• by Eric Woodson , November 19, 2021

As leaders are just about to see the benefits of this year’s marketing decisions, they soon realize it’s time to start planning marketing strategies for 2022.

As the economic recovery gains momentum, hopefully marketers will find themselves with a more padded budget to work with. But what would be the best way to allocate this money?

With every industry reeling from navigating a continuing global crisis, it’s essential to pay attention to trends shifting user behavior and media consumption.

Use more videos. It feels like every marketing tips list for the past decade have talked about video. Yet, some businesses and brands remain hesitant to incorporate video marketing into the mix. With the rise of TikTok and Instagram announcing it’s now a video platform, the rise of video is imminent.

Over 85% of consumers would like to see more videos from brands, and at least 67% of brands are looking to increase their video spend in 2022, according to Wyzowl.

Beyond short videos for social media, some brands are tapping into the power of longer-form original content to help them build brand affinity.

Invest in creating a strong brand image. Branding has always been an important element of marketing and business in general. But focusing on storytelling and building a solid brand image is what will keep consumers coming back. In 2022, creating a solid brand image requires a two-step or hybrid marketing approach.

The primary goal is to use digital advertising to get your brand out there. It’s essential to note that digital advertising will become more expensive with time – that’s a given. Higher competition drives Google’s bidding wars into spirals that can often be too expensive for small brands. Still, this will always be worth the investment when done right.

Next, find ways to keep growing organically. Raise your brand awareness through organic content via videos, web content that provides value, weekly podcasts, newsletters, and other forms of organic contact.

Optimize for voice search. Since 2019, the rise of voice technology has become a constant thought in every marketer’s mind. Voice search includes everything from voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and chatbots.

Brands that focus on more consumer-friendly (less invasive) content will thrive in this space. Offering sharp, valuable content that responds to what consumers use voice search for will make them winners.

Optimizing for voice search means focusing your efforts on conversational keywords and creating persona-based content that will answer people’s questions.

Don’t neglect B2B marketing. Business-to-business content is often neglected as most businesses focus only on consumers. However, B2B marketing can be highly profitable for most companies, primarily because B2B searches are based on intent.

Incorporating educational blogs, white papers, quizzes, and long-form content that address a specific problem can help nurture leads and build audience trust. In fact, close to 68% of B2B marketers use content marketing to build trust, according to the Content Marketing Institute.

By taking these marketing trends into account, you’ll be able to stay ahead of the curve and meet your goals.