It is important for all businesses to review how they are harnessing the marketing trends so they can apply the latest innovations through the 70:20:10 rule of marketing focus.
The rule has it that 70% of the time we focus on things that are very core to our business, 20% is where we are trying to push the boundaries, the known unknowns; and the last 10% is the true crazy experimental stuff where we figure out how to do uncomfortable things that we are going to fail at more than we will succeed at. But with every success, you build a competitive advantage.
This is the long version of the printed article in the New Vision Magazine Uganda in 2022 published on 24th December 2021
The need to embrace and recognize the available digital opportunities, that including changing strategies, feature in every step of businesses. Businesses that are ready to implement Digital cultures and automate businesses at an estimated 50% level with advanced technology tools in Uganda will yield more than those with no culture. Remember digital marketing goals are to create long-lasting brand recognitions, build authentic relationships with customers, fans and then create leads.
Therefore, recognition of digital tools that offer measurable returns on investment than any other form, ii) Google’s EAT content which is an SME internet marketing concept that stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, iii) Search Engine, iv) Social media marketing, and above all v) content creation and marketing as fundamentals for digital marketing in 2022, and ones which offer opportunities for growth should be considerations for business owners.
The Need For Independent Digital Marketing Budgets
The increase of digital marketing budgets should not be overlooked as its carters for paid, owned, and earned digital media channels like website, email, paid and organic search, influencers, and social media. These are most valuable during this pandemic season where every brand or business is working toward regaining their brand recognition and creating awareness that returns on investment. Over the years, the neglect of digital marketing budgets or having them bundled up in general marketing budgets has left no room for their effectiveness. In 2022 it is imperative for a business owner to have a budget for digital marketing that stands alone with its own set goals and targets.
Do not forget to have a strategy. For the best part of this year, we at Kahill Insights Company have interacted with several businesses using or want to start using digital marketing tools but have no planned-out approach to take advantage of the latest and evergreen techniques in the sector.
Our recommendations have been to take off time and work on the strategy and plan with a professional to help bring to life how the digital making tools can help achieve business goals and targets.
The strategies should highlight the changes happening in the algorithms of the platforms used for digital marketing. An example is Google’s algorithm that has been changing continually causing Search Engine Optimization challenges. This has led to revolutionary updates that directly put power into the hands of marketers and business owners who create content that aligns with what customers are looking for on search engines.
For businesses that operate on a local level your Google My Business listing provides valuable information and helps establish your geographical location. Having a geographically defined service area with Google My Business listing aids in showing up for “near me” searches in Google search giving you visibility to searchers.
Following the exposure by the whistleblower, there is speculation that Facebook (META) will open its algorithm to allow users to either switch it off, like the Twitter-style toggle, or an alternate swipeable timeline.
The Death Of Cookies
Google has also killed the cookies meaning tracking users across the web which is essential to many advertisers and businesses must change to first-party data or even zero-party data collection when providing relevant information and adverts to consumers. With this Google is prioritizing user privacy. One must implement strategies that will have consumers volunteer this data willingly with no cookie trackers.
Plan to own your audiences by acquitting yourself with who they are. If cookies are gone the ones that could track a web visitor to the social platforms, then you are going to start collecting the data necessary for your knowledge. This data varies according to your strategies but mostly consists of age, gender, location, and interest. You also get to know their attention span, the kind of content types they are interested in, and find the best ways to deliver your message to them.
Also, prepare your website articles for Zero Click Search that allows a searcher to have many articles availed to them, and they choose what best answers suits their question. As a business, you must work on making such your article features in the suggested paragraph at the top of the result page. Position Zero boxes in the search engine results come with an image and all the necessary information hence no need for one to click to click on the full article. Implement this by updating the page titles to indicate what searchers will get when they visit your web pages.
Businesses should focus on the transition to mobile-first strategies that are simple like optimizing a website’s design so that it automatically adapts for smaller screens or creating a separate app with the company’s information for download on mobile phones and tablets, or Accelerated Mobile Pages that make content load easily.
During this pandemic, there was an increase in the use of social media which has led to strategy reviews and changes by brands to incorporate the new platforms and features added to the old ones. As of July 2021, it was reported that social media user numbers worldwide surged to 520 million leading to an increase in influencer online purchase intent. Platforms like TikTok, Twitter, and Pinterest have fostered this. Always be on the lookout as digital marketing platforms continuously change and these changes influence customer behavior.
Conversation Marketing
Conversational marketing has taken shape, every brand page has adopted storytelling in their content delivery online. Because consumers do not want to hear how fantastic your products or services are, simple content items presenting a story are getting more interaction and leads. Incorporating real-life displays of the advantages the products have in the simplest of ways increases more interested consumers. Also, you do not have to post every day so long as the strategic decision has been measured to return on the desired goal.
On creating interactive content items, brands that want to connect with consumers on an emotional and visceral level must adopt advanced technologies that let one tap into consumers’ feelings by creating virtual and augmented reality experiences.
AR and VR tend to provide digital marketers and their bosses with ways to take users through an interactive journey by experiencing a product or brand in a personal space. Like when one tours a factory to see product production processes, and even examine and interact with products all from one’s home. This is the elevation of the connection from the brand to the consumer.
Audio Social Media
Audio social is surely going to pick up more, and we have seen how Robert Kabushenga’s Twitter Spaces have shown Ugandans the way. We speculate that Facebook will be coming through with an audio feature for its platforms just because of its element called Discovery. But the open reach of Twitter holds more appeal to others than Facebook’s audio strategies which are not sure it will retain.
The bottom line is that in 2022 fundamental changes to digital marketing will be the death of the cookies which businesses have been relying heavily on on. What is to happen to traditional remarketing tactics? What applications are coming through to aid marketers to capture their audience and be ever-present? It is time to start adapting alternative adverting methods as marketers continue to experiment, measure and ensure that their strategies have innovative technology considerations in them.
