The Future of Commerce: 5 Forecasts for 2022
The month of December is always(Buy Facebook followers) bittersweet, with the Christmas season and that another year has passed and gone.
In this year’s edition, we’re looking forward to the coming decade (it sounds strange to refer to it as the 20s!), and I am excited about what’s just around the corner. I hope that you and your family have a great beginning to 2022.
One of the most popular annual rituals that we’re all familiar with is our annual predictions for the future in marketing. This tradition has been in place since 2016 (see the previous predictions for 2017, 2018, and 2019.
As well as 2020 as well as 2021) and is an opportunity to look back at patterns from the past, predict the next phase of this business, and – if in the right direction – plan for the future accordingly. Sometimes, we’re off, but we are correct to the point at other times.
Here’s the grading scheme we designed for the original post in 2016.
Oracle (+2) Oracle (+2) – when we’re on the right track, it’s as if we’re channeling the lovely woman from The Matrix.
Oracle Training (+1) We didn’t fully grasp the picture’s entirety, but we saw the future.
Clean As Mud (0) We weren’t correct; however, we weren’t wrong either.
Just A Little Outside (-1) We tried painting the edge of the plate. However, the ump did not let us know the answer.
Swing and A Miss (-2) – like a batter that expects to hit a fastball but gets an arc, we weren’t far away.
Before we dive into the 2020 predictions, Let’s look back at what we accomplished in the year 2019:
Number 1: Google Searches Resulting in “Zero clicks” Will increase (Again)
Grade: +2
The first step is an easy victory. There’s no doubt that the amount of “Zero Click” searches will increase in 2020, as it has done in the past three years. If you need to refresh your memory for your search, a “Zero click” search does not result in any websites getting a visit through clicking through in the SERP.
Rand has written a fantastic data-driven post on his SparkToro blog.
Google-search-CTR-2016-2019
It’s not a secret that this isn’t pleasant news. It means that marketers and businesses need to take action to stop what’s occurring with regards to Google is becoming an adversary to us all instead of hoping that it will disappear. As you’ll discover later in this post, the concept of “Zero clicks” searches will be a topic in 2020.
#2: On-SERP SEO becomes A Tactic and a Concept
Grade: +1
It’s a little of an issue to locate reliable data on this. However, there’s enough evidence to suggest that we are on the right path with our prediction and merit some marks. One method to counter the problem of Google actively decreasing the number of referrals that SERPs provide is to practice better SEO for search results.
Take a look at these results from a Google ranking factors report which Rand and the SparkToro team also carried out:
trends-impacting-SEO-2019
Trends #1 and #3 are more convincing proof that marketers and brands should have been concerned about SEO in search engines in 2019.
#3: Game-changing Influencer Marketing Tools Make Big Bang
Grade: 0
The information isn’t clear enough to warrant a zero. However, we’re not right. The posts like this and this one suggest that the demand for marketing tools that influencers can use is increasing. The problem with our forecast is that we had been awaiting SparkToro’s debut in 2019, but it didn’t happen.
We’re looking forward to the major launch in 2020!
#4: Marketers are aware of the importance of optimizing content for Voice Search
Grade: +1
In the year 2019, we wrote an article on how voice search is changing the world of digital marketers. Does that provide enough proof for us to win? Since one of Google’s most significant algorithm changes in 2019, BERT, something we discussed – was focused upon NLP and voice searches, we believe that it is.
5: Videos Content Increases in popularity (Again)
Grade: +2
We believed in our predictions for last year’s year because we’ve also written about the importance of video marketing in 2019. If you think that’s not enough, then consider these two statistics.
According to HubSpot that 81% of businesses employed video for marketing in 2019. This was an increase from 63% in the prior year.
A Cisco study revealed that in 2022, online video would comprise more significant than 82% of internet traffic by consumers, which is 15 times more than the figure in 2017.
This seems to be enough for the total two points!
Final Score Final Score: +6
This is what it means! Although we fell one point short of the record-setting predictions, we achieved enough results during 2019 that we can keep the momentum going for another year.
Forward and forward. Let’s now examine the predictions for 2022 that were made this year. To be expected in 2022:
1. Zero-Click Searches are going to Keep Taking Over
If you’ve seen this prediction coming, then you’ve been watching. For marketers, ads, as well as organic traffic, are decreasing, and we’ll be keeping a watching this situation throughout the coming year.
In the coming months, we’re expecting advertisers to concentrate on improving their website content for Google’s sites (YouTube, Maps, Images, Knowledge Panels, etc.) to reduce any negative impact on their traffic.
#2: It’s time to think about other communication channels (Besides Email) as key conversion points
We’re not saying that Email will disappear, but it isn’t! Don’t interpret this as a sign that you’re not required to clean and enhance your lists. Communication channels have become different in recent times, and businesses and marketers must utilize other channels to stay ahead of the competition.
We’re hoping to see many more companies connect with and interact with their customers using chatbots, Whatsapp, or Instagram solutions. Let’s explore how this will help businesses build meaningful connections and boost customer engagement.
3. Software vendors will focus on Customer Data Compliance
With the growing global demand for more excellent privacy protection for personal data and well-known regulations such as GDPR and CCPA, Marketing software providers will concentrate on compliance as the top service.
Departments of marketing, information technology, and even customers will heavily rely on their tech suppliers to be able to change with the ever-changing regulatory environment. The vendors who do not advertise compliance as a top service will undoubtedly reduce market share.
4. Influencer Marketing is Going to Continue to Grow
However, we’re not talking about “celebrity” influencers with millions of followers! This year, expect to watch brands choose to use people who have less active followers on social media as influencers that people consider trustworthy.
Given that more than 90% of consumers believe in other people’s recommendations, and with this forecast that suggests influencer marketing spending could hit $10 billion in the next year, we’re sure we’ll score ourselves relatively high next year.
#5: Alternative Google Search Engines (NOT Bing or Yahoo!) Will Emerge from the Woodwork
We’re not suggesting that other search engines will begin to compete against Google; Google will remain the dominant force. However, with the potential impact of zero clicks (see the first paragraph earlier) and the increasing concerns regarding data privacy.
Privacy-focused engines may be able to create an area of their own in 2020. DuckDuckGo is a good instance of this.
They’ve targeted privacy-conscious users with their slogan “the one that won’t track you” since “search engines don’t have to track users to earn profits.” It’ll be fascinating to observe how consumers and marketers receive this in the new year.