… aaaand just like that, we’re about to say goodbye to 2021. If you’re wondering where did the time go, don’t ask us. We don’t know, either! What we do know, however, is that it’s time to start planning your marketing goals for a brand-new year.
Don’t have any goals in mind yet? Well, allow us to give you several ideas with this post of ours. That’s what we’re here for!
Why goal-setting is important
Marketing is all about goals. Without them, you’ll never know whether your work is worthwhile, or if your business is on the right path.
In other words, you’re completely lost. You’re going nowhere.
Marketers who take time to write down their goals and objectives are more likely to turn them into reality. In fact, a study found that marketers who set goals are 376% more likely to report success than those who don’t. And, 70% of these goal-setters end up achieving them.
5 Reasons Your Digital Ads Aren’t Performing
Why plan now?
In case you’re not aware, Google announced that it would end cookie tracking in early 2022. This is bad news for your business. You’ll need to make some changes, and we’re talking about drastic ones. Tracking users is essential to many advertisers and businesses, but with increased privacy concerns, the option to opt out of third-party cookies and their tracking means digital marketers have to find other routes to data.
Plus, the pandemic has required businesses to go digital, which means consumers have also followed the same path. Even once the global outbreak ends, consumer habits will remain.
Marketing experts predict that both digital and content marketing will become more critical than ever. Direct-to-consumer (D2C) marketing will triumph, and customer retention should be prioritized more actively.
Your 2022 marketing goals
- Focus on personalization.
Modern consumers want to feel seen and valued by the brands they love, especially in social media. They expect customized product recommendations and special offers that are tailored to their specific needs and interests, rather than generic emails and ads.
This is why you should start prioritizing personalization in your marketing strategies in 2022. Here are some of the best practices to implement:
- Send emails as a human, not a company.
- Segment your email database and personalize messaging.
- Create targeted landing pages geared toward different marketing personas.
- Target content to speak to the specific needs of various marketing personas.
- Use the real names of your recipients in email messages.
- Respond to prospects and customers in social media.
- Optimize for voice search.
By 2022, 55% of households are expected to own smart speaker devices, which is a 42% jump from today’s household ownership numbers. What’s more, 53% of Americans who own smart speakers are searching for local businesses every day.
These stats might be enough to tell you that you need to leverage voice search optimization as soon as 2022 arrives.
- Invest in online events.
Online events such as webinars and product launches are always a great way to get the word out about your brand. Whether you’re running a large corporation or a small business, there are tons of benefits when you host an online event, such as:
- Gaining access to your target audience.
- Boosting your content marketing.
- Increasing your ROI.
- Forming an emotional connection with prospective and existing customers.
- Building trust.
- Adopt marketing automation.
2022 will be the year where we’ll see more and more data-driven marketing campaigns being used across a broader scope of industries.
Adding marketing automation to your digital marketing strategy will make it more efficient and effective since you’ll be able to automate your workflows and spend less time on repetitive tasks.
With marketing automation, you can:
- Organize your lists.
- Keep your content engaging.
- Have a lead generation strategy.
- Establish goals and expectations.
Don’t be afraid to go all in.
- Focus on educating not the hard sell.
According to digital marketing experts, most Americans are exposed to 4,000 to 10,000 ads each day. No wonder many people have stopped buying into hard-selling tactics!
As you start your 2022 marketing journey, be sure that you’re set on delivering more education-based content, rather than simply focusing on sales talk. After all, an educated prospect is far more likely to make a purchase than one who has no idea of what you’re selling.
Here are four ways to educate your audience through marketing:
- Use your blog, product/service page copy, and other on-site elements to inform your visitors.
- Produce educational yet entertaining videos.
- Offer online courses.
- Launch a website message board or forum where your audience can gather and share ideas.
Final thoughts
Without a doubt, we’ll be seeing businesses of all sizes having more marketing options in 2022. Something tells us that it’s going to be an exciting year — of course, as long as you’ve set your goals as early as today. Good luck!
