The pandemic brought in a new digital-centric era that saw most consumers increasingly adopting technology. About 63% of adults in the United States reported completing most activities online, from attending interviews, religious services, shopping, and even working. About 44% of the entire US population upgraded their domestic technology and networks within the first two years of the pandemic.

Marketers should be prepared to build out a more technology-forward advertising strategy. With a wider adoption of interactive video-focused applications, consumers are more ready than ever to be met with immersive, interactive shopping experiences. One key segment we think will drive significant growth in 2022 is shoppable social media.

Social media platforms are already taking advantage of this approach through shopping features like commerce integration and shopping tabs. Facebook Shops and Instagram Shopping fully integrate with Shopify, letting sellers of all sizes quickly and easily take advantage of shoppable social. With Apple taking the reins on it’s consumer behavior data, it’s entirely possible to see Apple-device-specific shoppable experiences as well.

As technology races forward to establish connected, integrated shopping avenues, marketers will have to place a new focus on the consumer experience. Gone are the days when customers would visit a website, make a purchase, and marketers could write the sales cycle off as complete. As more and more sellers appear online, consumers need an integrated approach. It’s critical for marketers to meet their audiences and keep attention on multiple platforms.

Integrated marketing done with the purpose of creating a holistic customer experience will be a major priority for marketers in 2022. Ensuring that messaging is consistent across websites, mobile apps, social media channels, and on traditional media is just one part of the equation. In addition to messaging consistency, ease-of-use and accessibility will be a major point of focus for brands.  According to Forrester, marketers are set to invest about $10 billion in design spending, most of which will be focused on vendors, CX teams, and accessibility-centric services. The goal for marketers should be to reduce buying friction at all levels of an integrated marketing campaign.

“…marketers are set to invest about $10 billion in design spending, most of which will be focused on vendors, CX teams, and accessibility-centric services.”

Accessibility should be a cornerstone for web developers, digital marketers, copywriters, and creative directors in 2022. The significant widespread adoptions of social media and video technology perpetuated by the pandemic has brought swaths of users onto the web more consistently. Marketers should be conscious of ever-changing social media demographics, and optimize digital experiences to be accessible by all ages and demographics.

As addressed in our 2021 Marketing Predictions, Facebook and Apple changed the landscape of marketing data accessibility in the name of consumer privacy. While marketers, always innovative as we are, found ways to work around these challenges, these data restrictions opened our collective eyes to one major truth: the marketing technology we have at our disposal may not always be here. So what does that mean for marketers and advertisers? Back to basics, with a personalized approach.

Brand building, determining and segmenting your target audience, and establishing a strong digital foundation (SEO-centric websites, automated email, social media platforms, etc.) will be key to predictable, consistent brand growth in 2022. With these basic processes comes the need to establish a strategic content plan that you can optimize and monitor consistently. By leveraging your owned data and personalized platforms like email and SMS marketing, you can move with confidence in 2022 knowing that no matter what algorithm changes or marketing technology adaptations come into play, you have a plan.

“People are no longer intrigued by highly specific information being used to generate user experiences. They are now concerned about their privacy.”

What can marketers do to create more personal brand experiences on the web? How can these personalizations help brands remain confident and consistent in marketing strategies? It starts with the fair and reasonable collection of user data. “People are no longer intrigued by highly specific information being used to generate user experiences. They are now concerned about their privacy.” writes Joel Comm. Strategic marketing personalization allows consumers to share only the information they are comfortable sharing, and with the upfront knowledge that this data will improve their shopping experience.

There’s an ongoing race for the future of the internet, and it starts at with Web3 and the metaverse. In case you’re entirely unfamiliar with either concept, here are a few brief explanations:

•  Web3 refers to an idea of a future version of the internet, where platforms are owned by users. This ownership is claimed through investments and proven by a publicly accessible blockchain. A blockchain serves as a ledger. Think of it like a digital “sign in” sheet, so when an individual stakes claim in an asset, other users can reference this sign in sheet as proof of ownership.
• Metaverse refers to the use of VR and AR to expand upon the internet we use today. Rather than changing the way the internet functions (as with Web3), the metaverse is a broad term for a new virtual- and mixed-reality use of the internet.

Both the concepts of web3 and the metaverse will bring new ways in which marketers can innovate to grow brands. Early inklings of web3 marketing innovations are already emerging. Brands like Adidas and Balenciaga have experimented with digital product releases and NFT tokens, which allow for claimed ownership of a digital product on the blockchain. Prolific ad agency owner Gary Vaynerchuk minted NFTs in tandem with the release of his newest book. AdAge was helpful enough to publish a running list of active brand NFT and Web3 projects worth following here.

While the idea of minting NFTs and tokenizing your digital products on the blockchain may seem daunting, something we know even less about at present is how marketing will work in the metaverse. We’ve got a pretty good idea that Meta (formerly Facebook) will play a major role in the early adoption of metaverse advertising (I mean… they changed their name to capitalize on the metaverse). What we don’t know yet is how advertisers will best utilize advertising in the metaverse, which technology companies will adopt metaverse functions, and which new metaverse technology companies will emerge.

An early precursor to how metaverse advertising may look can be seen in Snapchat’s filters and AR lenses. Brands have been developing augmented reality games, lenses, filters, and experiences within Snapchat to drive unique awareness around product launches and rebrands. We can assume that greater metaverse advertising will expand upon these ideas. Virtual reality product demos, in-home augmented reality product placement, and immersive video/VR ads may all play a role in the future of advertising. With advancements in metaverse technology, this future could present itself in 2022.