Raise your hand if you shop online by yelling ‘designer shoes’ and waiting for Google to show you ads for designer shoes. Don’t even use the voice assistant, just scream into the void and wait. Well the lockdown has brought out the crazy in us so don’t worry, you’re not alone. The actual crazy part is that marketers are now using such subconscious emotions to advertise products to us. You may not even know that you need a portable blender but they sure do. So if you want to make the most of the digital marketing world in 2022, here are some top digital marketing trends for 2022 that have been popular in the COVID era and may continue to trend next year.
Contents
Voice SEO
This was overdue, considering that the number of voice assistant users is expected to skyrocket in the coming years. And not only among individuals, but businesses too.
- One of the key differences between SEO and Voice SEO is the search query format. Asking for payment gateways from the voice assistant would usually involve using complete sentences (Hey Google, what are the top payment gateways in the US?) as opposed to typing ‘top payment gateways in the US’ on Google search.
- Another thing to keep in mind would be that voice assistant users expect quick answers. They don’t want to go through billions of search results that show up on typing a search query.
- A great way to start with voice SEO is to improve your Alexa website rank.
- Also, Voice SEO encourages more local searches, so having a GMB listing can improve your chances of the assistant mentioning you for a query.
You might be gaining the first-mover advantage by working on voice SEO from now. This is one of those digital marketing trends that are going to rule in 2022.
Go irrelevant (Non-targeted advertising)
Hear us out. What if instead of focussing only on targeting potential customers, we work on making more potential customers? As per a Dutch study, non-targeted advertising has the potential to give more profits than targeted advertising. To give you an example, I don’t have a medical background. But had it not been for non-targeted advertising, I wouldn’t have discovered my interest in cadavers (Don’t judge me).
Micro-interactions
Ever seen one of those ads where a random object moves across the screen as you move your cursor? Or an interactive ad for a disinfectant asking you to click on surfaces to sanitize them? Those are micro-interactions. People enjoy wasting time online and this is one great way to keep them engaged with your ad, long enough to create an impression. And with everyone at home right now, using Augmented Reality to promote your business shows a lot of promise, especially in the future.
The Metaverse
The Metaverse – the latest and greatest in virtual reality that has caught the entire world by storm. This virtual space will soon change the way people interact with each other and brands are already going all-in on this massive revolution. The Metaverse will give marketers all new avenues to explore and all-new ways to showcase their products will soon change the metrics upon which digital marketing is carried out. Still, in its early days, the Metaverse is exploding at an astounding rate, and a world similar to the one shown in ‘Ready-Player-One’ is not that far away.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
The advent of Web 3.0 is here and standing at the forefront of this rise are NFTs. NFTs are the digital version of non-fungibles—uniquely created digital assets like animation, graphic design, GIF, audio/video files, or memes—that exist on a blockchain. NFTs such as CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, and many more have blown up and have been traded for millions of dollars. Brands, seeing this rise in popularity and relevance, have started issuing their own line of collectible NFTs, with Coca-Cola, Campbell’s, and Charmin being some notable big players. NFTs, much like the Metaverse, are still in their infancy, and will soon turn into an indispensable part of our lifestyle.
Care for the environment
Having all the time in the world while we work from home, but still not being able to have a ‘fresh air break on the balcony because of the choking pollution. This is making more and more people conscious of their brand choices and focussing on businesses working towards reducing their carbon footprint. For instance, Ecosia is a search engine that is gaining popularity because of its promise to plant a tree from the profits it receives per 50 searches.
Image and Video SEO
Simply a boon for online stalkers, image, and video search is slowly becoming more in demand. So if you want to target people who desperately want to find the ‘Anarkali suit’ they found someone wearing, going for optimization in image and video search can help you reach many such people.
To be honest The pandemic has made everything so unpredictable that it’s quite difficult to judge which digital marketing trends will last and which won’t. But for some things, it only boils down to consumer experience and their demand for something new, exciting, and innovative.