To help you crush this year, we scoured the net to find the most predicted marketing tech trends for 2022. Enjoy!
To help you crush 2022, we’ve already shared our team leaders’ top tips and we’ve outlined the ultimate cocktail recipe for agency success (we needed plenty of cocktails in 2021). This list is different: we hunted far and wide to find you the most predicted marketing tech trends for 2022. So this, right here, is a roadmap showing where to turn, what to use, and when to zig instead of zag. There are no gimmicks or snake oil strategies; these are proven lessons with examples of brand role models. You’re welcome.
There are so many new emerging technologies and creative solutions that it can seem overwhelming and hard to know which way to take your brand, so we wanted to help provide some direction with this article. From NFT shoe marketplaces and AR singing shows through to crypto catwalks and immersive anamorphic 3D billboards, there’s a whole new arsenal of creative technology for you to use. The good news? That’s our wheelhouse.
1. SPREAD THE GOOD WORD WITH VOICE SEARCH OPTIMISATION.
Brand Win: Voice-enabled Pizza Hut campaign earned a 9% increase in engagement.
Voice assistants are no longer niche. Almost 40% of general online searching is now done by voice. This shows the opportunity for smart voice-activated campaigns and conversational marketing. There are several options, like Spotify’s one where listeners could ask for samples to be sent to their homes, or the Pizza Hut example where the brands start a conversation. Walmart is now even letting you voice-shop, too. Lastly, marketers must optimize their content for voice search, and unlike text SEO, voice-search optimization involves a greater focus on long-tail keywords and question queries.
2. CREATE SENSATIONAL EXPERIENCES WITH VR AND AR.
Brand Win: IKEA Studio lets you design whole rooms using AR.
Forget the overhyped metaverse, we’re talking about using AR and VR in smart ways to promote products and services, improve buyer’s awareness, and even drive sales: the IKEA Studio tactic helped them to increase sales by 6%. We’ve used both in several recent campaigns (you’ll love this one with Whitlocks), but we’re not alone, brands like TOMS Shoes, TopShop, and Oreo are already successfully leveraging them too. We’re betting big on this unique competitive advantage in 2022.
3. RAMP UP ENGAGEMENT (AND SALES) WITH INFLUENCER MARKETING.
Brand Win: The TikTok Shopping partnership with Shopify is a gamechanger.
By the end of this year, it is expected that influencer marketing will grow into a $15 billion industry. From micro to macro, there are several channels that you can leverage for marketing wins. As part of a global survey by Forbes, only 9% of marketing agencies were using TikTok at the start of 2021; in a second mid-year survey, more than half of the agencies polled were planning a sponsored TikTok collaboration.
4. TALK A BETTER MARKETING GAME WITH CONVERSATIONAL COMMERCE.
Brand Win: Sephora’s Virtual Artist uses an AI-powered Facebook Bot to let customers try on makeup and helps them buy the products they want.
These conversations are one-to-one, and in real-time, and can be made through live chat, chatbots, voice assistants, and more. Chatbots have got a bad rep (to be fair, the first iterations were terrible) but the latest options are much better thanks to advanced AI and machine learning. Bottom line: over 50% of customers expect a response within 10 minutes, and if you’ve got thousands of customers, it’s only possible through chatbots. Another brilliant example of conversational commerce? Domino’s AnyWare.
5. EARN THE RIGHT KIND OF ATTENTION WITH SHOPSTREAMING.
Brand Win: Burberry partnered with gaming platform Twitch to live stream their show from London Fashion Week.
Call it what you want, shopstreaming or shoppable livestreaming, but either way: it’s killing it in terms of engagement: watch time for live content is up 250%. Consumers spend three times longer watching live videos than pre-recorded content, so you can expect to see more live-streaming channels with built-in shopping features and clickable links. We called it way back at the start of 2020 in this article. Crystal ball, anyone?
6. RULE THE AIRWAVES WITH BRANDED AUDIO CONTENT.
Brand Win: Allbirds’ targeted Spotify ad saw a 457% boost in brand awareness compared to a control audience.
We’ve already spoken about the smart use of voice-driven adverts and conversational marketing, but in this case, we’re talking about a bigger range of audio content, from podcasts and social media audio through to Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces. If you’re still skeptical about podcasts, look at Joe Rogan’s viewership: his average viewership of 11 million a show easily beats most traditional broadcast media. His interview with Elon Musk alone has earned 39 million views. Bottom line: a channel like Spotify can help you target an audience in real-time, and they will help you create an audio ad with their free voiceover tool or provide resources to write a quality audio ad.
7. YOU STILL NEED TO TACKLE EMAIL INBOXES FOR LEADS AND AWARENESS.
Brand Win: Every single one of these template-breaking designs.
It might not be as sexy as livestreaming, but emails now have newer features and tricks, like dynamic and interactive content and personalization options. A State of Email report by Litmus reveals that it’s still the most important channel, and 40% of companies are increasing their investment in this area. We’re believers too, and we’re excited to see how brands will innovate here, especially with design.
WRAPPING UP…
These seven trends have got us excited for this year, but it doesn’t end there: we know live events are slowly coming back, and we can’t wait to share fantastic in-person experiences with you. But in the meantime, we’re here if you need a partner to help you use one of these trends. Here’s to making 2022 unforgettable for all the right reasons!
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