Are you a business owner or marketer who’s interested in growing your online store in 2022? If so, you’re in the right place. By the end of 2021, over 2.14 billion people will buy goods or services online, and we expect to see that number increase in the coming years.
A lot has changed in terms of marketing, outreach, and SEO. There are now more possibilities than ever before, which is both good and bad. I believe this tech and marketing explosion is good because it gives business leaders more flexibility and freedom, which typically leads to more innovation. The downside is that all of these new methods, tools, and strategies can become overwhelming fast.
Keep reading if you’re part of the latter group and have trouble determining which trends are worth following and which are passing fads.
Today, my goal is to help clear up any confusion and show you 4 online shopping trends that you absolutely need to pay attention to in 2022. I’ll also provide a few tips you can use to put these strategies into practice.
Let’s get started!
Content is Still King
Publishing content is an excellent way to drive new visitors to your site while keeping existing customers engaged with your brand. Research shows that 47% of people consume 3-5 pieces of content before shopping with a new business. I believe this is tied to the fact that consumers want to make sure companies understand their goals and pain points before placing an order.
Think about it; would you want to give a new company your debit card information without first establishing that they understand why you need their product or service? When it’s phrased like that, it’s easy to see why adding content to your blog can help build your reputation, keep visitors on your site, and lead to more sales.
One thing that has changed is the types of content users want to see. We’ve seen a massive surge of people asking for more video content. It’s estimated that around 43% of online shoppers want more videos from their favorite brands, with more people sharing this sentiment year-over-year.
There’s also evidence that suggests video content can dramatically improve your search rankings. One study found that adding videos to your site can increase your SERPs traffic by a whopping 157%! In other words, this seemingly small change can help improve your organic traffic and overall searchability.
The best ways to come up with video ideas for your site are to repurpose popular articles, gather feedback from existing customers, and look at trending industry topics on social platforms like YouTube and Instagram. Use what you learn to create engaging, value-packed videos and blog posts for your audience.
Automation Will Impact Sales and Engagement
Automation has become a must-have marketing tool for businesses across all industries. Generally speaking, automation is helpful because it allows business owners to take repetitive or mundane tasks and speed them up while quickly gathering actionable data. This additional data can help you amplify your online store in 2022, and that’s not including all of the time you’ll save by automating tasks.
Automating various marketing processes can also help you skyrocket sales through personalization. Nearly 80% of online shoppers expect brands to show them content and offers that resonate with their specific goals and pain points.
In the old days, you needed someone to crunch analytics numbers and build detailed customer personas based on what they learned. Times have changed. Now, data about how consumers engage with your site is ready and organized in seconds, which makes planning personas so much easier.
Once you gather enough information about your visitors, you can make suggestions through other automated marketing channels, like email, that show relevant products and services. Speaking of email, if you’re not automating your lead generation and segmenting process, now is the perfect time to get started.
I suggest adding a question to your signup form that will trigger your CRM to group the prospect based on their response. For instance, you could ask new subscribers to click the goals and pain points that are relevant to their experience. Based on their choices, you can set up customized marketing campaigns that will undoubtedly lead to more sales and engagement.
Voice Search Has Hit an All-Time High
Believe it or not, sales from voice shopping are expected to hit a staggering $40 billion by 2022. This startling statistic is proof that business leaders and marketers need to gear their SEO strategy towards voice search if they want to thrive.
If you’re new to the idea of voice search, here’s a quick summary. Voice search is when shoppers use a voice-activated device, like Amazon’s Alexa, or their smartphone, to search the internet. Often, these searches result in a purchase. In fact, 62% of people with these devices say they’ve bought something through their voice-driven device.
Optimizing your site for search leads us back to your content marketing strategy. When creating landing pages, publishing blog posts, or otherwise adding to your site, use conversational language when possible.
The thing to remember about voice search is people often speak differently from how they type. If you’re only focusing on what your audience writes, you could be missing out on a ton of traffic and sales.
I suggest thinking about questions your customers might ask their speakers when planning your content. For example, if you sell football jerseys, you may want to target “Where can I buy Football Jerseys?” instead of a more generic term like “New Football Jerseys.” When you include these types of questions in your post, you have a better chance of appearing in the featured answer box for users, regardless of whether they are using a keyboard or smart speaker.
Social Media is Jam-Packed with New Marketing Opportunities
Finally, let’s talk about how you can reach prospects and existing customers on social media. Consumers spend about 2 hours and 29 minutes browsing different social media platforms every day, and in many cases, they are looking for things to buy.
If you can reach people during these critical moments, there’s an excellent chance you can generate more sales and leads across your social accounts. My first suggestion is to create profiles where your audience spends their time. You want to be accessible to people who just discovered your brand, as well as loyal customers.
Once you’ve completed your profile and filled in all of the extra details, start posting! Share content from your website, news about future product updates, and polls and surveys designed to help you get to know your audience. In my experience, these three types of posts lead to more engagement and social sharing.
You’ll also want to invest in dynamic ads on sites like Facebook and Instagram. These platforms give you the tools to create personalized advertisements that are shown to social media users based on their interests and buying habits. If you spent the time to develop stellar buyer personas, now is the time to put this data into action.
An impressive 130 million people tap these types of sponsored posts on Instagram every single month. It’s not hard to see how creating dynamic advertisements can help you reach more would-be shoppers.
You should also consider the benefits of adding live chat to your social channels. A vast majority of shoppers expect omnichannel support from businesses. If you have a team available to instantly help users when they have questions or concerns, there will be plenty of opportunities to turn these people into customers.
Back to You
As you can see, there are plenty of exciting shopping trends to look forward to in 2022. I hope I was able to offer a fresh perspective on these breakthroughs and how they will affect online shoppers and business owners in the year to come. As your company implements some of the strategies mentioned above, make sure to track your progress. Implementing brand new marketing techniques won’t benefit you unless you actively monitor data and make changes that reflect what you learn.
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