate marketing generate ROI within a year. According to a PwC survey from over 1,000 U.S.-based companies, 52% have accelerated their AI adoption plans. The main benefits include:

Google Adwords introducing Smart Shopping, taking away Expanded Text Ads and Recommendations Auto Apply features are just a few instances of how AI is going to have more dominance.

At Lambourn Digital, we use a variety of tools using AI to unfold consumer behaviour, conduct audits, advanced reporting and formulate marketing strategies aligning with the business goals.

Conversational Marketing

If you want to be closer to your customers, conversational marketing is a must as it provides a personal, instant connection between marketers and customers. When consumers have a question, 82% of them seek an “immediate” response.

Quoting David Cancel, founder and CEO of Drift “Today’s buyers expect to find what they’re looking for now, not later….[And in] the way people prefer to communicate.”

Conversational marketing aims to improve the user experience through a feedback-driven model that fosters higher engagement, greater loyalty, and more sales. According to Drift, 41.3% of consumers use conversational marketing tools for purchases.

Wondering what conversational marketing is? 🤔

If you have received a personalized video, personalized email, interacted with a chatbot or virtual sales assistant, you have already experienced conversational marketing!

Analyzing the customer behaviour data and catering to personalized solutions to make the consumers feel heard is key to be successful in your digital marketing. Simple hacks like using personalization salutation in the emails can bring massive results!

In fact, 72% of shoppers act on marketing messages only when they are customized to their interests. A Salesforce survey also found that marketers see the highest benefits of personalization on their customer experience (64%), a conversion rate increase (63%), and visitor engagement (55%).

The success of Netflix or Amazon is highly dependent on the personalization of content that they provide for every user.

Marketing to customers in a cookieless world

Among the many changes that Google announced in 2021, one that created havoc in the digital marketing world was the death of third party cookies which meant that access to lesser user data on the part of the marketers. Quoting Google the reason for the phase out of the third party cookies is: "Users are demanding greater privacy--including transparency, choice, and control over how their data is used--and it’s clear the web ecosystem needs to evolve to meet these increasing demands." Additionally, the GDPR law passed in 2016 in Europe restricted the use of cookies for tracking user behavior. Complying with the GDPR rules, companies have to get opt-in consent from users before saving cookies on their computers.

As third-party cookies sunset, marketers need to rethink their digital prospecting, customer outreach, and measurement strategies. This change also presents the opportunity to focus more on the first part data and gathering email addresses in a legitimate manner are the best first-party data. Businesses that have not been using any Customer Management System to build their contacts database will have to face the backlash of this update. It is high time for you to start leveraging email marketing if you are not already. Check out more conversational & email marketing tips that convert here.

As a HubSpot certified digital marketing agency, we use HubSpot as the CRM for our clients. Personalized and creative email campaigns are developed for businesses not using the traditional tools but using HubSpot. The results are further analyzed and the Inbound marketing campaigns are designed complying with the GDPR compliances.

If you want to know more about the third party cookies update,
Here’s a blog we have put together that includes tips to prepare
your business for a cookieless world.

Embracing The “New Normal”

2020 showed all of us a new world. Among the many things that have become part of the ‘New Normal’, the move to hybrid events has become an indispensable change . The hybrid event culture did exist prior to the pandemic but in the light of social distancing and remote work, businesses had to adopt this model faster.

Quoting Forbes “Hybrid events offer a combination of in-person and virtual components that can make them more sustainable and inclusive”.

Companies have hosted virtual conferences, virtual job fairs, virtual trade which requires a strong digital component and utilize technologies like AR and VR to create an immersive experience for those who wish to attend digitally. For one of our clients, Demesne Electrical, we organized a Virtual Exhibition which consisted of 15 of Demesne’s suppliers from around Europe all presenting their products to an audience of 200 attendees. All this was done using a state of the art software which allowed users to walk around our virtual exhibition centre as avatars, visit virtual exhibition stands and even have a virtual coffee with their fellow attendees. All done from the comfort of their home or office.

By putting human needs at the center and rapidly innovating with customers enables the customers to be co creators of their own experience. Brands are able to carve their digital experiences as agile and flexible as consumers have come to expect. Agility is no more just a technology process but a modern marketing approach. Even B2B marketing has been humanized.

Here’s a guide if you want to know more formulating B2B marketing strategies that are not boring.
Feel free to give us a shout if you have any queries!

The domination of digital content

‘Content is King’! But now more than ever, Search engines like Google not only continue to prioritize content but stresses on the content quality. Designing a human-first user experience by using clear, attractive, engaging and informative content could improve your business’s online rankings, leads and conversions. Google’s Page Experience Update also stresses on the importance of providing seamless User Experience.

It’s been estimated that the market value of voice search shopping will hit $40 billion by 2022, while consumer spending via voice assistants will reach 18 percent. This means that content will require to be optimized not just for visual or video content but voice content as well. According to 2018 Google data, 52% of voice-activated speaker owners would like to receive information about deals, promotions and sales; thirty-nine percent would like to receive business information like store hours.Therefore, businesses need to accommodate voice commands and optimize content for voice searches.

Check out how content marketing can benefit Small Businesses

If you have not made the digital transformation yet, then it needs to be considered now! The 2022 marketing landscape will be different but what is going to dominate is your business’s digital presence and how to carve it into a personalized customer experience

It's better to prepare early and stay ahead in the competition!
Our Guys & Gals are happy to help with
any queries you may have.