But let’s look at the larger picture:
The purchase rate of omnichannel campaigns is 287% higher than single-channel campaigns (Omnisend ).
Customers are channel-agnostic. They expect businesses to be available on any channel that’s convenient for them (Gartner ).
The more channels in your channel mix, the better. More channels mean more convenience for your customers. More prospects mean more ROI. At least, that’s what we can learn from this analysis of 6,000 Effie-award-winning campaigns .
What to do about it
You can offer omnichannel experiences in three key areas.
The first one is the product (or service) . For example, Ahrefs is primarily a SaaS platform, but we also extend some of the product features to plugins, such as our SEO Toolbar for Chrome and Firefox and our free SEO WordPress plugin . This way, we can provide data contextually and make things more convenient for our users.
<img aria-describedby=”caption-attachment-137511″ class=”size-full wp-image-137511″ src=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/9-ahrefs-seo-toolbar.png” alt=”Domain and page stats via Ahrefs’ SEO toolbar” width=”1701″ height=”1078″ srcset=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/9-ahrefs-seo-toolbar.png 1701w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/9-ahrefs-seo-toolbar-671×425.png 671w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/9-ahrefs-seo-toolbar-260×166.png 260w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/9-ahrefs-seo-toolbar-768×487.png 768w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/9-ahrefs-seo-toolbar-1536×973.png 1536w” sizes=”(max-width: 1701px) 100vw, 1701px”/>
Ahrefs’ SEO Toolbar allows you to see SEO-related data directly on search engine results pages.
<img aria-describedby=”caption-attachment-137518″ class=”size-full wp-image-137518″ src=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/10-content-audit-seo-toolbar.jpg” alt=”Ahrefs’ WordPress plugin performs automatic content audits combining data from Google Analytics and Ahrefs.” width=”952″ height=”515″ srcset=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/10-content-audit-seo-toolbar.jpg 952w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/10-content-audit-seo-toolbar-680×368.jpg 680w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/10-content-audit-seo-toolbar-768×415.jpg 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 952px) 100vw, 952px”/>
Ahrefs’ WordPress plugin performs automatic content audits combining data from Google Analytics and Ahrefs.
The second area is customer support . Think about expanding the channels that can be used to reach your business. Don’t blame customers for using the “wrong” support channels. Instead, be prepared for any questions on all channels.
Conversational marketing solutions, such as live chats, are something more and more companies invest in. If you look at the data, it makes perfect sense:
82% of consumers expect an immediate response to sales or marketing questions (Hubspot ).
79% of companies say that live chat has had positive results for customer loyalty, sales, and revenue (Kayako ).
Conversations inside Facebook Messenger between companies and customers have a 30% higher conversion rate than retargeting ads (Facebook ).
The third area is promotion . Like the aforementioned Effie study has proven, the more channels, the better.
For example, we promote Ahrefs Webmaster Tools through many channels: Twitter, YouTube, Google Ads, various kinds of sponsorships, and more. We also try new ones whenever possible. (Recently, we have used Brave Ads and Quora Ads). Here’s an example of a video ad .
5. Video has proven to be an essential marketing channel
Wherever you look, you can see the same pattern:
79% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy or download a piece of software or app after watching a video (Wyzowl ).
YouTube is the second-most visited website in the U.S. by organic traffic (Ahrefs ).
91% of marketers feel the pandemic has made video more important for brands (Wyzowl ).
Video is the primary form of marketing media being created in 2021, followed by blogs (used by more than half of marketing teams), and infographics (Hubspot ).
Video proves to be great for users and businesses. It’s really hard to find a sound reason not to invest in video marketing. This is especially if your product is better shown in video than explained in written content.
What to do about it
If you’re at the beginning of your video marketing journey, the video below explains how to set up for success in this type of marketing even if you lack professional equipment, proficiency in English, or experience in front of the camera.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCgDIhvFkCM&list=PLvJ_dXFSpd2tsn8vwEmhFM0McBH4PhEty
Need more? Make sure to check out our playlist on the subject . We’ll show you how to make the best of YouTube Ads and do video SEO and YouTube SEO to send consistent, free traffic to your videos.
6. Data changed marketing for good
According to Harvard Business Review , data science is “the sexiest job of the 21st century.” It also added:
If companies sit out this trend’s early days for lack of talent, they risk falling behind as competitors and channel partners gain nearly unassailable advantages.
That article is from 2012. Some 10 years later, data scientist is #2 in Glassdoor’s 50 Best Jobs in America for 2021 report. And #1 is Java developer, with a comparable job satisfaction degree but about a $20k lower median base salary.
The data science trend is so impactful that it has left its mark on marketing. This study from Altimeter says that from a set of 11 skills, data analysis is the most desired skill among digital marketers.
<img aria-describedby=”caption-attachment-137519″ class=”size-full wp-image-137519″ src=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/11-marketing-desired-skills.png” alt=”Data analysis is the most desired marketing skill, according to a study from Altimeter” width=”1164″ height=”1056″ srcset=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/11-marketing-desired-skills.png 1164w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/11-marketing-desired-skills-468×425.png 468w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/11-marketing-desired-skills-768×697.png 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 1164px) 100vw, 1164px”/>
Source: Prophet .
And when we look at some data analysis courses, we can see that they are already being customized for marketers:
<img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-137520″ src=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/12-data-analysis-courses-for-marketers.png” alt=”Data analysis courses for marketers” width=”1125″ height=”1164″ srcset=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/12-data-analysis-courses-for-marketers.png 1125w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/12-data-analysis-courses-for-marketers-411×425.png 411w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/12-data-analysis-courses-for-marketers-768×795.png 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 1125px) 100vw, 1125px”/>
The courses cover many aspects, from advanced spreadsheet skills to programming in Python and R. Just one look at these courses, and we can see complex marketing problems that data analysis can help solve: customer churn, multifaceted customer data, sentiment analysis, campaign performance, etc.
What to do about it
Step 1 is to connect to quality data sources . There is a dedicated analytics tool for every marketing channel out there.
For example, if you want to take advantage of organic search, you will need a premium SEO tool like Ahrefs. Such a tool is your ticket to the vast pool of global search demand and backlinks data.
With the right SEO tools, you can also peep at your competitors’ data and see where you can improve.
<img aria-describedby=”caption-attachment-137521″ class=”wp-image-137521 size-full” src=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/13-content-gap.png” alt=”Content Gap report results” width=”1299″ height=”943″ srcset=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/13-content-gap.png 1299w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/13-content-gap-585×425.png 585w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/13-content-gap-768×558.png 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 1299px) 100vw, 1299px”/>
Among many features, Ahrefs’ Content Gap tool allows you to perform content gap analysis and see which keywords your competitors rank for but your website doesn’t.
The second step is learning data analysis skills .
Basic skills include mastering relevant spreadsheet formulas , understanding statistics, and understanding how your data is collected. If you think you can benefit from more advanced skills, invest in learning SQL, Python, or R.
That said, marketing analytics software can already perform a lot of data cleaning, analysis, and visualization for you. Particularly, the latest marketing automation technology has become quite remarkable.
Solutions like Blueshift or Bloomreach can take all your customer data points, merge them into one database, and then allow you to design omnichannel communication workflows triggered based on customer characteristics, actions, and even AI predictions.
7. Frictionless experience: a “make it or break it” moment
Can you point to a moment in time when buying something online was as easy, fast, and essentially frictionless as it is today?
<img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-137522″ src=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/14-frictionless-experience-amazon.jpg” alt=”Example of a frictionless experience on Amazon” width=”1861″ height=”754″ srcset=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/14-frictionless-experience-amazon.jpg 1861w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/14-frictionless-experience-amazon-680×276.jpg 680w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/14-frictionless-experience-amazon-768×311.jpg 768w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/14-frictionless-experience-amazon-1536×622.jpg 1536w” sizes=”(max-width: 1861px) 100vw, 1861px”/>
It’s obvious: Customers are more likely to make a purchase when companies make it easy for them.
Let’s look at some more examples:
These days, you can buy new and used cars 100% online.
E‑grocery companies declare deliveries to be as fast as 15 minutes.
Investing in the stock market is a breeze nowadays with apps like Robinhood or eToro.
Klarna, whose tagline is “the shortcut to shopping,” allows you to buy something online even if you don’t have the money at that moment.
Last but not least, think how disappointed you would be A.D. 2022 if a SaaS product didn’t have a free trial or some form of “free” element to it.
What to do about it
Decrease friction for any form of conversion action that you want the user to take. Be it signing up for a newsletter, signing up for a trial, or even making a purchase. As you can see above, businesses can make more money when they make the money flow easier.
But before you do, take a moment to think about whether you may need some kind of “friction.” Here are a few examples:
Friction from a lead generation perspective – For instance, you may find that gated content results in more qualified leads with more data points available.
Friction as a security measure – For example, before I took that screenshot from Amazon, I needed to go through a two-step verification process to log in to my account.
8. Remote work is here to stay
It’s been two years into the pandemic, and we’re all living in the “new normal.” That said, it’s reasonable to wonder if remote work should stay for good.
Well, according to a couple of statistics on the recent global remote work phenomenon, it seems that the transition to home offices was mostly successful.
<img aria-describedby=”caption-attachment-137523″ class=”size-full wp-image-137523″ src=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/15-remote-work.png” alt=”Remote work statistics” width=”655″ height=”288″/>
Source: PWC .
What’s more, remote work proved to have its upsides.
<img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-137524″ src=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/16-remote-work-upsides.png” alt=”Remote work statistics” width=”852″ height=”1039″ srcset=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/16-remote-work-upsides.png 852w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/16-remote-work-upsides-349×425.png 349w, https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/16-remote-work-upsides-768×937.png 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 852px) 100vw, 852px”/>
According to a Stanford study of 16,000 workers over nine months, a work-from-home arrangement increases productivity by 13%. Reason: more convenient working environment, fewer breaks, and sick days.
Here are a few more benefits:
Lower cost of employment
Better mental health
Access to better job options
More employee loyalty
Lower commuting costs (and more time saved on traveling)
If you’ve worked remotely, I’m sure you have your own pros and cons.
On the whole, though, employees are eager to continue working remotely or semi-remotely. According to FlexJobs’ 10th Annual Survey conducted between July and August 2021, an astounding 97% of workers desire some form of remote work—be it fully remote or hybrid.
And according to another study , over half of the employees want to work at least three days a week remotely.
Thus, it appears that remote work is here to stay.
What to do about it
The overall consensus seems to be that in order to adapt to this situation, companies will employ a hybrid model: Staff will spend some days in the office and some days at home.
<img src=”https://ahrefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/16-remote-work-stats-1.png” alt=””/>
And another study by Mercer confirms this sentiment: 70% of companies say they are planning to adopt the hybrid model.
In the above statistics, marketers are no exception. Who knows? Maybe marketers are even more likely to adopt the remote model. After all, we don’t often experience client-facing situations. And even if we do, those can be handled online. Also, I guess most of the tools we use for work are cloud-based.
So, dear marketers, you will likely see yourselves working remotely or semi-remotely in the coming years. There is a lesson here for employers also: Don’t be surprised if the people whom you work with expect some kind of remote work.
To wrap things up, let me also share a few tips on how to make the most of remote work based on the research I’ve seen so far:
Avoid the always-on mentality – This is advice both to employers and employees. Many people report that while working from home, they feel like they’re constantly working. This eventually leads to lower productivity, lower satisfaction, and professional burnout.
Use the right tools – For example, here at Ahrefs, some of us are remote-only workers from all around the world, while some are based in the Singapore office (but work remotely from time to time). So our work model is hybrid in a way. But all of the tools we use are remote-work friendly. Our staff can log in wherever and whenever they need.
Consider more in-office time for new hires and inexperienced workers . They may need the support and a taste of the company vibe.
87% of employees say the office is important for collaborating with team members and building relationships (PWC ). That’s right—having friends at work is that important. We just have to get used to chatting with people over the internet rather than in person.
Final thoughts
The future is always uncertain. Marketers can rarely afford the luxury to wait things out. So the only other option to cope with uncertainty is to start taking action. And hopefully, your path to success will become brighter as you go.
I hope the above list of digital marketing trends provided some insight into a couple of smart moves you can make in marketing in the near future.
If you have questions about marketing in 2022 or answers (even better), let me know on Twitter .