Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in 2022

Digital marketing evolves fast. What worked a few years ago won’t get the results you need next year; on the flip side, there’s an array of new tools and techniques emerging to drive business growth online.

Adapting your marketing strategy to capitalise on new opportunities can bring in more (and better) customers. However, we know that keeping on top of global marketing trends can be tricky, especially in the wake of last year’s disruption.

So we’ve done it for you.

Here are the top trends that our Perth digital marketing and SEO specialists see emerging in 2022.

Sweeping Up the Cookie Crumbs

“Cookies” track a person’s activity across the internet. They build a profile based on browsing behaviour across multiple websites, then use the information to target advertising.

In 2020, Google announced their Chrome browser would no longer track third-party cookies. At the time, it was the biggest digital marketing news in years.

Google’s policy change is great for consumer privacy. But many marketers are sweating in anticipation of losing access to that treasure trove of data. So there was a collective sigh of relief when Google delayed the change from early 2022 to late 2023.

Still, it pays to be prepared. At some point, third-party cookies won’t be trackable. We’re helping our clients to prepare early by leveraging first-party and zero-party data

Zero-party data

Zero-party data is information a customer gives to websites directly and intentionally:

• Sign-up forms
• Lead magnets like eBooks
• Email preference centres
• Quizzes, games and polls
• Account configurations
• Preference selections or filters

Zero-party data is a great way to get to know more about audiences on a personal level, although naturally, the volume of data will be lower than from other sources.

First-party data

Unlike third-party data, which comes from aggregators and zero-party data, which the customer gives willingly, first-party data comes from behaviour on owned channels:

• Website activity
• Email engagement
• Loyalty programs and memberships
• Customer support records
• Social media integrations
• Purchase history

If you’re prepared with a robust multi-channel marketing strategy, first-party data will likely be the saviour when Google switches off third-party cookie tracking.

Putting the Human First

First-party and zero-party data collection only work when you build a community around your brand. But that’s only one reason to focus on loyalty and customer-centric marketing.

Increasingly, consumers are demanding personalised experiences from brands they trust. They want to be seen, but don’t want to feel watched by every website they interact with. There’s a fine line between customer-first marketing and creepy practices.

Striking this balance looks like:

Designing experiences to create value for the customer

Send personalised offers and well-timed reminders, reward loyalty with discounts and exclusives, or create content that solves a problem.

Being transparent about data collection and usage

Let your audience know that you’re sending the offer because you noticed they were interested in similar products. Honesty is the best policy.

Empowering the customer

Give your audience the controls for their data journey. Our Perth web designers and digital marketers can build these controls into your marketing strategy, giving your audience the power to make their own decisions.

AI and Automated Intelligence

AI in customer support

When in-person interactions paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, the spotlight fell on outdated customer support models like call centres and email inboxes. These antiquated models buckled under the pressure.

Artificial intelligence (AI) empowers customer support agents and helps customers find the answers without waiting in long queues. Here at Fisher, we design chatbots solutions for Perth businesses who want to connect better with customers.

AI in advertising

Dynamic advertising takes many forms. Each of them uses data to make decisions that are largely independent of human interference.

For example, Google Ads takes remixes an advertiser’s uploaded content based on what appeals to customers. Retargeting is another tactic that notices when a potential customer performs a particular action and serves a different ad next time.

These intelligent, data-driven advertising approaches used in social media marketing and online advertising often deliver better results on a smaller budget.

Hybrid Marketing Strategies

Due to prolonged restrictions on in-person gatherings, the average person is spending more time online. Digital is therefore dominating marketing budgets, with digital marketing spend rocketing up 49% in the first half of 2021.

We’ve weathered our share of lockdowns here in Australia, but we’re not out of the woods. So digital will continue to dominate marketing budgets in 2022, with the likely winners being the big players like Google and Facebook.

However, Perth’s relative isolation and community mindset mean companies who embrace hybrid marketing strategies will have more opportunities to engage their audience online and offline. Agile hybrid marketing strategies can be incredibly effective in converting offline interactions (like store visits and phone calls) into an online community.

Recognising Valuable Opportunities

Customer lifetime value (CLV) is a hot new trend to watch in 2022. Rather than exclusively targeting customer acquisition, a CLV strategy seeks opportunities to re-engage existing customers, creating a loyal following and offering value that builds over time.

CLV is based on the principle that acquiring one new customer costs 5 times more than enticing a returning customer. That rule of thumb is up for debate in today’s digital-dominated market, but the important takeaway is brand loyalty builds future value.

So instead of considering the cost of each customer, our digital marketing strategies focus on each person’s potential value over time. From there, we help Perth businesses cultivate their crowd with techniques and tools that build genuine connections over time.

Purpose-driven Marketing

Our final digital marketing trend to watch in 2022 is not new per se, although it has undergone a significant shift recently.

Audiences connect with purposeful marketing. We know this from the early days of advertising. But recently, consumers have become more vocal in their demands for purpose-driven business decisions:

• Inclusivity
• Eco-friendly practices
• People over profits
• Employee wellbeing
• Crisis response readiness
• Corporate social responsibility

Companies who respond with genuine, transparent and inclusive marketing earn their loyal following – rightfully, we think. So, how do you demonstrate purpose in your digital marketing decisions?

It starts with knowing your business from the inside out. From there, your marketing strategy should amplify the benefits of doing business with you rather than focusing solely on the services or products you provide.

If that sounds like a tricky balance to achieve, it’s because it is. Here at Fisher, we have a full team of digital marketing experts dedicated to helping Perth companies express their purpose through SEO, digital advertising, social media and insightful web design.

Set your sights on growth now by investing in an agile, adaptable marketing strategy ready for whatever 2022 throws at us. Contact Fisher, Perth’s leading digital marketing agency, to get started.