The COVID-19 pandemic affected lives in a number of ways. While it stressed the healthcare system, it was a boon for the environment. Similarly, in the world of technology and innovation, the pandemic accelerated Digital Marketing efforts and its adoption in the past couple of years.
Brands that were deterred from investing in online marketing realized that it would be their prime source of generating revenue during the covid infused lockdown. This high adoption rate led to huge innovation in the field of digital marketing.The industry players adopted new techniques and trends that were useful for their businesses. Let us take a look at the upcoming trends that businesses could enter to further their sales efforts in 2022.
Innovation of Social Commerce
Social Commerce is the ability of brands to sell services and products directly to their target customers from social media platforms. Small businesses especially have seen tremendous growth by marketing their products on social media platforms.
Experts believe that Social Commerce will experience huge development in the coming days. Social Media platforms are focused on creating payment methods for consumers without having to leave the app. This would be a huge leap in development as currently, users need to exit the social media app temporarily to enter the payment gateway while purchasing a product or service. Creating payment methods within the app would boost the confidence and credibility that consumers feel for the brand.The most impressive part of a Social Commerce post is that it is free. All that the brand needs to do is upload quality photos and tag them appropriately with its pricing and description. A high-quality photo can do wonders for the sale of the product.
The potential of Social Commerce is so great, that earlier last year, Tik Tok and Shopify partnered on in-app sharing. This bridged the gap between the Shopify business owners, who could now seamlessly integrate and market their products on Tik Tok.
Influencer Marketing (Long Term)
Signing the right influencer can kickstart the success of a business. Many successful brands have roped in an influencer at some point in their journey. But in 2022, brands seem to be investing heavily into signing the right influencer on a long-term contract. This is because they’ve realised that the right influencer would be their direct source of contact with the target audience.
Most influencers these days are well versed in the needs of their fans. Brands can leverage this information and create products and services that meet their needs. Influencers who are a part of the creative space can also pitch in during the product development phase for a particular business. This information would be priceless as it is rare.Influencers would also be fantastic brand ambassadors. If they market the product or service correctly it could boost the brand recall value of the firm concerning the target consumer.
Signing influencers on a long-term contract also reduces the hassle of short-term contracts – influencer research, negotiation, and contract proposal. The time and effort can be better spent on other avenues by signing the right influencer for the long-term.
Marketing on the Metaverse
Though the concept of Metaverse is not new, Facebook popularized it back in 2021 when they announced Metaverse would be their primary focus in the long run.
Metaverse is based on the concept of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). Studies show that more than 60 million people have a VR or AR-capable device. The Metaverse harnessed the power of AR and VR devices to create an immersive virtual world where individuals can meet, interact and trade. Businesses with a focus on Gen Z and the young demographic can especially prosper by marketing on the platform. Brands can mirror the traditional billboards and create similar immersive ads on different Metaverse worlds. Individuals who explore these worlds can interact with these ads.
Marketing on the Metaverse is at its nascent stages currently, but the platform has huge potential to grow thereby making it pertinent for brands to seriously consider it as a marketing platform. Brands like Gucci have gone a step further and created exclusive events in the Metaverse. People can accessorize their avatars and even buy digital merchandise at these events.
Gender Neutral Products
In the past few years, gender neutrality has been a hot topic of discussion. The phenomenon is based on the policy of not discriminating or typecasting individuals based on their gender or roles in society.
Clothing brands such as Old Navy realized the opportunity and launched an exclusive line of gender-neutral clothing. The thought behind this clothing line was – consumers do not want to be told how to dress up, rather they should have the freedom to choose for themselves. The marketing campaign was a breath of fresh air since established brands rarely move out of their comfort zone.
Customers are often forced to buy products that are forced upon them than buy one that they prefer. The campaign became instantly popular and caught the notice of other brands who immediately bought into the idea and monetized it.
Livestreaming Events
Live Streaming is not a new concept but has slowly gathered pace in the marketing world. Research has shown that consumers show 3 times more interest in live content than traditional social media posts. Live Streaming is an excellent way to connect with the audience. Businesses can conduct frequent Q&A sessions and answer queries in real time. This would create a better brand connection with their audience.
It is an excellent platform for product launches as well. The live chat option can help understand the opinion of the consumers. Live sessions are much more immersive as they are more interactive. Live Streaming on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook gives businesses the option to create a CTA. The conversion rate for these CTAs tends to be much higher than the other forms of organic marketing.
The Rise of NFT
NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. It is based on Blockchain technology. NFTs are based on the concept that they cannot be replaced or exchanged since they have a unique value. These could range from artwork, music, and video. Basically, they could be anything in the digital realm.
Owning an NFT corresponds to one having ownership of that digital product. NFTs are being highly promoted by content creators these days. Though they are a niche offering that targets a very specific customer base, the value of these NFTs can range from a few thousand dollars to more than a million. If companies can leverage this technology and offer something unique, they stand to profit massively.
Conclusion
Marketing in the digital space constantly evolves and firms need to keep in stride with these innovations to stay relevant. There truly lies interesting times ahead and one must be far-sighted to leverage the opportunities.
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