EAT Will Continue to Dominate Content and SEO
Google introduced the concept Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness (EAT) as part of its Search Quality Evaluator guidelines in 2014, and it continues to be one of the most important ranking factors in search. EAT provides a valuable framework for your SEO and content marketing goals. So, as you plan your content strategy, try to keep Google’s quality evaluator guidelines in mind and do your best to demonstrate that your brand has demonstrable EAT qualities. Google defines EAT by:
- Expertise of the main content creator.
- Authority of the main content creator, the main content itself and the website.
- The credibility of the creator of the main content, the main content itself, and the website.
As Google and other search engines continue to understand web content and deliver the most relevant results to users, it is important that brands strive to create content that demonstrates EAT. The challenge for marketers and SEOs is that this concept is quite abstract and can be difficult to measure.
Content marketers looking to attract more customers and increase rankings should focus on creating relevant, personalized, authentic, and valuable content. Promote your creator credentials and demonstrate that your perspective is unique and knowledgeable. Develop your marketing personas and build your content around them. Do your best to design a seamless buyer journey and deliver the right content at the right time.
If you're not sure where to start or how to improve your approach, check out our guide to creating great digital experiences in 2022.
Brands will harness the power of short-form video
Video has been at the top of the content marketing arsenal for a long time – and rightly so. Historically, B2B businesses have leaned toward long-form content. From how-to videos that break down sales barriers to corporate videos that tell your brand’s unique story; long-form is a great way to bring your brand to life and provide that added value to your customers that keeps them coming back for more. However, when it comes to content length, things may be changing.
Hubspot’s 2022 Marketing Trends report reveals that short-form content is now the second most effective trend for marketers, with 46% saying it’s an effective format in terms of both performance and engagement. While TikTok started out as an almost exclusively B2C channel (in terms of marketing), many brands are discovering that the platform offers the opportunity to engage more intimately with their audience.
Short-form videos have proven to outperform the fleeting attention spans associated with modern audiences. Hubspot’s report also revealed that 89% of global marketers plan to continue investing in short-form videos or increase their investment. So if you’re looking for a concise, authentic way to promote your brand, you should add short-form videos to your 2022 marketing plan.
CSR's star will continue to grow
Today, it’s not just Gen Z and Millennials who are prioritizing brands with ethical and wholesome values. The pandemic has exposed horrifying inequalities in society, and even the most remote hermits are sure to be aware of the warnings about climate change. Brands of all shapes and sizes are rushing to demonstrate that they are sustainable, socially responsible, and for the greater good. We believe this marketing trend will continue to take hold in 2022 and beyond.
In the coming year, brands across all sectors will refine their messaging to ensure it is inclusive, fair and authentic. They may also focus on promoting their environmental credentials and the ways they actively engage with their communities. The work they do to demonstrate they are socially responsible and accountable. It’s about defining and communicating your brand’s purpose so that customers can feel confident in your brand and that it’s right for them.
Marketing personalization will become more unified
Personalization in marketing is nothing new. Both B2C and B2B brands have been using a variety of tactics to deliver more relevant, contextual experiences to customers. However, while many brands have had success delivering personalized experiences through one marketing channel – such as email – most still struggle to unify their personalization strategy across all the touchpoints a customer has with their brand.
To be truly successful, marketing personalization must be seamless across all channels and devices. But this isn’t easy, especially when you consider the added challenge of third-party cookies being phased out.
So what can aspiring marketers do to stay ahead of the personalization curve? Investing in a top-notch CRM helps. As can using AI to create personalized content. But now that zero-party data is only available, marketers need to come up with tactics to encourage customers to voluntarily give up their personal data. So when you’re planning promotions, creating gated content, and developing loyalty programs, make sure you ask yourself whether they’re really delivering value to consumers. The kind of value that they’re willing to give up their personal information for.
Can your business improve the way it communicates with customers? Learn more about creating personalized marketing campaigns using automation tools.
Combined events will continue to dominate
Spare a thought for the poor event organizers out there. If you’re a content marketer or branding professional and the past few years have been a nightmare, imagine what it must be like trying to manage and promote events! To say these marketing professionals have handled themselves admirably is an understatement. While virtual events aren’t as good as the real thing, real event marketers have pulled it all out of the bag to ensure that sponsors are engaged, the right speakers are engaged, and the event content is tailored to a remote audience. But what next?
One consistent thing about the pandemic is that no one has a clue what’s coming next. The last thing calendar-dependent event marketers need is a solution to the conundrum. Hybrid events are a great solution to the conundrum, and we predict they’ll continue to be a top strategy through 2022. They may even remain popular after this whole storm has passed.
Despite their obvious limitations, Hybrid events offer some interesting opportunities for brands. Virtual or hybrid events make it much easier to attract speakers from all over the world – as long as they’re okay with time zone differences, of course! Plus, there’s no attendance limit, so they have the potential to be much more inclusive.
Post-event marketing opportunities are also important. Hosting edited highlights on a website is marketing gold dust, especially when accompanied by guides that dive deeper into the topics covered. Perhaps even gated content can provide you with the aforementioned first-party data!
And so, we conclude our exploration of marketing trends to watch out for in 2022. We hope we’ve given you a few ideas to ponder as you plan your marketing.
Original post: 5 Marketing Trends to Watch Out For in 2022 (martechalliance.com)
Translated by: Phan Cong Duy
