It feels like we just started planning our marketing strategy for 2021, but here we are, getting ready for 2022. If you’re like most people, your goal is to start the new year strong with robust marketing strategies designed to help you secure more leads, sales, and engagement.
The various evolutions in technology, business models, and how people interact with brands have led to some revolutionary changes in the ways businesses engage with their audience. Despite all of the new and upgraded options we have at our disposal, many business owners and marketers struggle to find a comprehensive plan that works for their online store.
We aim to solve this problem by sharing several digital marketing strategies we should all try to improve on in 2022. If you’re not already using these tactics to grow your business, now is the perfect time to get started. All of the growth techniques mentioned today have proven successful over time, and we expect to see more exciting enhancements and case uses in the years to come.
Are you ready to see what’s in store? Good. Let’s get started!
Diversify Your Content Marketing Strategy
The first thing every business owner needs to think about is their content marketing strategy. You’re going to have a hard time reaching your target audience if you don’t continuously publish diverse, high-quality content. ‘
At this point, you should have a company blog. Many consumers will straight up refuse to give their information to a company that doesn’t have concrete proof that they are experts in their field. Your written content is an excellent way to build your reputation while educating users about your product or services and helping new visitors overcome pain points associated with your industry.
Research shows that, on average, 47% of shoppers want to read at least 3-5 blog posts on a company website before they commit to a purchase. If you’re able to win your audience over with actionable advice, there’s an excellent chance they will subscribe to your email list and continue engaging with your brand every time they have questions or concerns.
We suggest going beyond text posts and creating plenty of video content for your site. We’ve found that an impressive 43% of people want more videos from their favorite brands, even those that frequently include video content on their blog.
In 2022 we will see more businesses interacting with visitors through their content. If you don’t have a strong content marketing strategy, start brainstorming topic ideas by practicing social listening, engaging with your audience on social media, and reviewing your on-site analytics.
Optimize for Voice Search
Next, let’s talk about why you should get your site ready for voice search in the coming year. Many of us use text when we want to search for something online, but voice search is growing in popularity. Believe it or not, by 2022, it’s reported that over 55% of households will have smart speakers.
Shoppers use this feature to find new products, discover answers to questions, and engage with businesses. If you want to maximize the value of your search optimization strategy, getting your online store ready for voice search is a must.
There are two surprisingly simple ways you can optimize your site for voice search. First, you should choose a new or slightly altered keyword list for people discovering your site using voice. Generally, your voice search keywords should sound more like what someone might say instead of type.
For instance, an online pet store owner would likely target “Where can I buy cat food?” instead of “best cat food 2021” because the first phrase sounds like something a user would say when using their voice-activated device. If you’re not sure about the popularity of specific keywords, Google’s Keyword tools can give you some helpful insights when choosing new, relevant keywords.
It’s also a good idea to make your on-site content more conversational. Your goal is to get your website to pop up when someone uses specific keywords. When you write in a conversational tone, your writing sounds more like what someone might say instead of type. As a result, you’re more likely to end up in the voice search results for your chosen keywords.
Host More Live Events
In 2022, we expect to see more business owners and marketing teams hosting live events on social media for prospects and existing customers. Platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter make it easy to connect to your target audience, even if they’ve never heard of your brand. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, especially considering that 3.96 billion people use social media.
When it’s time to choose the type of event for your brand, you have quite a few options. One of the best ways to build trust and grow your lead list is to host a webinar. Your webinar should focus on a hot topic or pain point in the industry. For instance, an email marketing SaaS would find success hosting a webinar focused on generating leads.
You can also host small interactive Q&A sessions with your followers. Use this opportunity to engage with your audience in real-time. Use this opportunity to put your knowledge on display and give your viewers the freedom to, well, ask you about anything! You’ll find plenty of opportunities to connect with your visitors. If implemented properly, many of the people watching your live event will navigate to your website so they can learn more about your brand.
Despite listing these two strong examples, we’ve only scratched the surface. Other forms of live video events include:
-Announcements
-Giveaways
-Product demonstrations
-Interviews with other experts
We suggest asking your audience what kind of videos they want to see in the future. You can send a feedback form to your subscribers, include a poll on your social media profile, and even ask new customers after they complete an order.
Prioritize Personalization
Personalization will make or break eCommerce businesses in 2022. A whopping 80% of shoppers say they are more likely to engage with a brand if they send personalized offers and content. In other words, you could be missing out on a significant chunk of traffic and sales by not creating unique content for your segments.
The key to creating a top-notch personalization strategy is to understand your target audience. If you don’t know much about the people visiting your website, you’re going to have a difficult time convincing them to engage with your business.
Take a look at your customer personas and learn about the various interests, goals, and pain points of your various audience segments. Let’s go back to the pet store we mentioned earlier. The owner of this company would likely create different offers and content for visitors based on the pets they own. So, cat owners will get emails about cat-related articles and flash sales. People are far more likely to open a message if they care about the contents.
We segment our audience based on how they interact with our business. Once someone joins our email list, we send a thank you email that encourages our new subscribers to choose their preferences. If someone says they want one type of content, that’s all we send to them. Using personalization in this way has helped us dramatically boost our click-through rate and customer satisfaction.
Showcase Plenty of Social Proof
Finally, we suggest including plenty of social proof on your site. Social proof helps convince visitors who are on the fence to follow through with their order or subscription. The most notable benefit of adding this strategy to your site is you’ll have the opportunity to build trust with your audience.
There are several types of social proof we use on our websites. The most powerful type of proof you can include on your website is customers reviews. On average, 97% of shoppers look at reviews before committing to a purchase. The best way to gather reviews, and thus, social proof, is to allow customers to leave reviews directly on your product page.
It’s safe to say that most of us have made a split-second decision on sites like Amazon because of the customer reviews. Your business is no different. New visitors are more likely to place an order when they see that your product has a 4 and a half star rating and thousands of reviews.
We are also big fans of live sales notifications. You’ve likely seen these alerts when browsing various online stores. The sales notifications pop up on the left side of our site while customers are browsing our store or blog. If someone isn’t sure if they want to place an order, seeing live social proof from real customers could convince them to make a purchase.
Final Thoughts
There are more marketing options for businesses than ever before, and that isn’t going to change any time soon. We think 2022 is going to have some pretty exciting breakthroughs for companies across all industries. The best thing you can do now is put some of these tips into action so you can maximize your sales, engagement, and traffic next year.
