Online marketing is ever evolving. It is proven to be a much more affordable, accessible, and effective means of marketing than traditional media marketing, but it takes a certain ability to adapt to perfect it.
A lot of things have changed over the past few years, and a lot of industries have been affected, and marketing is no exception. People were forced to change their habits, and that has had an effect on social media, and in turn marketing online.
If you have a business you’re looking to market, you might have to rethink your marketing campaign. Take a look at our picks for the most drastic changes in online marketing for 2022.
Marketers will have to get creative with content
Right now, ads online are fairly same-ish – and customers are catching on. They are scrolling past stationary ads, they are installing ad blockers, they are skipping through affiliate pitches on YouTube and swiping past Instagram stories that say #ad.
They’re always either a picture or a pitch, and something so dull on such creative platforms is going to stick out as an ad – and not in a good way.
In order to engage your audience, you will have to become more creative with your content and adapt it to the platform you are posting on. Where once an image of the product with a caption was fine for every platform, users aren’t paying attention to them. Each of the platforms were created to be different from the others, so if you’re posting the same content across all of them, you’re missing a big chunk of audience who see your content sticking out like a sore thumb.
Post to more platforms
The second part of this is another big change: there are more platforms to post to. Where once marketing was mainly kept to the big three: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, a lot of smaller platforms are not only gaining users, making for a great missed opportunity, but are releasing features that will help users create more forms of content. For example, the photo-based app, Pinterest, has gotten into video content. Other options include TikTok, Snapchat and Spotify.
But, as said above, this isn’t a matter of adding a static photo and a caption to your TikTok, Snapchat or Spotify account, two of which wouldn’t allow it anyway. Your content should fit the platform you’re aiming for and the priorities of the platform. For example, TikTok is a place made up of short-form videos that allow you to carve out your own community. These videos are usually following a trend or starting a discussion. If you are marketing something you will want to do either one of those, like Duolingo, who’s mascot has gone viral for releasing TikToks of them dancing and playing out skits popular on the site.
Plus, a lot of platforms are releasing innovative features to their apps which are designed to close the gap between seller and buyer. Instagram is releasing an affiliate dashboard so that marketers can easily find and interact with influencers, Snapchat is offering clothing AI so that customers can try on clothes before they buy them, etc.
If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, contact Creatopy ad design to help you come up with ideas for all your marketing needs.
Customers are thinking about what they are really buying
In an increasingly aware, or “woke” society, customers are becoming aware of who they are buying from, and what they are buying. More and more, customers are making sure that a product aligns with their priorities and beliefs – and they will do research to find out.
It is therefore important to keep your social media accounts and website up to date with the greater benefits of your products. Are they vegan? Cruelty free? Energy efficient?
Your business as a brand should also express what you stand for. Businesses have been doing this long before 2022, usually backing up their products with a promise that it will give customers a certain lifestyle, “real men buy this”, “classy women buy this”, etc. But today, in a more polarising climate, customers want to know that you support their way of life. It’s useful to take a stand on the many social issues today to gain support in turn from customers.
It would be a stretch to say that without mentioning these beliefs or added wider benefits, the results of the marketing campaign would be hindered, but it is widely believed that they will give your campaign and resulting sales a decent boost.
Communities over audiences
As mentioned above, users online are using more platforms, particularly TikTok and Facebook to carve out their own niche. They are using the algorithm that comes with TikTok to find more people with their shared interested, be them a hobby, side business, interest, or social or political alignment.
This can be a great opportunity to really tap into the audience you are looking for with your product. For a basic example, there is #booktok, which is rapidly emptying book-lovers’ pockets with their reviews and recommendations on what to read next. If you have something more complex with a more varied audience, you can tap into various communities. For example, someone selling makeup might want to approach the mother community, LGBT community, etc. and all the things that those would be into like the beauty, cosplay and drag communities.
Swap big influencers for micro-influencers
What is likely to help there is the growing embracement of micro-influencers. Users are becoming increasingly aware of big influencers, who are often “exposed” once they get big enough and will disappoint them. That, alongside the need for community and a deeper connection, users are turning to smaller creators who appear more authentic and who’s tastes are tailored to them.
Marketers would be smart to set up affiliate partnerships with more micro-influencers. They usually have a niche audience, sometimes putting them at the leadership position in a small community, where they can make a recommendation to a very specific audience and their words will be considered more trustworthy.
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