Top 6 Digital Marketing Trends for Your Small Business

Top 6 Digital Marketing Trends for Your Small Business

We are in the second quarter of 2022, where keeping up with dynamic digital marketing trends may seem challenging, but business owners need to do so. 

More of us are working from home now, and our usage of social channels has intensely increased. Small to mid-sized business owners struggle to adapt to shifting consumer behaviour while digital marketers embrace the chance.

With the addition of artificial intelligence, this year’s trends have led to a more digital environment. 

Generations such as the millennials and Generation Z, on the other hand, bring with them a revolution that has components that we should be mindful of.

With that in mind, this blog entails the top six digital marketing trends to watch, with automation and local listing on the rise.

Top Most 6 Popular Small Business Digital Marketing Trends

Recently, cryptocurrencies have observed immense admiration and acceptance globally. This leads to the discussion of paper money vs digital money. Similarly, according to Google, third-party cookies will be outdated by 2023.

Advertisers and internet marketers would have fewer than three years to develop new ways to reach their prospects. Facebook has swapped its name to Meta to reflect its intention to embrace the metaverse, a 3D virtual environment.

Furthermore, every firm is affected by Digital Darwinism, which is the progression of customer behaviour when technology and society progress faster than their utilisation. Digital Darwinism makes no distinctions. Every company is in danger—and the solution to that is keeping up with the latest trends.

1 – Optimisation assisted by Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that underpins a range of services, such as content creation, search engines and chatbots, and it has risen in prominence since COVID-19 broke out.

AI may help businesses better understand how customers find their products and services by examining search patterns and consumer behaviour and gathering data from social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

One company that has made AI a core part of its value proposition is Google. Over the last several years, the usage of AI has helped its search engine better understand what people are seeking and what sort of material best meets their search aim.

Artificial intelligence to help subtopics and related keywords would make any content ultra-comprehensive and boost its chances of ranking on page one. It gives you readability feedback, word count recommendation, and an overall optimisation score based on the subtopics and keywords covered.

2 – On a cookie-free internet, research your customer

As marketers, you would realise that you only employ third-party cookies to figure out what items your consumers want and how you can provide them with them, but this is not the case for users who believe your cookies infringe on their privacy.

As you have seen, even Google is considering abolishing this practice. Therefore, your role is to study and understand your consumers less intrusively. 

So, you can do this by incorporating AI and predictive analytics, which will help you better understand the market and the clients without using cookies.

3 – Don’t forget about Ecommerce platforms

Ecommerce sites have recently become more popular, and this trend is expected to continue in the next few years. Vendors and product-based ventures can profit from having an online presence by utilising these channels for reach and improving brand recognition through social media.

Store owners can utilise Instagram and Facebook’s “Shoppable” posts and ads to merge online shopping and provide a seamless experience for online shoppers.

4 – Don’t let a local business listing pass you by

You can boost your online presence by listing your company in a small business directory like QRG 101. A lot of big business listing sites have complicated filtering preferences.

These alternatives simplify your prospects and customers to contact you in your neighbourhood. A business listing directory efficiently attracts new customers in your area.

5 – Augmented Reality is on the rise

This is comparable to 360-degree videos, but it is superior. There are endless marketing possibilities with this type of involvement, and it’s as close as your mobile.

According to a recent trends study, more than 85 per cent of mid-market organisations are already using AR. This is an additional variation on the “let the customer try” principle, and you can find instances everywhere.

For example, the IKEA app, which allows users to decorate, is undoubtedly one of the more practical implementations of augmented reality in the app store, at least in terms of advertising. 

With the app, you may use your camera to install IKEA stuff in your home. Many other apps allow you to view hues on your ceiling or study lessons with unusual animations.

6 – A new concept of niche marketing

Focusing on a specific product or service to build a stronger relationship with your prospect is what niche advertising is all about. 

If you have a specialised market, you can focus on your audience’s wants and comprehend what they want. It enables you to position yourself as a thought leader and recruit brand advocates.

Niche marketing is strategic because it allows you to expand over time and reach more comprehensive customers once your small business has established a solid network. You’ll be able to concentrate more on your distribution’s value and develop relationships with a smaller group of people.

Because there is less competition, finding and targeting your audience, whether via organic marketing or paid ads, is considerably more manageable.

Other Top Digital Marketing Trends to Follow

Hunt for alternative communication routes 

While email is a fantastic marketing and communication tool that will be around for a long time, you should broaden your horizons. In 2022, it will be critical for businesses and brands to harness the potential of many communication channels to reach a big audience.

Chatbots are a fantastic method to communicate with your clients. Because most chatbots work with Instagram, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, advertisers can reach their target demographic on the most popular social media platforms.

Push notification systems, in addition to chatbots, are gaining acceptance in the marketing sector. The impact that push notifications may have, if used appropriately, will astound you!

Voice search 

With over 1 billion voice searches every month, this trend is here to stay. Successful voice search marketing does not force your message on your audience but instead makes it part of an interactive brand experience. 

Stories: The latest addition to social media, Snapchat introduced “Stories” to its platform and later joined Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 

Email marketing: Although still a very effective way to reach your target audience, GDPR has weakened its effectiveness. Younger audiences would instead engage with fewer touchpoints and prefer different forms of communication.

Influencer marketing isn’t going anywhere

The rapid expansion of social media gave birth to influencer marketing. As the name implies, it is a sort of word-of-mouth marketing that is spread by notable industry influencers or personalities. 

The primary purpose here is to use the trustworthiness and network of social media influencers to promote your business and grow its reach. While influencers can be well-known celebrities, most are well-known Instagram or YouTube stars with a large fan base. 

Influencers who provide honest and unbiased reviews of brands and their products/services are trusted. 

Influencers have such a significant impact on consumers’ perceptions of brands that they can make or break such perceptions. Because influencer evaluations and opinions are considerably more genuine than corporate marketing, this is the case.

Video marketing is becoming increasingly popular

Video advertising is one of the essential marketing trends today and in the next 5-10 years. You can use video to repurpose and republish old content and the other way around. On the one hand, this means turning a piece of content into a video, such as a blog article.

Learn more about green marketing

Green marketing, often known as “eco-marketing” or “environmental marketing,” is the process of creating and advertising ecologically sustainable products in the actual world or the minds of consumers. 

Green marketing is just one facet of a more significant push toward more environmentally friendly production processes, which includes:

• Use of recyclable materials 
• Reducing the amount of packaging material
• Employment of renewable resources

Green marketing can help your company reach new, younger markets and provide a competitive advantage. It can also promote your brand’s image and increase brand loyalty.

Omnichannel 

Using data from different channels to create a more personalised experience is becoming a staple of digital marketing. In 2022, native advertising will be more popular than ever, and more companies will use it as part of their marketing strategy. 

Internet of Things (IoT) – IoT is a network of connected devices that collect, analyse, and perform actions synchronously. By 2025, there are expected to be 75 billion IoT devices. Global spending on IoT will be $1.1 trillion.

Video 

The most recent trend in social media is video. Using videos to communicate with your audience is a great way to increase engagement and cut through the noise. 

Using short-form videos is entertaining and helps you establish your brand voice. You can even embed these videos into your website! Besides using these trends in your social media marketing, you can also use 360-degree images for your business.

Gamification 

The use of game-like functionality on a website is becoming a popular digital marketing trend. Using gamification to attract consumers and build brand loyalty is a proven way to boost sales—even McDonald’s recently implemented gamification into their menu. 

80% of smartphone users play mobile games, and gamification can drive eCommerce sales.

Conversational marketing 

 In addition to the mobile-first approach, conversations are becoming more natural in the digital space. 

Consumer behaviour has evolved so much that they now expect to converse in real-time. Using chatbots can facilitate these conversations on a larger scale and seamlessly. 

And the benefits of using chatbots in marketing are numerous. They can automate work and cater to customer needs, increasing conversion rates.

A touch of personalisation

In 2022, personalisation is a significant factor. Producing targeted marketing plans tailored to your target demographic will produce better results than broad content that tries to appeal to as many people as possible.

However, excellent content isn’t the only need. Ensuring your audience sees your advertising at the proper time and place is critical to engagement in today’s oversaturated market.

Even if you’re promoting the same product, it’s not only a matter of tweaking your ad campaigns for each social media platform; it’s also a matter of considering different localities and cultural implications.

Because varied material will interest customers seeing your ad at different touchpoints and ways, making your audience feel noticed and understood is well worth the time and effort.

The Bottom Line

Trends come and go, but one thing remains constant: consumer satisfaction comes first. All marketing works as long as you care about your clients and don’t advance in deceitful close buttons for your advertisements. Well, all types of advertising are good PR!

We wrote this blog to help your marketing journey in 2022 be a smooth ride. Now that you know what tendencies to watch for, you may take proactive measures to address them. 

This is a rat race, and if you want to stay ahead of the pack, you must constantly improve your digital marketing methods.