With every passing year, digital marketing becomes increasingly complicated. Regardless of whether you’re a well-known organization or a startup, digital marketing continues to evolve. Along with standard tactics like PPC ads, SEO, and UX strategy, online marketers must incorporate social channels and more stringent data regulations into their toolbox among other things. As consumer behavior has shifted in the wake of the Covid epidemic, business owners need to adapt even faster to keep their brands relevant. Therefore, we’ve cobbled together three of the top digital marketing tactics to boost your site traffic in 2022.
For Videos, “Less is More”
It’s not exactly a revelation that video content results in higher levels of interactivity. In fact, visual content is very powerful because it stays in longer in one’s memory. For this reason, videos are the perfect medium for informing consumers about products and services, raising brand awareness, and increasing your ROI. Nevertheless, today’s consumer doesn’t have the time or the patience to view lengthy videos. A third of people will stop watching a video after 30 seconds, and nearly two-thirds will do so after two minutes.
What does all this mean for digital marketers? They need to concentrate on short videos that get right to the point without wasting time. Consequently, platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels and even YouTube Shorts have taken center stage within the social media landscape over the last few years. These channels represent the ideal placement for fresh brand content.
The key is to find the platform with the most engagement among your target audience. TikTok, for example, appeals to a younger audience (mostly under age 30). On the other hand, Instagram skews a bit older with almost half of users falling between 25 and 44 years old. With the introduction of YouTube Shorts in 2021, YouTube is also making inroads into this segment. In addition, Pinterest and LinkedIn have jumped onto the bandwagon by investing in their own video features.
The beauty of short-form videos is that you can still tell your brand’s story while strengthening your connection with your community.
Shoppable Livestreams
Social commerce on platforms like Instagram and TikTok is becoming more and more established as brands look to shorten the customer marketing funnel. Essentially, it’s another vehicle for merchants to get their products in front of potential customers.
And the latest goldmine for social commerce appears to be shoppable livestreams. Studies show that consumers spend up to three times longer looking at live videos instead of pre-recorded visual content. As a result, industry experts estimate livestream commerce to be a $70 billion space. Moreover, the pandemic has only made livestreams more popular as a safe alternative to in-store purchases.
Brands can take advantage of livestreaming on Facebook and YouTube to allow viewers to see merchandise, ask questions, and make purchases. Consequently, they can build relationships with consumers and generate lots of sales.
The Metaverse Gains a Foothold
In this case, we’re not talking exclusively about Facebook and its attempt at rebranding. The metaverse encompasses the virtual world of augmented reality, virtual reality, video and 3D holographic avatars. In essence, it’s a contained environment in which people work, play, and socialize.
Facebook, famously, has gone all in on the metaverse by renaming itself Meta. Believe it or not, this maneuver could make Meta even more successful than Facebook.
With all this interest and activity, brands need to start incorporating the virtual space into their 2022 marketing strategies. According to HubSpot Research from 2021, over a third of marketers are already adding VR or AR to their digital strategies, and nearly half plan to go bigger in the future. Because VR and AR improve the customer experience both online and at live events, they are a great way to separate yourself from the competition.
Activity in the virtual world can yield a whole new treasure trove of performance metrics for marketing professionals such as how long virtual objects are held and where users are looking when they experience an ad. Although most consumers may be a few years away from delving into the metaverse, savvy brands can really benefit from a first-mover advantage.
One thing we know for sure is that digital marketing never stands still. So, try these online marketing tactics to expand your reach and increase engagement with your target audience in 2022.
