A Peek Into Marketing Trends for 2022

By Lauren Fiedler, Vice President

In the first quarter of 2022, we saw some pretty obvious trends in marketing that we are kept an eye on. The world of marketing is constantly evolving, but here are those four trends we noticed in the early months of the year.

Brand Ambassadors | Influencers

Whether we like it or not, brand ambassadors, like influencers, are becoming more and more important in your overall marketing strategy. Growing in popularity are those that are categorized as micro or nano influencers, those with less than 25,000 followers. The reasoning behind this growth is due to the higher engagement rate these influencers see with their followers than those that have larger but less engaged followings. 

Another trend to look out for is influencers looking for more ongoing partnerships with brands rather than one-off brand partnerships. Before you invest in influencer marketing, make sure you really understand your target audience, what platforms they are on, and what type of brand ambassadors/influencers they are engaging with—  again, engaging with is the key, not just following. In addition, you need to make sure your organization’s social media is ready for the attention that is garnered through an influencer campaign. For example, don’t hire a TikTok influencer if your organization doesn’t have a presence on that platform or has one but hasn’t invested time and effort into the platform.

Face-to-Face | Experiences

With a large portion of employers not going back to a full-time in-person office environment, many consumers are getting more and more desperate to have some face-to-face interaction. This means it will be key to get your events to be back in person and offer experiences for your audiences that leave a lasting impression because, on the flip side, it is harder to convince that same audience to leave the house for anything other than an experience that they see a high reward in. It may be time to switch up what your organization has been doing for years and take a step back to review how you can make the experience even more influential to your audiences.

Online Presence | Website and Social Media

The main point that has changed with an online presence over the years is that it has become more and more important to maintain, especially in the face of the pandemic. This is why it amazes me how many brands don’t take the time to invest in their online presence. I think many organizations think they have their website or social media covered but aren’t looking at it from a user or outside audience perspective. It is important to keep your finger on the pulse of what struggles your current audience and/or potential audiences are having when trying to access information about and engage with your brand digitally. Sometimes it takes going outside of your organization, because you usually have biases you don’t realize you have, to really see if your online presence is allowing your organization to reach the goals and audiences you want.

Simplified Content | Streamline Communication

More than likely, your audience's attention spans are getting shorter, not longer. Along with this trend, the younger audiences prefer simple and straightforward communication because they are inundated with communication constantly every day. They want to be able to know three things quickly — who is your organization, what is your reputation, and what do you want from them. Gone are the days of adding fluff around language and mission statements. This is especially true with Generation Z; they want organizations to be transparent and direct. This means it may be time to review your organization’s communications and make sure they are succinct and understandable to all audiences, both internal and external.