Feb 2022 Emerging Marketing Trends to Be Aware of in 2022
The Landscape industry has benefited from increased enquiries since the pandemic started. But, we should never expect enquiries to remain strong without a proactive approach to our marketing. So to assist you, I have highlighted some marketing trends that emerged during the pandemic and will remain strong throughout this year and into the next.
HOW YOUR BRAND IMPACTS THE ENVIRONMENT
With climate change as an important global issue, consumers are selecting brands whose business practices impact the environment less. Making your clients aware of how you care about the environment is important to include in your marketing material and social media posts. Some ideas are – electrical or energy-efficient machinery, plants that require less irrigation, offering recycled materials, recycled site waste.
VIDEO MARKETING
Video marketing is one of the strongest marketing tools we can use, and we have witnessed video marketing being used more regularly over the past few years. Research shows that 80% of consumers prefer to watch a video than to read content, and in turn can be the deciding factor before a potential client makes contact. There are many opportunities for you to create a video – for example, a site in progress, before and afters, client testimonials, a professional video of a completed site with complementary music, or an owner talking about an aspect of a job.
IMMERSIVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES
Using storytelling (short videos of projects, design renders, past clients explaining their experience, etc), to allow potential clients to envision themselves with your service, is becoming a useful trend. Multi-format content is also a great tool for increasing engagement, such as including a video among pictures or a video in a case study.
VOICE AND VISUAL SEARCHES
Voice and visual searches on Google and other platforms will increase in 2022. Statistics show that it’s expected in the near future that we will be able to search for a product or service just by uploading an image. However, we can search for services and products using voice search now. To help potential clients find your services, your SEO and social media content needs to be optimised using relevant keywords.
MARKETING AUTOMATION
When running a small business, marketing is sometimes the last thing on your mind, but it should be one of your priorities. Automating social media posts and email campaigns will allow you to create the content, schedule it ahead of time, and post on a specified date. It removes the possibility of forgetting to launch a post, due to being too busy.
MESSAGES THROUGH APPS
Companies are increasingly using social media networks to interact with their customers. On Facebook Messenger alone, an average of 10 billion messages are recorded between people and companies per month. Social apps allow you to send messages to your clients directly and in a personalised way.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SOFTWARE
Artificial intelligence used in Chatbots is being used by more companies. This is software that allows prospective and existing clients to send direct messages and receive an automated response.
VIRTUAL MEETING
Most of us are now using Zoom or other apps and are having virtual meetings with clients and employees, which is definitely a safe and effective time saver.
With the trends and changes that are happening in marketing, it’s an exciting time to create a simple marketing plan that works for your business, and helps ensure enquiries and clients remain strong throughout the year.