How Marketing Trends Are Likely To Shape Up In 2022 A cutting-edge marketing strategy can put you at the top of your league, and churn profits by multiple folds

The first quarter of the year is here and we have already seen some phenomenal changes in the world of marketing. The disruption of old marketing ways is normal but the ongoing pandemic has made us witness a major shift in the ways businesses have started marketing their products. In 2020 and 2021, we saw the world embrace digital transformation more than ever and adapt to virtual and hybrid landscapes for business.

A change is never going to be a cakewalk but it is vital to stay ahead in the game in this constantly changing fast-paced world. A cutting-edge marketing strategy can put you at the top of your league, and churn profits by multiple folds. Marketing is not everyone's forte and the changing trends doesn't make it any easier. Few of the trends one should be on the lookout for are influencer marketing, AR and VR experiences, and audio content.

How influencer marketing has evolved and how it is benefiting brands

Influencer marketing has been the best way of getting desirable ROI's for almost all the business ventures across the globe. Each set of influencers like nano, micro or luxury, have a dedicated audience on the platforms they choose for themselves who are engaged, interested and influenced by the information they are provided with. When brands collaborate with these influencers, they tap into these audiences which results in enhancing the brand awareness which results in driving up the sales. They have found their niche in the industry be it travel, fashion, lifestyle or much more, which helps in converting these leads into sales. Along with the followers count, the engagement rate is the deciding factor for on-boarding an influencer and that's where the relevant content type comes in the picture.

Sudden boom of augmented and virtual reality and the increase of usage of these technologies in the industry

Although two years ago the world came to a standstill, and helped us reflect on certain practices such as product launches, fashion shows, and multiple other events. Gradually we learned the digital approach to these things and augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) has become the new dimension everyone wants to explore. In 2021, 35 per cent of marketers were leveraging AR or VR in their strategies. Of those marketers, 42 per cent plan to increase their investment in 2022. Virtual reality is viewing a computer-generated, lifelike scenario from the comfort of your home. Augmented reality is viewing the real world augmented with visual, haptic, olfactory or visual additions. VR and AR offer never seen and felt before experiences, and both are making waves in the marketing world today. Companies developed 360° videos which helped you see things happening in any part of the world from your place of comfort and created visualisation experiences. That's the power of VR and AR which enhances the customer's experience especially during the pandemic times.

Chat room apps quickly garnered a more serious audience towards it. They gave well established and reputed platforms a run for their money and as the trends would have predicted, they rushed to start investing in, testing, and/or launching similar features. A surge in podcast content has been witnessed which shows that many people are inclined towards audio content as much as they initially were towards video content. It provides the brands with a great engagement rate which increases the brand awareness and brands continue to see it as a good investment opportunity.

Exploring New Market Opportunities

These are just a few out of many trends which will shape up the marketing strategies in 2022. Although it certainly doesn't mean that one shall stop indulging and investing in the traditional forms of marketing. The old ways have stood the test of time with some constant evolution but the foundation certainly remains strong. The varying cultures in the industry like opting to go the vegan and sustainable way or giving it back to the nature, or extracting raw materials from the discarded products, indulging into upcycling and much more, is proving to be a constant source of inspiration to think out of the box techniques and garner eyeballs towards these kind of brands.

The medium of marketing depends a lot on the target audience. Especially when we talk about younger generations, it has become increasingly difficult to reach out to them and send across a message through traditional means of marketing, so it is only a matter of time when we shall see multiple other ways to market a brand and there shall never be any dearth of options. Tapping into the right kind of audience is the key to success so choosing the right medium of marketing becomes extremely vital. If there is anything stagnant in this industry then it wouldn't be a chance for them to not explore new marketing opportunities which will leave them behind in the race to position themselves as the go-getters for their products.