10 Ways to Overhaul Your 2022 Marketing Strategy
The landscape we’re marketing in is everchanging, and that’s certainly no different as we move into 2022. As you form and develop your marketing strategy over time, you’ll need to experiment and try new things if you want to avoid stagnating and boring your audience and customers.
You can’t afford to think about the different ways you market as entirely separate endeavors, and in 2022 you’ll need to make sure you’re keeping a bigger vision of the customer experience and brand image you want to create if you want to stand out from your competitors.
To help you make a splash in 2022, we’re counting down the top 10 ways to overhaul your marketing strategy for greater success
10. Check-in with Your Target Market
Before you dive into your marketing this year in earnest, make sure you’re still clear on your target market and consider if your ideal customer has changed, either because you’ve started serving a slightly different market or because they’ve started acting differently. If you dive into your marketing without first identifying your target market you may find your efforts don’t return the results you hoped. Your target market and ideal customer should be clear in your mind (or that of your team) whenever a new piece of content is created.
9. Set Relevant Goals
When setting marketing goals, always refer back to your brand values and vision. Then, check that your marketing goals are aligned with your long-term vision for your company, not just meeting arbitrary targets. It’s easy to want more — more revenue, more followers, more email subscribers. But all of these are worth a lot less if the people buying from you or following you aren’t interested in sticking around to hear more from you in the future. When setting goals, make sure they’re moving you toward your bigger vision and creating or deepening the relationship you have with your followers and customers.
8. Build a List of Referrals and Case Studies
Testimonials, reviews, and case studies are more important than ever as skeptical younger generations gain purchasing power. 91% of millennials trust reviews as much as referrals from their friends and family, so make sure you’re building a feedback loop that allows you to capture those essential reviews and testimonials.
If you lack referrals and case studies, build a referral program that rewards your biggest fans for sharing you with others. You can also use these same rewards for those clients and customers who are willing to leave you a testimonial or allow you to share your work together as a case study. Where possible, gain video testimonials, as they’re the most powerful.
7. Build an Engaging & Effective Website
Take a hard look at your website and your analytics. See how long visitors are sticking around for. Are they engaged, or are they leaving after just a few clicks? Your website must capture visitors and lead them on an engaging customer journey. If your current site isn’t doing that, it’s time for an overhaul. Your website isn’t just your online home, it’s the place where leads become customers. So make sure you optimize your customer journey in 2022, and give visitors a reason to pay attention to what you have to offer.
6. Revitalize Your Email Marketing
How many of the marketing emails that hit your inbox each day do you actually open? Think about the emails you’ll open each time you see them and what they’re offering you that keeps you opening them. Our inboxes are flooded with messaging each day, and all too many businesses aren’t valuing the direct line they have to their customers. If your open rates are lackluster, it’s time to pack your emails with value and give subscribers a reason to pay attention and trust you.
5. Empower Ambassadors
Brand ambassadors can drive your business forward in leaps and bounds, but if you hold on too tight, you can often limit your own growth because you’re so worried about something not going exactly as planned. While you certainly need to set boundaries around what your ambassadors should and shouldn’t do, try to give them ample opportunities to shout about how much they love your brand. If you work with influencers, allow them to be creative and add their own flair to how they market your product. If you encourage your customers to spread the word through reviews and social media, reward them where possible, or promote their content and show your appreciation.
4. Be Deliberate with Your Social Media Marketing
Make sure you’re not just ticking “post on Instagram” off your to-do list each day and explore the different types of content that are now available to you. You may not have an audience on TikTok, but that doesn’t mean Reels won’t take off for your business on Instagram. Audit your social media accounts and see what’s working and what isn’t, and be prepared to adapt your strategy throughout the year as trends change. Don’t forget that a lot of content can be repurposed, too, so consider how you can make the most of each piece of content.
3. Be Intentional with Your SEO
Search engine optimization has always been critical to a business’s success. But it’s often something we outsource and stop thinking about. Or worse, we only do from time to time and never pause to assess how it’s helping our business. While it’s certainly a long race to the top and you don’t necessarily need to be tweaking something daily, remember that the majority of people are spending hours online every day and turning to search engines any time they have a query.
This means there’s a lot of opportunities to capture new leads but also a lot of noise to breakthrough. Make sure your content is optimized and you’re taking advantage of SEO not just on your website, but any other platforms you use, such as YouTube or LinkedIn.
2. Don’t Overlook the Importance of Video Marketing
Every year video becomes a more critical part of the marketing mix - social media platforms continue to push video content, the younger generations spend more time watching YouTube than they do traditional media, and video ads are some of the most effective ways to stop the scroll and grab a potential customer’s attention. Video is the best way to develop rapport and trust with your audience, and so you need to consider how you’ll use it not just for your advertising efforts, but also in your social media marketing and content marketing as we move forward into 2022.
1. Think Holistically
This is the most important thing you need to keep in mind when forming your 2022 marketing strategy - you need to remember that everything you do to market your business is interconnected and feeds into each other. Many people think about organic marketing and paid avenues as two entirely separate endeavors, but that’s simply not the case. Someone who sees your inbound marketing will also be targeted with your outbound marketing, and vice versa. Focus on creating synergy with your team members, departments, and companies you outsource to, rather than treating them as if they all have entirely separate goals that do not impact one another.
