5 digital marketing trends to introduce into your strategy for business success in 2022. With around 10,000 participants, the Digital Trends for 2022 study by Adobe and Econsultancy is “the largest and most enduring study on how digital trends are changing marketing.” Now more than ever, falling behind can prove fatal for any business. In this perspective, knowledge of digital trends is essential. Starting with this study, let’s analyze the 5 trends that help you succeed and become a leader.

Digital Marketing: 5 Trends For 2022

There is only one trick to achieve innovation and support business growth: customers. 

According to the study, only “companies capable of quickly implementing their decisions and acting based on consumer information will start from a privileged position.” That is why it is necessary to orient the actions around the customer. In practice, it is about experimenting, personalizing, and being fast. The 5 trends are linked precisely to these aspects.

Faster Change

The digital progress of the past couple of years has been amazing. Suffice it to say that in a few months, a level was reached that would have required about seven years in other conditions. At the same time, the customers have changed. “41% of respondents say they make daily or weekly purchases from their smartphone, up from 39% six months ago and just 12% five years ago.” Even your customers today have a series of expectations towards your company:

1. a fast and multichannel interaction
2. carry out transactions in a convenient and safe way
3. an excellent experience in every moment of the customer journey.

How can we respond to these needs? The key is to know the customer’s purchase path or the customer journey. From the first contact to the conclusion of the purchase, it is necessary to create interesting and quality experiences at every stage. Consumers need to be engaged in a useful and intuitive way without ever being pushy or intrusive.  The purchase path that your customers will take will distinguish your company from all the others.

To create an ad hoc one, you need to know your audience, predict their behavior, and understand problems and needs. A leading company is agile and structured to:

1. collection of reliable data and information on the target
2. increase personalization also thanks to artificial intelligence
3. develop and invest in innovation and skills growth.

Trust Gained

“Ethical data management has never been more important or complex.” The study stresses the importance of privacy. We have just discussed the need and usefulness of collecting data on the target. Therefore, we cannot neglect the aspect of their conscious management. Every company must manage the data so that:

1. Customers can feel protected and safe. Only in this way will people consciously share information and know that they can count on the reliability and benefits that come from the company
2. compliance standards are met with data in an extraordinarily complicated set of rules
3. The information collected is used to predict and satisfy consumers’ needs and give them a quality and valuable user experience.

Now think about your company and ask yourself: what is the purpose for which you collect data? And which ones are really useful for your business? Only by answering these questions will you be able to plan and manage data innovatively and profitably, both for customers and your business.

Agility Unlocked

Change must be triggered. The fuse is agility. Only agile work will allow a timely and adequate response to customer requests. What does your business need to improve agility?

1. Multidisciplinary marketing team with various skills
2. constant training and specialization
3. openness to innovation and different points of view
4. coordination of work even remotely, contemplating the possibility of connecting from any place and with different time zones
5. Access to a single source of reliable data.

“It’s not enough to translate data into knowledge: organizations need to do it quickly enough to keep up with consumers’ fast-changing preferences and demands.” In other words, while it is true that adding value to people’s experience during the purchase journey is important, it is equally important to do so as soon as possible. The report itself confronts us with this evidence. It gives us an important piece of advice: relying on artificial intelligence is an opportunity that can no longer be missed to reach this goal.

Unlimited Collaboration

Internal dialogue is crucial for the success of a company. Specifically, the marketing and IT sectors must learn to interact without overwhelming each other by collaborating and compensating for the two activities. On the one hand, marketing interfaces directly with the customer; on the other hand, the collection and management of data are entrusted to the IT department. Synergistic work allows:

1. to understand customer needs and implement appropriate changes
2. adapt technological strategies to the customer experience
3. increase agility, creativity, and innovation.

The report warns us of some difficulties that a company may encounter on this point: “Cultural change is the first obstacle to agile transformation.” What does it mean? Everyone must make that change. Everyone has to do his part to create a true collaboration, communicate, and increase the agility and effectiveness of the work.

Superior Customer Experience

A little while ago, we mentioned a little piece of advice that comes directly from the report: use artificial intelligence to improve the purchase path and the user experience. Innovative technologies and intelligent automation are undoubtedly major trends for the future. Here’s what to work on:

1. simple, unified marketing technologies that automate and optimize speed and sales
2. application modernization 
3. creation of a single unified platform to improve the customer experience, lower costs and simplify workflows
4. real-time, large-scale customization for more meaningful business results
5. tailor-made content on all company channels, to accompany customers in the purchase process
6. High-performance digital architecture, advanced analytics, and automated tools for managing data, operations, and workflows.

In short, all those actions and technologies help bring together data from different platforms, organize them, and use them in a fast and targeted way. The goal is to offer “a database of connected and fully available data so that the various company functions can access a single source of reliable information” and achieve business objectives. Put the customer at the center by giving an excellent customer experience, giving space to teams and their interaction, and using cutting-edge data and technologies for fast and personalized actions. This little recipe will help you keep up not only right now but also set your future actions.

Also Read: Digital Marketing, Five Trends For 2022