Digital Marketing Trends in 2022

I know there are a lot of these digital marketing trends articles about. But so many of them don’t actually talk about trends. Some digital marketing trends’ articles just list a bunch of digital buzzwords (Transformation, digitisation, personalisation, automation…blah, blah, blah). Some digital marketing trends’ articles talk about best practice marketing techniques that are so well established they will undoubtedly be around for a while longer, and some of them discuss the latest technological advancements.

There’s nothing wrong with writing about these things, but if the title of the article is ‘digital marketing trends’, then what I really want to know is ‘what’s trending’?! So here’s my attempt at looking at what’s actually happening in the world, to predict what’s actually going to be trending in digital marketing in 2022. I’ll try not to fall into the above buzzword traps.

Let’s take a step back. What is a digital marketing trend anyway?

A trend is a general change in the way that people are behaving. So a digital marketing trend is a change in the way that digital marketers are behaving. It’s a consistent change in the actions of the digital marketing community. There’s often a catalyst for this behaviour change – more often than not the catalyst is an innovation in technology, but it may also be a significant political or environmental event (COP26 perhaps?) or even a crisis (now there’s a word we’ve heard too much lately!) such as an environmental disaster or (you’ve guessed it!) a pandemic.

Why should you care about digital marketing trends?

In short, because you don’t want to get left behind. Crafting innovative ways to connect with your audiences is key to success. If you don’t keep up to date with what’s happening in the industry, how can you make sure that your marketing is as good as it can be? Short answer, you can’t. The result? Your competitors start to create incredible experiences and you’re left standing on the sidelines in awe of them wondering how they did it and why you didn’t think of that.

But the key here is to be aware of the trends, not necessarily to jump on all of them. You need to make sure you’re equipped with the right and most up-to-date information to make the best possible decisions for your business. Some things will be right for you and your audiences and for some of the other trends, a better way of standing out might be to do something different to what everyone else is doing. (Ooh disruptive!)

So let’s be clear here. These are predicted trends. This is not an overwhelming ‘to do’ list.

The Catalysts for 2022’s Digital Marketing Trends

Let’s start by reminding ourselves what’s been happening in the world:

1. A Global Pandemic

Up first is the most obvious. I don’t want to say the ‘C’ word. But a global pandemic has forced behavioural change, specifically it forced us to take our world’s online. In 2020 and 2021, the only way for many businesses to stay afloat was through accelerated digital transformation (buzzword. My bad). We’re now living in a far more digitized (ooh sorry two buzzwords in a row) world than we were two years ago. And this increase in both the volume of people using technology, and the ways in which people are using technology will undoubtedly be a catalyst for many of the digital marketing trends I’m expecting to see in 2022.

2. Technology

On a related note, technology has advanced – rapidly. 5G is here, opening up a range of opportunities for platforms that have previously been limited by connectivity. And of course the Metaverse has landed, opening up a new world of opportunities particularly in the virtual events space.

3. User Privacy

Obviously one of the main players in the Metaverse’ development is Meta (formerly Facebook). But Facebook is also one of the primary catalysts for the conversation on user privacy. We’ve been talking about user privacy (and rightly so) for a while, but 2022 is the year that we’ll see more action and less talking (nah just kidding – privacy will remain high on the news agenda so everyone will still be talking about it, but we will see more changes to technology in response to privacy concerns). For example, both Apple and Google have taken significant steps to restrict cookie tracking, with Google confirming that they will stop supporting third party cookies by 2023, changing the internet as we know it and in particular significantly changing the digital advertising industry.  

4. The Planet

It’s not just the internet that’s changing forever. Our planet is changing too (whoah, thinking big here). COP26 felt somehow different to other global climate summits. More urgent. World leaders came together to discuss their updated plans on how they would reduce their emissions, in line with their collective commitment to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. And it became clear, that the window to achieve such commitments is closing. The next 5 (or so) years will be critical to the future of our planet. Why is this relevant here? Well in part because digital communications has a significant impact on the environment. But that won’t be trending this year (we’re all still pretending that’s not actually the case). However, the environmental agenda will most definitely impact which brands people to choose to buy from. (There you go – we’re back to talking about people and brands. Back in the comfort zone. Phew.)

Trends in Digital Marketing 2022

So what trends should we expect off the back of these catalysts?

1. The cost of online advertising will increase

Noooo. I’m afraid so. And it all comes back to those tracking updates designed to better protect user privacy (so it’s a good thing really – just not so great for your budget).

A little background for you:

The 2021 update to Apple’s IOS14 software put an emphasis on user privacy. The impact on Facebook advertising was significant, with Apple users opted out by default. Only around 20% of users have since chosen to opt in to ad tracking. This means that for social advertising we have a significantly smaller audience size. The smaller audience size means targeted users are harder to reach, which in turn increases acquisition costs. According to Emplifi’s State of Social Media and CX Q2 2021 study, the overall cost of social ads increased by 85.1% during Q2 of 2021.

As user privacy continues to evolve, the audience pool for advertising as we currently know it will continue to shrink, so the cost of online advertising is going to continue to rise.

Combine this with the surge in the number of organsiations now using digital advertising because so many organisations are now more reliant on digital than they were a couple of years ago, and we have increased competition. Higher competition also means higher costs.

Whilst we’re at it we may as well throw inflation into the mix too.

2. Digital advertising spend will increase

So are we expecting people to move away from digital advertising because of the higher costs? Well, we might see changes to how budgets are split. But the evidence is actually  pointing towards an increase in digital advertising spend. Have we all gone mad!? On the one hand, if you’ve got higher costs (and you haven’t got an alternative channel to fulfil that role) you need more budget. Simples.

Also, whilst ad costs have risen, in the main CTRs (click through rates) have remained stable, allowing for a positive ROAS (return on ad spend).

But equally there’s more to it than this. We’ll likely see some brands move away from Facebook and Instagram advertising (as the privacy wars rage on). We’ll see them stick with digital advertising, but start testing more channels – so the market will for a time likely become more fragmented (meaning media mix modelling will likely gain in importance). Lots will invest in Tik Tok. We’ll also see a growth in advertising propositions in retail media (Boots and Tesco for example have recently launched their own media businesses). Advertisers will be partnering with such retailers to utilize their first party databases.

3. The importance of CRM will grow

In our cookie-less future, first party data will be key. The days of RTB (Real Time Bidding) and third party audience availability will diminish before our eyes. And in it’s place first party data will be a priority focus area for advertisers. Owning high quality, ethically sourced first party data is going to be key. Therefore having a good, robust CRM you can use to manage your data and integrate it with your marketing channels will be essential. And those who have invested in their data and analytics set ups will be the ones experiencing the greatest outputs.

4. Brands will double down on brand building

At least I hope they will. We’re emerging from a world where short-termism has prevailed. By this I mean that since the pandemic hit, organizations have been gravitating towards sales activation behaviours. In part this is due to the immediacy of results provided by digital channels, and a need within tight budget scenarios to prove an ROI quickly. The problem with this is that if all your efforts are focused on generating sales now, you lose focus on generating future sales.

So I’m hoping that the uncertainty brought by the evolution of tracking (with IOS updates and the demise of the third party cookie) and changes to targeting capabilities, will lead to brands doubling down on their brand building activity shifting from predominantly lower funnel conversion goals towards upper funnel brand awareness, brand equity and brand affinity goals. This means we will see an increase in the use of rich media and video formats (particularly in paid channels likely with an increase in the uptake of the likes of Connected TV and Broadcaster Video on Demand).

Or even better, we’ll see bigger creative concepts forming part of a full funnel strategy (oooh imagine that!)

5. Brands will get creative with 3D

Talking of rich media, the hype around the Metaverse will mean more virtual events companies will experiment with 3D events. I think the gaming industry are going to lead the way on this.

And whilst the metaverse attempts to bring people into virtual 3D experiences, I think we’ll also see brands bringing 3D experiences into the real world. And if we’re expecting an increase in the use of upper funnel channels, nothing’s going to be more talked about than the way brands bring ideas to life and into real world experiences, than 3D OOH. (I’m excited for this one! Though of course it will be dependent on mobility getting back to pre-pandemic levels).

6. Messaging will continue to focus on brand purpose

So if ‘brand’ is getting the attention I hope it will, what will brands be talking about? The trend for consumers buying from brands with values that align to their own will continue. In particular environmental values will be important (in the wake of COP 26 in 2021 and with COP27 hot off it’s heels in November 2022), the environment is going to be (rightly) firmly on the Nation’s agenda. Whilst talking about your brand’s values will be important, actions will speak louder than words. Audiences will gravitate towards brands demonstrating genuine  purpose in their communications (and greenwashing really won’t cut it).

7. Social commerce will explode

For the brands continuing to win over hearts and minds, online purchases will continue to be their most important revenue stream. But convenience is going to be key to consumers. So with more social platforms adopting intuitive social commerce solutions, we’re expecting purchases within social media to soar. I think we’ll also see social fundraising gain traction.

8. Use of the story format will expand across channels

We’re used to seeing social platforms utilize the story format. Due to high engagement levels, expect this format to expand across channels. First up, SEO. Google will lead the way with web stories (similar to Instagram stories) in both search results and Google Discover.

9. More marketers will test conversational marketing approaches

The pandemic has placed convenience at the heart of customer expectations. Wrapped up within this expectation is the need for people to have responsive communications with brands. People expect brands to talk to them on a personal level, wherever they are, whatever the time is. As a result, in 2022, we’ll see further growth in webinars, big increases in the use of conversational apps such as WhatsApp, more people using messaging prompts (via SMS or email) and of course growth in the use of chatbots (powered by AI).

10. More organisations will in-house their marketing teams

I could write for hours on this one. So all I’ll say here is that CMO’s will build out their in-house capabilities in 2022. Agencies will continue to be needed – but their offer will need to adapt.

On that note, The Marketing Den offers training in all aspects of digital marketing. Just thought I’d mention that in case, you know, you want to build the skillsets in your team.

So there you have it, ten trends for 2022. Based on what we know now. But let’s face it, the world changes fast. Don’t blink. Enjoy the ride. Happy 2022 everyone!