Understanding Digital Marketing

Digital marketing targets a specific segment of the customer base and is interactive. Digital marketing is on the rise and includes search result ads, email ads, and promoted tweets – anything that incorporates marketing with customer feedback or a two-way interaction between the company and customer.

Internet marketing differs from digital marketing. Internet marketing is advertising that is solely on the Internet, whereas digital marketing can take place through mobile devices, on a subway platform, in a video game, or via a smartphone app.

In the parlance of digital marketing, advertisers are commonly referred to as sources, while members of the targeted ads are commonly called receivers. Sources frequently target highly specific, well-defined receivers. For example, after extending the late-night hours of many of its locations, McDonald's needed to get the word out. It targeted shift workers and travelers with digital ads because the company knew that these people made up a large segment of its late-night business. McDonald's encouraged them to download a new Restaurant Finder app, targeting them with ads placed at ATMs and gas stations, as well as on websites that it knew its customers frequented at night.

*1 E-commerce, the natural extension of social networks

Social networks offer more and more features around e-commerce. Pinterest and Instagram offer to create stores and catalogs, TikTok has partnered with Shopify, YouTube is testing the shopping feature in the United States.

All players are positioning themselves to offer a new experience to their audiences. An experience with a natural extension since the audience spends more and more time on social networks, it is therefore quite logical to be able to offer a total “shopping” experience and thus generate new revenue.

But even if a brand can now create a store on Instagram or TikTok, this remains a simple tool. This is where influencers come in as intermediaries.

Indeed, there is nothing better than an influencer and his power of recommendation to boost the sales of e-retailers.

Influencer campaigns from e-retailers should multiply and it will be necessary to master the field, starting with the selection of the right influencer for the brand.

Influencers will be crucial partners in delivering a seamless shopping experience 

In a world of endless distractions and responsibilities, consumers are looking for the easiest way to shop for the things they need. But, brand loyalty is waning. 73% of US customers and 63% of UK customers have tried new shopping behaviors since the onset of the pandemic according to McKinsey. This means that people are less likely to buy from brands by default. New routines have also meant new shopping habits, and for the most part, this has revealed a preference for digital. 

Declining brand loyalty is not all bad news. There’s an opportunity for brands to convert new customers by offering a seamless shopping journey. Brands that can tap into what consumers are looking for at each stage of the shopping journey, and who can deliver that on the corresponding platform (whether that be on social, via a mobile app, or website) will undoubtedly be best placed to capture a host of new customers. 

Influencers will be key partners in delivering a seamless shopping experience and converting awareness into purchases. As social commerce and in-app checkout continue to grow in 2022, influencer marketing campaigns will be crucial to generating not only brand awareness but facilitating online sales. Creator partnerships can be harnessed to reach your target audience with authentic product recommendations. Further along the purchase journey, influencers can offer social proof, product information, and the means of purchase in live social shopping or affiliate marketing campaigns for example. Influencers can help you to deliver the right message, at the right time, on the right platform, which will drive further sales. 

 Conversational Marketing

With all that talk about chatbots, the reality of modern marketing becomes clear: it’s more conversational than ever. People want it that way, and so brands are reacting accordingly. When consumers have a question, 82% want an “immediate” response.

Conversational marketing facilitates a personal, instant connection between marketers and customers:Unlike traditional strategies, this form of marketing is now available across multiple channels, allowing brands to meet customers on their terms: on the devices, platforms and time schedules that suit the customer best.In fact, Drift has found that 41.3% of consumers use conversational marketing tools for purchases.

. Influencer marketing

Yes, we did say earlier that the ending of 2021 put a little distrust in influencer marketing, but that doesn’t mean this branch is closing.

Influencer marketing is still relevant in 2022. What’s more, it’s a great way brands can bond with their potential audience and appear more humane.

In 2022 there are thousands of ways you can implement influencers in your digital marketing strategies. Look at the amount of social media channels you can use – not only you can switch between Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, but also you can choose various ways you can market within the chosen app. For example, Instagram offers regular posts, Stories, and more recently – Reels.

Just be careful which influencers you choose to convert digital users. Part of the influencer marketing strategy includes a thorough audience research. There are various tools that might help you to identify the right influencers.

You can try Brand24 for identifying influencers in your marketing niche. Focus on the right keyword and the app will show you most influential social media profiles.

 Video Marketing

Video marketing is one of the most important marketing trends today and likely for the next 5-10 years. A Biteable survey found that:

• 60% of businesses use video as a marketing tool
• 61% of marketers see video as a “very important or extremely important” part of their marketing strategy
• 74% say video has a better return on investment than static imagery
• 52% say that video helps them build trust with potential customers

When we talk about video marketing, don’t just think of YouTube. There are plenty of ways to drive higher engagement with your video marketing. For instance, you can make a video post or start a live broadcast on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram. One way to schedule instagram posts for maximum engagement is by using RecurPost's automation tool.

Video is a useful channel where you can repurpose and republish your existing content or vice-versa. On the one hand, that means taking a content piece like a blog post and turning it into a video.

For example, we have implemented this tactic with this Amazon advertising 101 article, which Eric repurposed into a video:

Metaverse and VR/AR

In October 2021 Mark Zuckerberg announced the transformation of Facebook into Meta. The company revealed they are working on “Metaverse”, a next generation of social media or perhaps even the Internet.

Will it change the way we consume content on social media and alter our vision of the Internet social life? We are yet to find out.

You can start with planning Metaverse strategies already. There’s plenty of information on how will it look like.

But you don’t need to wait for Metaverse to explore the possibilities of VR and AR marketing. There are tons of apps that already work in the augmented reality available through your smartphone camera.

As the mobile devices are getting more advanced and VR sets more accessible, VR and AR marketing will be an emerging digital marketing trend in 2022. We are yet to see how it will play out.

 Social Messaging Apps

If you think social messaging apps are just for sending emojis to your friends, take a look at these numbers:

• The top three social messaging apps — WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and WeChat — have 4.5 billion users combined, more than Facebook or YouTube.
• Over 56% of global messaging app users say they have messaged brands to get more information in all stages of the buyer’s journey.

Social messaging apps are another execution of a conversational marketing strategy. People expect businesses to have a presence on messaging apps because it’s a direct and easy way to interact with them.

Live Stream Shopping

Live streaming is a relatively new concept in the Western world, but in China, it’s common and extremely popular. If you think that’s an exaggeration, check this out: In the first half of 2020, one third of China’s internet users — which is roughly 309 million people — tuned in to a live streaming shopping session.

What's more, in October of 2019, Viya, one of China's most popular live streamers, earned roughly $49.7 million in just one day of live streaming

Voice Search

The increasing use of voice search has pushed companies to rethink their digital marketing strategies. If you're still unsure about voice search, consider this:

• 20% of all internet searches are voice-based.
• 58% of consumers used voice search to find local business information.
• 40% of adults use voice search daily.
• 1 billion voice searches take place every month.

Voice search already plays a crucial role in providing relevant information for search engine users. Google Assistant has 1 million actions and Alexa has over 100,000 skills, which represent functions that allow their voice assistants to react very specifically to user commands and queries:

 Push Notifications

The launch of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) and stricter privacy laws have dented the potency of email marketing. Moreover, younger audiences favor other methods of communication and prefer to deal with fewer touchpoints when engaging brands.

As part of the bid to engage users on multiple channels, browser push notifications are something you will see more and more brands adopting in 2022 — and they are getting more sophisticated and personalized. In fact, using personalized push notifications increases conversions:

• 7% open rate for segmented push messaging compared to a 3% open rate for generic, broadcast messages (a 2x improvement)
• 54% of users convert from a segmented push notification, compared to only 15% for broadcast messages (a 3x improvement)

Notifications triggered by behavior are being used to re-engage people who have shown interest but failed to convert, and to recover revenue from abandoned shopping carts:

Social Commerce

Social commerce has existed for a long time but never really caught up until recently. Two platforms that have brought a new meaning to social commerce are Instagram and TikTok.

Instagram has 1 billion users, and 90% of them already follow active shopping brands, with many visiting these profiles daily. Here’s a list of features you can use to sell on Instagram:

• Live Shopping: This is an implementation of live streaming (more below, on trend #31).
• Shop Tab Ads: Perfect for e-commerce stores that want to promote their ads on users’ shop tabs.
• Reels Ads: Just like Stories ads, but for Reels.
• IGTV Ads: The same as before, but for IGTV.
• Instagram Checkout: A seamless and secure way to sell your products directly on Instagram.

With 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok isn't far behind behind. In 2022, they launched TikTok Shopping, which allows creators to add a shopping tab to their TikTok profiles:

Omnichannel Marketing

Omnichannel marketing was one of the buzzwords of 2020. While the phrase may now seem a little worn out, the strategy is as ripe and relevant as ever.

Omnichannel marketing is the process of marketing across multiple platforms — such as social media, apps, email, and blog posts — to offer an enhanced customer experience and cohesive brand message that lead to higher conversions and loyalty.

Engage in CSR and non-profit activities

In 2022 it’s high time we realize about the marketing impact on environment.

Fortunately, CSR campaigns are becoming a standard in the marketing industry. Not only this tactic is beneficial to the society, but also brands can appear more humane in front of their target audience.

People can be crazy for “good” companies. They like to identify with their love brands, and will share all the great deeds businesses are doing.

2022 marketers should once and for all discover that non-profit activities have a huge positive feedback on brand awareness and how people see the company.

For example, we organized a tree-planting event for our 10 year anniversary. We planted more than 3000 trees, and that’s not our final word for 2022.