The Future of Marketing is NOW

Right now is a great time to reflect on the emerging and changing marketing needs we’ve seen over the last year and to guess which trends we’ll likely see in 2022. Just kidding! There’s no guesswork here! At Kinetic, we know exactly what the future of marketing looks like for our clients, and the future is now.

To begin with, it’s important to remember that to make a solid plan for the short term, you need to have clear goals about where you’re heading in the long term. And while there will always be some unpredictability in that, some things are certain.

Future State of Marketing

The future of marketing and business will be more diverse, inclusive and connected to real customer needs.

While the technology surrounding marketing strategies continues to advance at a rapid pace, there’s also a pushback against the increased digitization and automation of interactions between brands and consumers. Today, there’s a desire to make marketing feel more “human” again.

While technologies such as AI and data-driven grow, the overarching focus will be on people, not technology.

2022 Marketing Trends

The marketing trends that will dominate in the next 12 months will include customer experience and content visualization. With evolving marketing strategies, there will be new trends in the way small to medium-sized companies conduct business. SMEs will start thinking differently about their revenue models and find ways to diversify, become more agile and move fast (-er than your competitors). The definition of what we consider “marketing” is changing and becoming broader in many cases. You can’t really separate your marketing plans from how you conduct your business – as in adopting the use of AI and big data. Let’s unpack 2022 marketing trends to give a clearer sense of how they can (and will) impact you and your business in 2022.

AI and Customer Experience

We’ve already seen huge advancements in AI over the last few years and a great increase in the number of businesses using AI-powered tech automation to assist their marketing efforts. AI technology and automation are helping to take some of the grunt work out of marketing so brands can concentrate on strategy and crafting a fantastic customer experience.

Remember, the human aspect of marketing is still important (perhaps more important than ever), so the idea is to use this technology to enhance your marketing efforts, not replace the real people behind them.

Source: Smart Insights

Big data, supported by AI and predictive analytics, is helping brands learn more about their audiences and customers. It’s enabling hyper-personalization of customer experiences and marketing messages at scale. Small business CRM tools will likely continue to invest in AI and big data analytics to help their customers become more intelligent and efficient.

Intimidating? Doesn’t need to be!

Small businesses can have the same capabilities that large companies have when understanding how their businesses are performing and how their customers could benefit from additional services. Big data allows boutique retailers to personalize offerings across different platforms for each customer’s needs. And the best part? Kinetic can help get you there!

Content Visualization

As a writer at Kinetic, it pains me to talk through this one. Understanding the impact and importance of search algorithms and SEO in your digital presence, you’d be forgiven for thinking that “readable” content is more important than visuals and design these days. But, in actuality (and sadly!) this couldn’t be further from the truth. While advancements in search are certainly influencing the way that you’ll create content now and in the future, you shouldn’t neglect visual either.

We know from our own research and conducting social audits for our clients that people prefer visual content to plain text. Just look at the growth of image-focused platforms like Pinterest and Instagram for proof. Additionally, Google, Pinterest and several other companies are currently investing more and more in visual search technology.

At Kinetic, we develop comprehensive ad campaigns and content plans for our clients. We take care of the graphics and visuals and even have in-house photography, video and animation capabilities.

Reshaping Revenue Models

As businesses emerge from over a year of maintenance, many small businesses will look ahead to 2022 as a year to return to strong growth with new products and services.

What kinds of trends will we see among small and medium-sized businesses in 2022? A focus on developing different kinds of revenue streams will be among the strongest trends. As small businesses reflect on how they operated during a pandemic, they will realize that if they were too reliant on a single revenue stream, now is the time to begin searching for alternative ones to supplement.

Social E-Commerce

Social e-commerce isn’t new, but it is finally becoming a mainstream form of shopping. Brands are becoming savvier than ever about leveraging influencer marketing, creating ads that fit seamlessly into social media feeds and integrating their e-commerce platforms with social media channels. Instagram and TikTok have been particularly influential in accelerating the social commerce trend. Instagram Checkout makes it easier than ever for brands to advertise and sell their products directly through the platform.

Source: Social Samosa

And did you know that TikTok is totally changing the game when it comes to influencer marketing? They are, with tools like Creator Marketplace and TikTok Shopping which allows brands to more meaningfully engage with their customers and target audiences easily through the app. We know that social e-commerce is on the rise for 2022 and not slowing down any time soon.

Strategic Marketing Transformation

When you’re reading about upcoming trends in a blog like this, it’s all too easy to think that being successful in marketing can be simplified to following a list of best practices and making sure you’re using the latest techniques and technology. But the business of marketing is becoming increasingly complex. For companies to succeed in 2022, they’ll have to think beyond what they’re doing and link everything back to the why of the business as a whole.

Undergoing a strategic marketing transformation with Kinetic can help clients improve customer service and experience, boost brand awareness and reputation and, ultimately, increase revenue and profits. We help clients achieve these benefits through a combination of data collection, using cutting edge technologies, building customer relationships, engaging with customers online, publishing quality content and improving their online presence.

Get Ready for 2022

Now is the time to start planning your 2022 marketing strategy if you haven’t already! Make sure you start the new year with a clear idea of your goals and how you’re going to achieve them – and let Kinetic help!

Interested in learning more about marketing strategies that actually work?!? Or how about seeing a robust analysis of the effectiveness of various marketing strategies balanced against the difficulty of executing them – and so much more? This white paper the Kinetic team put together is a veritable gold mine of valuable and fascinating information you can put to work for your business today. Check it out!