Digital marketing is always changing and evolving, but 2022 will likely hold some dramatic changes. Businesses and brands must not only plan for the future of digital marketing but be prepared to take advantage of it.

Meta

Facebook officially changed its name to Meta. While creating a name for the parent company is logical (remember Google became Alphabet?), the choice is what matters. Facebook is betting big on the Metaverse, which is a term for virtual and augmented experiences. This is a big bet on the future of the web.

Influencers Continue to Grow

Influencer marketing is set to reach $13.8 billion in 2021 and continue to grow. Influencer campaigns inherently provide context and relevance since the influencer is endorsing the product. B2B brands also continue to embrace influencers — Adobe, SAP, GE and PWC all have harnessed this trend.

Advertising is Challenged by Privacy

Modern digital ads are heavily reliant on data to automatically optimize. New privacy regulations like the iOS update and the pending removal of cookies have been reducing the data used in artificial intelligence.

SEO is Less Game and More Integrated.

Search engine optimization is one of the oldest and most valuable forms of digital marketing. As search algorithms have continuously become smarter and more contextual, marketers need to focus less on the “hacks” and “tricks” of SEO and more on providing an outstanding and meaningful experience to their users.

Less is More

The explosion of digital marketing options means that many businesses are spread too thin across too many channels. Smart businesses focus on dominating one channel.

Digital Jobs Continue to Grow

According to LinkedIn, digital skills are the most in-demand. Yet there is a big skill gap between the number of businesses searching for digital skills and the skills in the marketplace.