The Key Online Marketing Trends 2022

2020 and 2021 were years with special challenges. The pandemic not only affected the private and professional lives of most people, but also online marketing was influenced by COVID. What will 2022 look like? The warriors team looks forward and summarizes the most important developments for you, daring a preview of trends in 2022. What innovations will there be in SEO and SEA, how will web analysis develop, and what opportunities does social media marketing offer? Our best tips for you to make your online marketing fit for 2022!

Online marketing is constantly evolving, new platforms emerge, and trends come and go. Some take hold, others do not. We just celebrated our 20th anniversary as an agency and reflected on the developments we have witnessed. Today we look ahead: how will online marketing change in 2022, what trends do the experts across the various channels in our team foresee? A preview and professional assessment.

How will the world of online marketing evolve in 2022?

Before we look forward, it's worth reviewing 2020 and 2021. Two years in which almost nothing was as it was before. The pandemic has significantly altered both the private lives of most people and the professional world. The way many teams work, for example, and the demand for certain products and services. By now, we have almost two years of experience on how our industry and the industries of our customers have changed due to COVID. And as the pandemic will continue to impact the coming year, we can use these insights for our planning and online marketing strategy in 2022.

Especially in uncertain times, reliable data is invaluable. Those who have conducted accurate tracking and professional web analysis in 2020 and 2021, observed their own industry, and analyzed the behavior of their target audience are better prepared for 2022 than competitors lacking these figures and insights. This also includes being sensitive to how potential customers want to be addressed during such a special time, which challenges many people. What is important to your target audience? What values, needs, and questions do they have? This knowledge is invaluable to online marketing. Therefore, in 2022, the principle remains: “Data-driven marketing” is a crucial key to success.

Another trend that will continue: people expect a personal approach instead of anonymous mass communication. This applies to newsletters, social media, SEA, or SEO. Since it is not possible to address everyone individually, this means precise segmentation, targeted targeting, and above all well-defined target groups and customer journeys. What do users need at what time? The focus is less on the mere sale and more on building trust and a relationship with potential customers. Especially during a pandemic, when emotional needs differ from those of previous years, personalization is more important than ever.

In addition, automation is becoming increasingly important: which processes can be automated or supported through automation? The focus in online marketing is increasingly shifting away from manual work toward strategy. The profession is evolving, and the demands on online marketers are rising. Interdisciplinary knowledge and the ability to think outside the box are now almost prerequisites for successful online marketing work. That's why it’s so important for us as a full-service agency to develop holistic strategies for our clients and work together as a team towards success. We see the individual disciplines not as separate, but as pieces of the puzzle. Recognizing this is not self-evident, but we are convinced: it is becoming more crucial!

Current politics and key public issues also influence online marketing. Clients set higher standards for quality and corporate values. Sustainability and inclusion are in the public focus and should be considered in the strategy if these topics are important to your target audience. Companies must confront polarizing questions (such as gendering - we have an SEO perspective answer for you): what values do we stand for, what are our core messages, how do we position ourselves, and how does our target audience see it? These questions should be reflected in corporate communication and accordingly influence online marketing measures.

Just as content and processes change, so does our way of working. Remote work and hybrid work models are now commonplace, client contacts and sales occur almost exclusively online. We are not alone in this; digital-only sales are one of the major trends these days. The lack of in-person (or F2F?) contact opportunities forces most industries to rethink - online marketing plays a key role in the sales funnel in online lead generation.

Another positive trend from our perspective is Consulting-Based Selling, which we also take into account in the online marketing strategy: here, too, the needs of the target audience are the focus. The emphasis is less on selling a specific product or service, and more on finding individual solutions for customers. In practice, this means first engaging in an exchange to find out what the optimal solution for the problems or needs is. Again: relationships and trust as the basis for sales.

SEO Trends 2022

The SEO year 2021, alongside numerous Google updates (Core Updates, Spam Update, etc.), was shaped especially by the Core Web Vitals, which have played an important role in rankings since summer. The user experience, which Google has been naming as a vital factor for years, is now quantifiable in concrete numbers and poses significant challenges for many companies, as not every system is equally well-suited for fast performance and high user-friendliness on mobile devices. This development will continue, systems must adapt to respond to increasing requirements.

The better Google learns to interpret search queries and the meaning behind them, the more important it is for companies to focus on the “User Intent”: what is the need, what is the expectation behind a keyword or phrase? Is it an information need, a purchase intention, or simply the desire for entertainment? The sole focus on search volume hasn't been enough for long to qualify keywords; the intent behind them must also match the target page. What type of content and page best responds to the need - a product page, shop category, FAQ page, blog post, white paper, or service page, for example? And how do these contents and page fit into the customer journey and the company goals? Landing pages optimized for keywords are no longer sufficient - they must also align with user intent.

Another development we observe and which will continue in the SEO  realm in 2022 is Google's focus on high quality and trustworthy content and content publishers. Especially in potentially sensitive industries where correct information is particularly important (for example, medicine or finance), but also in other areas, we see how crucial a strong brand is.

Technical SEO is not becoming unimportant, especially in light of the Core Web Vitals, it is of great importance; the technical foundations that previously alone had a substantial positive impact are now often just the basis and are no longer sufficient to significantly improve rankings site-wide (apart from essential technical errors). Every company needs a holistic sustainable SEO strategy that considers both technical functionality and suitable content for the target audience and user intent alike.

Tip: If you have already analyzed your key keywords and planned corresponding content - consider the intent and ensure that intent and content align. For 2022, plan not only technical and content-based search engine optimization but also measures to strengthen your authority in your industry. Publish “thought leadership content” to demonstrate your expertise and be present on other relevant platforms.

SEA Trends 2022

The biggest change in the field of Google Ads: Expanded Text Ads (ETA) will be discontinued and can no longer be created from summer 2022. Instead, Google's focus will be on automation. Optimization is done by algorithm, working with machine learning and artificial intelligence. Advertisers thus have significantly fewer levers for manual optimization.

For SEA experts this means that less manual work is necessary in campaign management and optimization. Instead, the overall strategy and alignment become more important in this field. What is the company's goal across all online marketing activities, and what contribution can SEA make? Who is the target audience, what are their intentions and needs, and how can they be addressed? What does the customer journey look like? Which landing pages are suitable for it? The connection to other online marketing channels remains important to leverage synergy effects.

The importance of mobile access will continue to grow for SEA: all campaigns need to be optimized for mobile devices. Landing pages must be not only accessible but also usable on mobile devices. This does not only prevent a high bounce rate but also avoids a negative rating from Google.

A current development that will be important in 2022 and beyond is the increase in voice search. “Voice Shopping” - shopping via voice commands in devices like Alexa or Siri - may not yet be a concern for the masses, but it is a future model (as projected by a Google study in 2019) that must be considered in SEA, as voice search operates differently from traditional search.

Especially in paid online marketing channels, measurability of actions is indispensable for meaningful evaluations and derivation of actions. Current data protection regulations have changed tracking as we knew it for a long time and present new challenges. The goal must be to collect as much data as possible and integrate it into campaigns. Only if we can reliably evaluate performance and user behavior can we assess actions and optimize them in a targeted manner.

Tip: If you haven't compiled thoughts about the user journey yet, it is urgent that you do so and incorporate these insights into your measures. Google Ads automation continues to advance, and this topic must be addressed by all advertisers. Those who deal with it promptly, test and gain experience do not hand over control to Google in one step but can learn and assess the success of these automated campaigns and where there is still room for action.

Read more about the future of search engine marketing in this article: Search Intent & Ads Automation – the Future of Google Ads

Web Analysis Trends 2022

As mentioned above, Data Driven Marketing remains significant. Correspondingly, the importance of professional web analysis is immense: accurately set up tracking and a qualified evaluation of data to draw the right conclusions can make the difference in deploying the online marketing budget efficiently. Especially in the last two years, where due to the pandemic only in a few industries was it “business as usual”, it helps to have insights into user behavior available to derive a data-based forecast for 2022 and likely another year influenced by COVID.

The issue of data protection will continue to accompany us, and the web analysis trends that have emerged this year will remain important in 2022. To compensate for the loss of data through consent banners and users rejecting cookies or blocking them directly in the browser, solutions still need to be found. Solutions that are consistent with data protection regulations but still ensure meaningful and reliable data.

One solution that we as an agency have been pursuing for a while and implementing for companies is server-side tracking, and in the future, cookie-free tracking will play an increasingly important role.

Powerful tools and accurate data form the basis for this: web analysis tools like Google Analytics 4, which can especially help in the Google Ads channel to increase conversions, but also additional tools for the field of search engine optimization that provide further data for projections.

Tip: Ensure you're measuring the data you need for your business goals, that this data is accurate, and that you make all decisions as data-driven as possible.

Further insights into web analysis developments can be found in this article: Data Analysis 2021: This is how data evaluation works also with less data! 

Social Media Trends 2022

In the social media sector, the channel TikTok stands out, whose importance will continue to grow in 2022. What is still perceived by many as a primarily personal fun channel does indeed offer potential for companies to be active and advertise here. Formats such as animations and videos are gaining importance, primarily thanks to the popularity of TikTok and Instagram Reels, where very short videos tell stories, spread messages, and promote products.

Especially in social media ads, personalization and targeted addressing of each individual target group are particularly important. With increasingly better targeting options, advertising can be played out much more targeted. On the one hand, there is the possibility to analyze and understand your own target group better than ever before; on the other hand, to tailor the content and design precisely to this target group.

Where social media years ago was primarily for entertainment, Social Commerce is becoming increasingly important. The various social media platforms offer many opportunities to sell directly there without users having to leave the platform or app: Facebook and Instagram can host shops, Pinterest brings the option to create product pins. Especially for a younger target audience (around 16 - 24), this sales channel is becoming increasingly important, as more searches happen via social media than Google. Those who are not present here and want to appeal to young people are missing considerable potential.

Tip: Consider even the newer channels in your Social Media Marketing and check if your target audience is there. Dare to try new advertising formats, for example on TikTok. Use all the options and channels that are relevant for your company and your target audience. Test “social selling” of different products, for example through a Facebook or Instagram shop.

Is your online marketing fit for 2022?

Have you already planned your online marketing measures for 2022? Have you established a strategy, selected the relevant channels and actions based on the experiences and data of this year and previous years? Are you considering the current trends and developments for the future? If you wish for a “sparring partner”, a team of experts by your side to advance your business goals with you, contact us!

We are pleased to support you for 2022 and beyond with our years, sometimes decades-long experience and knowledge of current trends in the online marketing world. Together, we find the optimal individual strategy for your company. We fight for your clicks and leads!

Contact us here!

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