As the end of the year approaches, marketers are starting to plan the campaigns they will kick off in 2022. In order to design successful initiatives next year, here are some marketing trends to keep in mind.
Increasing Demand for Conversational Marketing
As marketers push for more and more automation, push back by consumers is not only inevitable, it’s already apparent. Consumers generally loath AI-powered chatbots, and have started unsubscribing in mass to automated email marketing messages. Because of this, those who initiative true person-to-person interactions with their prospects will come out on top. Conversational marketing is a visible trend that will gain momentum in 2022 as prospects want to engage with the people behind a brand, and are turned off generic marketing messages. While one-to-many messaging has some advantages, nothing will ever replace one-on-one interaction to build trust and rapport. Creating a dialogue with prospects across channels and encouraging them to share their challenges and concerns enables marketers to learn even more about their buyer personas and build effective marketing messages that adapt to changing needs over time. Great opportunity for telemarketing outreach exists as prospects are now coming back to office environments and are more amenable to engaging on the phone. This human-to-human tactic has taken on a new form as personalization in marketing becomes a must.
Events are Back in Full Force
The fact that live events and trade shows were banned for the past 18+ months has caused an explosion in demand now that they’re back. Events are literally everywhere and attendance is higher than ever as people crave face-to-face connections with other people. Organizing or participating in events is a fantastic way to network with prospects and introduce them to your offer. This will strengthen your conversational marketing even further as you engage your audience in highly personalized interactions. Keep in mind that it’s important your post-event follow-up be structured so that you can continue to build on the momentum you established at the event itself.
Growing Focus On Meaning And Purpose
It’s not surprising that expressing meaning and purpose is a visible marketing trend. Knowing your “why” and expressing that to your prospects helps differentiate you from your competitors and enables you to stand out in an authentic way. Authenticity attracts customers because nothing resonates more than sincerity. Coming from a place of purpose will help drive marketing initiatives to attract your ideal customer—those who are the right fit for your business because they are best served by your offer. Focusing on the greater good that your solution brings to your customers helps them to take a step back and see the bigger picture. This fundamental idea not only helps better position your brand but will take it to new heights as prospects adhere to your mission.
More Social Selling On LinkedIn
Many people still underestimate the power of social selling on LinkedIn and, more importantly, the quality of leads you can generate (both through paid advertisements and organic outreach initiatives). Organic social selling is often neglected by marketers because it is assumed that sales reps naturally do it themselves as part of their own prospect nurturing, but the truth is that they often disregard it because it is time-consuming and undervalued by management. Spending time building a network of prospects on social media platforms like LinkedIn can be judged as unimportant by organization higher-ups, especially since it’s a long-term strategy to educate prospects rather than convert the instant sale. However, having an “always-on” approach and leveraging valuable content that you can get in front of your target audience consistently over time is the best way to ensure that your pipeline never runs dry.
Accounts-Based Marketing (ABM) is all the rage
Accounts-based marketing is the next best thing since sliced bread, but in order for it to be successful, carefully selecting the companies that are part of your focus list is of utmost importance. You simply cannot pull accounts out of a hat and spend the better part of a year targeting them. ABM is an extremely targeted approach to marketing where your efforts are laser-focused on the companies that are valuable for your business; whether that be due to the prestige that the account holds, or because of the potential deal size they represent. ABM outreach means having highly-tailored messaging and therefore, conducting deep research into those accounts is a must. Now is a great time to start conducting market intelligence to understand the triggers that make an account a good target to go after in 2022.
Conclusion
Always-on, omnichannel outreach is a holistic approach to marketing that covers all your bases all the time. By creating a presence both on and offline, increased visibility for your brand is guaranteed. While customer-centric marketing is not new, it is a must in 2022. Putting your buyer personas at the center of your outreach initiatives will make the difference between having a good year, and a great one.
