As the new year approaches, it’s important to take a look at your marketing strategy and make sure you’re doing everything possible to stay ahead of the curve.
With many things changing rapidly in this ever-evolving industry, there are several essential principles that will help guide your business through 2022.
And while there are many ways to approach this process, we’ve narrowed it down to four key strategies.
Here are our four marketing strategies for success in the new year.
Let’s jump right in:
4 Marketing Strategies for Success in 2022
- Explore other social media platforms
- Hone in on the power of hyper-personalization
- Make marketing about relationship building
- Bring the “human element” back to your business
#1. Explore other social media platforms
“If you invest and don’t diversify, you’re literally throwing out money.”—Jeff Yass
Exploring other social media platforms is to the internet what portfolio diversification is to business.
Let me break this down. With portfolio diversification, the goal is to reduce your overall financial risks by investing in different asset classes and securities.
The same ideology applies to social media as well. Here, exploring other marketing channels helps you expand your reach and opens up fresh opportunities.
That’s not all, this strategy also allows you to stretch your content distribution network beyond the mainstream channels.
This means that you’re spreading out your marketing efforts and promoting your brand across multiple platforms to new audiences.
Now, the aim isn’t to use every available social media platform, but to explore new opportunities—which in this case are endless!
Besides attracting new audiences and diversifying your content distribution network, other benefits of exploring new social platforms include:
- Feedback from new audiences can help you better refine your brand offerings.
- Opportunity to establish yourself as an authority within your niche.
- Your audience is there, and you can be the first brand to “reach” them.
- New platforms mean a chance to expand your customer service.
- New social media platforms can sometimes mean less competition.
- Fresh opportunity to meet your audience where they hang out.
What should you do differently?
- Identify which new platforms best suit your brand and then develop a strategy that capitalizes on its strengths.
Recommended Reading: What makes great content: the power of context
#2. Hone in on the power of hyper-personalization
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”—Teddy Roosevelt
Ever wonder how Facebook knows how to target the right ads to you at the right time? Or, how Netflix accurately recommends your favourite movies based on your viewing pattern.
The answer is simple—they know everything about you. Or, at least, a lot about you.
For example, a survey by Forbes states that Netflix alone conducts over 250 A/B tests annually to offer subscribers personalized experiences.
These tech giants have mastered the art of hyper-personalization. They know what you like, what you buy and even where you live.
So, what’s hyper-personalization? This engagement strategy refers to the use of predictive analytics to deliver customer experiences that are tailored to each individual.
This approach takes personalization one step further, and it goes beyond curating the interests and preferences of your audience.
Truth is, hyper-personalization is no longer just for large companies like Amazon and Facebook. It’s available for everyone.
In fact, if you’re a small business owner, there are simple ways you can incorporate hyper-personalization marketing into your 2022 marketing strategy.
For example, you can tap into the power of storytelling to create hyper-personalized campaigns like easyJet, or use customer feedback and reviews to create recommendations like Naked Wines.
In 2022, hyper-personalization marketing will be crucial in helping you stand out from the pack, and in the long run, boosts customer loyalty and retention.
What should you do differently?
- Speak the language of your customers and avoid cookie-cutter messaging. Know their motivations and pain points.
- Make the shift from a one-size-fits-all communication strategy to a hyper-personalization strategy that focuses on delighting customers individually.
#3. Make marketing about relationship building
“Relationships are like muscle tissue. The more they’re engaged, the stronger they become.”—Ted Rubin
In its purest form, marketing is about relationship building and value addition.
Although the channels and creative vehicles may change, the need for businesses to foster a close connection with their customers will remain unchanged.
In 2022, businesses that’ll thrive will be those that can tell unique stories and establish healthy relationships with their customers.
For this to be accomplished, marketing teams will need to invest significantly more in data technologies and artificial intelligence.
Moreso, they’ll need to leverage this data to make more individualized offers and create personalized customer experiences that transcend beyond the first name basis.
In 2022 and beyond, the need to create a two-way relationship between brands and consumers will lead to a shift from mass-produced content to one written with care and concern.
Recommended Reading: Creating valuable content: 5 Es of quality content
#4. Bring the “human element” back to your business
“The future belongs to those businesses that value the art of human connection above all else.”—Anonymous
The business world has changed drastically in the past decade. Innovative technologies and channels have emerged, challenging how we approach marketing.
But amid all the disruption, one thing hasn’t changed: people—and their craving for genuine experiences.
As a result, brand values like honesty and authenticity are gradually being distilled into more nuanced concepts like personalization, social listening and storytelling.
In the future, these will be the true markers of outstanding success.
Therefore, in 2022 and beyond, successful businesses will be those who’ll invest in creating dynamic and humanized marketing experiences for their customers.
What should you do differently?
- Build brands that exist as communities. Community-driven brands exist to serve needs, solve problems and provide value through experiences rather than products alone.
- Empathize with the people your business affects. If you understand the feelings of your customers, then your business will be much more successful in achieving its goals.
- Align company culture and customer experience by hiring employees who share in and embody your values and vision.
- Get personal with your audience. Showing your personality helps develop trust and establishes a relationship between you and your audience.
- Create quality content that appeals to the specific needs of your audience.
Wrapping Up
In the end, there’s still much to be determined about where the marketing game will be won and lost in 2022.
However, the most successful businesses in the coming year will be more personal, more relationship-oriented, and will take advantage of new opportunities in social media and emerging technologies.
Put these four strategies to work for your business, and 2022 could be the year you experience explosive growth.
Happy New Year in advance!😘