6 Inbound Marketing Trends to Know Going into 2022

Here’s a list of six inbound marketing trends you’ll want to be aware of in the coming year. 

01. Content Marketing STILL Matters

If you read our last blog post, you should already be an expert on this. If you haven't, check it out now! 

Simply put, content marketing has been around for a long time, and it’s not going anywhere in 2022 or beyond. You’re always going to need enticing, well-written content to bring traffic to your website and value to your customers. Your leads still care about it, Google still cares about it, and you should too. 

Looking for a good place to start? Write a few blogs. They’re the bread and butter of a good content marketing strategy. And once you’re on a roll with those? Sprinkle in some more exclusive or interactive content. I’m thinking case studies, content offers, quizzes, calculators, etc. Each of these is becoming more popular, and they’re great pieces to help establish authority, generate, and qualify leads, and boost engagement.

02. If It's Not Quality, It's Not Going to Drive Results

Continuing on my discussion of content marketing, new data and trends are showing that if your content isn’t quality, it’s not going to provide the results you want. Now more than ever, content quality can affect your site’s rankings, either positively or negatively.

Of course, it’s usually easy for visitors to pick up on this once they visit your site and see what’s there. But what’s new is that search engines can now pick up on it too. In fact, if your content is poor, it can cause search engines to not trust your site and completely ruin your chances of ranking anywhere.

This year, Google released a statement about its definition of quality content. Essentially, quality content needs to represent E-A-T — or expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness — and those principles need to be seen throughout all aspects of your website. The written content, integrated images, page layouts, and more all need to cohesively display a sense of quality.

The more effort you put in, the better results you’ll get out.

03. Short-Form Video Marketing Should Be a Priority

Consumers have become more and more interested in video content. But recently, there’s been a distinction between what form of video content is best — and for many,  short-form video content is winning.

While long videos are great for explaining in-depth information, if you're looking to build brand awareness or grow your reach, consumers prefer a short video they can watch to quickly gather the main points. It takes a lot to capture people’s attention, and it takes even more to keep it. Instead of exhausting your resources to create a long video that keeps people engaged the entire time, it’s a better use of your time and energy to make multiple short ones that are easier for them to digest.

As one of the most effective digital marketing strategies out there, short-form video isn’t something to shy away from. You don’t need fancy equipment or a professional videographer to get you started — a smartphone and a tripod will do. More businesses are becoming comfortable with creating video content in 2022, so if you’re the one that isn’t, your results are likely to suffer.

And now I’ll end this section by saying the thing you don’t want to hear, but need to hear: it’s time to take on TikTok. As “Gen Z” as you think it may be, it’s a short-form video powerhouse and one of the strongest social media platforms for driving awareness. You can thank me for the hard love later.

04. Try Something New on Social

If you’re really not ready to take on TikTok, then 2022 is the year to try something new on your existing social media platforms. Social media is a great way to keep both new and loyal customers engaged — but only if you keep your posts engaging. From stories to giveaways, to user-generated content, there are plenty of new things to try out there, so pick one or two and experiment with them! 

05. Featured Snippets Are Up for Grabs

With the increasing popularity of voice search, users are changing the way they use search engines. They’re starting to ask virtual assistants, like Alexa or Google, full questions with long-tail keywords — which means you’ve got to start optimizing your content for that. Here’s what you need to know:

A featured snippet is a selected search result that’s featured near the top of the search engine results page (SERP). It’s usually what Google has deemed to be the best answer to the searcher's query. It shows up as a box with a chunk of content in it that answers the question, then a link to the source of that content so the user can read more if they want. 

Google created featured snippets to adapt their SERPs to cater more toward the up-and-coming voice search. So if I were to ask, “Hey Alexa, what temperature should I cook chicken to?” Alexa would read me whatever the featured snippet is for that query. Or, if I had typed that query into search, the featured snippet would look like this:

All that said, Google’s on the hunt for more content to fill their featured snippets in 2022. So it’s a good idea to start researching some long-tail question keywords that your prospects may be asking, start gearing content toward them, and start showing up organically in the snippet spots. 

06. No More Cookies

And no, I’m not talking about the kind you leave out for Santa Claus.  

Internet cookies are blocks of data created by a web server to identify your computer as you’re browsing a website. Cookies were originally created to identify specific users and create a better browsing experience for them, but as internet privacy regulations continue to be established, tech companies are starting to eliminate them. 

This year, Google officially announced that in early 2022, they’ll end third-party cookie tracking. You probably already know what this means for you as a user (more privacy), but you might be wondering how it will affect your business’s marketing efforts. And the answer is…

You’ll probably want to look into boosting your CRM tools. See, many marketers have long relied on third-party cookies to track information about their website visitors, then have used that information to provide a better experience for them. However, with those cookies being eliminated, you’ll have to find a new way to gather information from leads. 

Many businesses have upped their zero-party data tracking efforts, which include gathering data directly from the consumer through the use of a form, survey, or other interaction. And that data goes to your CRM, which means you’ll want to invest in one that works well for you come the new year. As per usual, I’ll shamelessly plug HubSpot.

Need Help with Your Inbound Marketing in 2022?

Want to pull in more leads this year, but not sure where to start? Evenbound can help! Inbound marketing is our jam, and we’re always happy to talk strategy with you. Give our team a call or contact us online to ring in the new year with a killer new inbound marketing strategy.