In times of uncertainty, it’s nice to feel confident about at least some aspects of the future. While no one can predict exactly what’s ahead, we can look to expert insights, cultural observations, and market research to make a few marketing predictions for 2022.
There are a lot of 2022 marketing predictions out there– some of which we at Wholeheart agree with more than others. Here are the marketing predictions for 2022 that we feel most confident about.
Prediction: Branding will drive purchases.
In 2022, consumers will be less focused on buying products and more interested in investing in brands that align with their core values.
Did you know that only 5% of buyers are actually looking to buy a product at any given time? That means whether you’re selling cars, clothing, or yoga class subscriptions, roughly 5% of the people in your market actually have buying on their minds.
It makes sense, when you think about it. While we might have a passing thought during the day of “I need this or that,” few of those momentary wants become a determined intent to buy. This is why financial advice often recommends waiting a certain number of days before making a purchase. Relatively few items that grab our attention are things we genuinely need or even want.
Regardless of what industry you’re in, trying to find those 5% of intentful buyers is like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. You’re competing with so many other brands, products, and services (relevant or not) trying to get in front of that same person. So what’s the solution?
Brands need to focus on meeting the other 95% of consumers on where they are at a given time. Branding, not intent, will drive purchases in 2022. People will buy when the branding of a company or organization captures their attention, resonates with them on a deeper level, and aligns with their core values.
How do you become a brand that consumers want to support? Here are a few suggestions.
Fine-tune your branding. Does your brand tell a compelling story that’s crafted with your target audience in mind? Does it stand out from competitors? Is it instantly recognizable? Are people excited to be a part of it? If necessary, go back to the basics of your brand development and make sure it’s aligned with how you want others to think about your brand.
Elevating brand awareness. When your target audience thinks about your industry or cause, is it your brand that comes to mind? Are you maintaining a consistent presence over social media, email marketing, and your website? Are you partnering with relevant groups and influencers to reach new audiences and build trust? Are you investing in paid advertising to expand your reach? Make sure you have a strategic plan for getting your brand out there in front of people who you want to reach.
Developing an active community. Are you proactively engaged with your target audience? Are you creating and nurturing spaces for conversation, online and off? Are you consistently staying in touch with your audience via social media, email, events, or SMS marketing? Do you offer loyalty or referral programs that give your audience incentive to stick around? Consider how you could create loyal fans and advocates for your brand, and be consistent and genuine with those strategies.
Source: Penry Price, a vice president with LinkedIn Marketing Solutions.
Prediction: Consumers will drive culture.
Consumers leading cultural trends is, frankly, nothing new. But the extent to which this is true increases each year, as people across generations turn to social media for their entertainment, connection, and even research.
For the first time in modern history, the bulk of content out there is created by consumers. This is a great departure from traditional media and advertising, when only brands with big budgets could dictate what consumers saw on television, radio, and print.
Today, much of the content we see on our feeds comes from our friends, family, acquaintances, or public personalities like influencers and celebrities. Indeed, that’s the kind of content that we as consumers prefer to see.
It’s this consumer-created (or “user-generated”) content, then, that largely drives today’s cultural and buying trends. Look no further than memes, influencer marketing, or Buzzfeed’s ingenious product placement articles as proof. Whether cultural trends are intentional (i.e. a creator hoping to go viral) or accidental (i.e. a regular Jane sharing something that catches on in a big way), they are more than ever in the hands of consumers, not the companies trying to reach them.
As a result, brands need to solicit consumer input and preferences at all stages of marketing and even product development. Including consumers in decision-making, product testing, messaging, and content creation will help your brand understand their preferences and know ahead of time which trends to jump on and which to let pass by.
Sounds stressful, but looping consumers in can actually make your marketing a little easier (when done well). Take a look at this example from ClevrBlends. They’re polling their audience on what to name their new mug-sharing series, driving active engagement. The post also uses customer-generated photos, tagging those customers which could compel them to share the post.
How can your brand include consumers in its marketing efforts? Try:
Polling customers and followers. You presumably have access to your audience via social media, email marketing, and perhaps even in-person avenues such as a storefront. Leverage that access by polling them on what they like, dislike, need, want, or prefer. Social media offers built-in tools for this– such as Instagram’s many story features. You can also simply ask your customers for feedback in an email or social media post.
Paying close attention to social media trends– and reactions. Staying up-to-date with social media trends can feel like a full-time job, but it’s important. You need to be able to catch trends quickly enough that you can study them and potentially act on them through meaningful content creation. You want to see how consumers are using these trends, and how other brands are trying to jump on them. What are both groups getting right– and wrong– in replicating the trend?
Learn from others’ triumphs and mistakes, but do so quickly enough that you can jump onto the trend if (and only if) it makes sense for your brand and audience.
Investing in market research. The term might sound overwhelming, but there are many ways to invest in market research. On the expensive end, there are large-scale focus groups and consumer surveying (think, hundreds of not thousands of respondents).
Brands with more modest budgets can DIY their market research by reaching out to their own customer base. This could include setting up phone interviews with customers or clients or sending out surveys along with an incentive to complete them, such as a gift card. You could also invest in external research, such as market reports around your industry or audience, or online surveys or focus groups that offer greater reach.
Prediction: Marketing will get more difficult.
Marketing is getting harder and harder to do successfully. You can thank the endless technical, political, cultural, and competitive shifts in the marketplace.
On the technical side, disruptive changes in online advertising, social media platforms, and search algorithms make it harder than ever to get your message out there. Evolving data privacy laws seek to limit the extent of advertisers’ knowledge of and access to consumers. Social media and search algorithms are constantly shifting, making it difficult for even the tapped-in marketer to keep up with– and ahead of– changes in time.
Culturally and politically, it’s a sensitive time. 2020 ushered in an era of racial reckoning and conversations around inequality that are long overdue, and won’t be settled anytime soon. The #MeToo movement of 2017 remains relevant, with high-profile sexual abuse and harrassment cases keeping women’s rights and gender equality in national conversation. And of course, the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, continually shining light on political division, misinformation, the distrust of media, and healthcare inequalities in the U.S. and around the world.
Then there is the ever-growing competition. Brands used to only have to compete with other brands– now they compete with everyone and everything. With more people, companies, and content to compete with than ever before, getting in front of a given audience is increasingly difficult. Actually holding their attention once there can feel downright impossible.
This is all to say, marketing in 2022 won’t get any easier. Brands need to be strategic, determined, consistent, and authentic to stand a chance in this ever-evolving landscape.
There is no one-and-done answer here– but here are a few suggestions to help your brand execute and maintain successful marketing in 2022:
Invest in high-quality content. Content is the new gateway to your audience– and sales, or at least conversations. The best ad campaign in the world won’t outcompete a consistent, long-term strategy of high-quality, authentic, and engaging content. If you’re not making content creation a priority in 2022, start now. There is no getting around it, if you want your brand to reach its full potential.
Diversify your marketing efforts. Never put all your eggs in one basket. Your audience is spread out over multiple channels and platforms, and you need to meet them where they’re at. It’s not enough to be on social media– you should be on multiple platforms, and leverage the diverse tools that each have to offer. Look beyond social media, too– email marketing, search-driven website content, paid advertising, and traditional marketing like direct mail and print advertising all have their advantages.
Build and nurture your community. Since it’s harder to reach people than ever, make sure your audience actually wants to be reached by you. Create and maintain channels for direct communication with your audience– and make it worth their while to be involved. This could include email campaigns, community forums, online courses, Zoom webinars, Live Q&As, one-on-one calls, and even live events. Build and nurture an active community that looks forward to hearing from you, and the algorithms and competition won’t trouble you as much.
Invest in SEO and content for your website. Organic search is still queen for driving website traffic and sales, and content is the way to attract it. Make sure your website is set up to satisfy the technical components of SEO, such as having a healthy site speed and having good metadata in place. Then, be ready to invest in ongoing website content that’s strategically created to attract relevant organic search traffic. And be patient. Like most things worth having, SEO is a long-term game that pays major dividends when you stay consistent.
Aim to entertain or educate with your content. No one wants to be sold to, even those who are looking to buy. And as we learned above, only a tiny fraction of consumers are even looking to buy in the first place. Instead of using your content to sell, aim to create content that is genuinely entertaining or educational. Create content that people want to consume– that makes their day a little brighter or leaves them better prepared to reach their goals and overcome obstacles. If even half of your marketing in 2022 is self-serving, you’re doing it wrong.
Get ahead of these marketing predictions for 2022.
We hope these marketing predictions for 2022 inspire you. While overwhelming in some ways, it’s our sincere belief that the evolution of marketing is a positive one. Consumers deserve more from brands, and brands deserve more from their marketing. With the right mindset and strategy, these marketing predictions for 2022 can be stepping stones to your brand’s success.
If you need help with your marketing, branding, or website design in 2022, consider reaching out to our team at Wholeheart. We believe that marketing can– and should– be a force for good. We look forward to helping our clients grow in an meaningful and measurable way in 2022 and beyond.