Tips on how to prepare for your 2022 marketing strategy
November 29, 2021
No sooner have businesses risen to and met the many challenges of 2021 – than they need to press the re-set button as a new year approaches.
Much has been learned in the last 12-18 months about the way businesses communicate and engage with customers, raise their own profile and create a strong online and media presence.
PR and digital marketing specialists Media Matters continues to work with clients to guide them through what can sometimes be a minefield when it comes to all things marketing.
Managing Director Dawn Strange highlights some key areas of focus that businesses can begin to adopt now to kick start a successful year ahead.
Dawn said: “What we have learned from the pandemic and working with our clients is that moving into 2022, digital marketing will become even more critical, content marketing will become more important and direct-to-consumer marketing will take more prominence.
“Marketing has looked different in the last year, but businesses have seen huge benefits from adopting new ways of working; from a social media refresh through to highly targeted account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns.”
Five top tips to try in 2022:
- Email marketing
Newsletters are compelling. Your audience’s inbox is a personal space, and if they are keen to let you in, you’re likely to get their undivided attention.
Turn to automation for smart email marketing that’s always on. If someone enters your database via email sign up or by downloading content, placing them into an email sequence before passing the lead to sales can help you understand their motivations in more depth.
Make your email marketing lists a key focus and part of your strategy. Data is valuable and being able to segment lists and send highly targeted emails can increase engagement and conversions, as will split testing your subject lines.
- Content Marketing
Planning is the absolute key. Create an in-depth, considered content marketing strategy which is supported by keyword research, topic research and an analysis of your competitors’ activity. This can help you stay on track, but also allows you to bend and flex when necessary.
Try out new types of content marketing including case studies, experiential landing pages, e-books, whitepapers, quizzes, surveys and blogs – and don’t forget to share them on your social channels, distribution is KEY.
- Social Media Marketing
Do you want to increase your number of followers, enjoy higher conversions and post more regularly? Achieving all three will also help to raise brand awareness, increase lead generation and keep your pipeline healthy.
Refresh your logos and banner images, and if there are any dormant accounts you no longer use, delete them so all your accounts look exciting, engaging and up to date.
Use a social media scheduling platform like Loomly, Hootsuite or Facebook Creator Studio to effectively manage and plan your social media themes throughout the months, quarters and year.
- Online Advertising
Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising can be truly valuable to businesses looking to drive high-quality, targeted, high-value marketing leads. Thorough keyword research and a joined-up user experience can yield impressive returns on investment and keep your pipeline topped up.
Ensure your online advertising campaigns are tagged and fully tracked so you can attribute inbound leads to this, determine ROI and make informed decisions on future activity.
- Website
Review your key website pages and ensure they’re as appealing and user-friendly as they can be. Check key forms and make sure it’s easy for customers to find case studies, reviews and essential information such as price lists or the main service pages.
Add fresh optimised content to your website on a regular basis – a monthly blog, a news article, if relevant, or brand new page content to support a new service offering or product launch. You need to keep Google happy and crawling your website and its pages.
Maximise conversion rates with experiential landing pages, which bring together key aspects of your company’s offering to a certain customer type or industry. This can include your USPs in that area, blogs around the topic and some case studies and reviews from happy customers.
Dawn added: “This is a flavour of just some of the core activity you or your marketing team need to have in your 2022 schedule. Where you place most importance will largely be driven by what worked best for you in 2021 (thanks to all the data and metrics you will have been gathering over the year) and your priority objectives for the 12 months ahead. Good luck and happy planning!”