Would you like to know the latest digital marketing trends for SMEs in Africa? Continue reading this post to find out.
If there is one constant in digital marketing, it is that it is constantly changing. From the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic to this moment, digital marketing trends have helped businesses all around the world remain connected to their clients. For its part, social media advertising allows them to contact clients for a fraction of the cost they would have spent on traditional marketing methods.
With the hurdles and constraints that the Omicron variant imposes, more entrepreneurs and African business owners should consider how digital marketing can help them stick to their budgets while remaining connected to their customers.
Digital Marketing Trends for SMEs in Africa 2022
If you are a business owner, you should pay attention to these five digital marketing trends to elevate your business this year:
Stick To The Basics and Keep Your Message Simple.
It’s easy to get sidetracked by flashy new digital gadgets. Marketers adore new trends and are on the cutting edge of new platforms and technologies. However, the truth is that your core business values are more relevant today than ever. Pay attention to your mission statement. What is it that you truly wish to accomplish with your business this year? And what is the simplest way to pass that message across to your target audience? Answering these questions will help you yield higher returns on your products rather than letting yourself be sidetracked with each new tool.
When it comes to content marketing, you need to understand that the internet is currently overflowing with information. The amount of data available on the internet is tremendous, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to process it all. Customers have a lot of options when it comes to content, so yours has to stand out to be seen in the first place. You must keep your content as clear as possible. Presenting your information in a comprehensive but simple manner will be a sensible decision for standing out from the crowd this year and beyond.
The concept of the metaverse
In 2022, many brands will experiment with virtual worlds, and while consumers may not be interested in the virtual world for a few years, brands can still gain from a first-mover advantage. This brings us to the concept of the metaverse. The metaverse is an environment where people work, play, and socialize in the virtual world of augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D holographic avatars, and so much more.
There’s a reason the metaverse has been getting so much attention lately—and marketers should include it as part of their marketing plans for 2022. This is partly due to the fact that it has the ability to provide a completely new set of performance measures. Marketers will be able to test how long virtual objects are held, how much space they take up in a user’s peripheral vision, and even where people glance while watching an advertisement. These revelations have the potential to entirely remap your understanding of your target audience, providing essential guidance moving ahead.
Zero & first-party data
Marketers have another year until Google stops using third-party cookies, making 2022 the most crucial year for data and privacy yet. A lot of really smart marketers still don’t grasp that it is platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media network that helps job seekers write resumes and cover letters. This means that these platforms own your audience. You have no command over them. That’s why you should start owning your audience in 2022.
This necessitates the use of data collection technologies that place a premium on consumer privacy. Make sure your 2022 campaigns help you generate first-party data so you don’t have to rely on third-party data as much. Email, newsletters, and social networking are all alternate digital marketing trends many small businesses would explore this year in this regard. Information provided directly by customers through online interactions such as surveys is especially crucial.
While it may require more time and effort upfront, the data that you can acquire directly from your customers can help you create more personalized and tailored campaigns.
You can also use Google’s Privacy Sandbox to experiment with new ways to obtain customer data without risking their privacy.
The Increased Growth of Social Commerce
Various businesses tested social commerce on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram in 2021. This digital marketing trend will continue in 2022, as brands strive to reduce the time between their discovery by a potential consumer and the first purchase of such a consumer. The great thing about social commerce is that it provides businesses with a completely new means of getting their products in front of potential customers.
Instagram shopping, particularly Shoppable live streams, is a viable alternative to paid commercials for small businesses in Africa that can’t compete with large companies’ advertising budgets. Livestream commerce has a lot of promise as well. Consumers spend more time watching live videos than pre-recorded visual content, which is why so many platforms are vying for a piece of this market.
The pandemic has also boosted live streams by providing a safe alternative to in-store purchasing. It can not only keep your business connected with clients via social media and YouTube, but it can also help you make a lot of sales.
SEO and Email Marketing
The search engine is the Holy Grail of customer acquisition, the ultimate platform for generating leads, raising awareness, and persuading strangers to become friends, and eventually customers. With over 3.5 billion searches conducted on Google every day, search engine marketing should be a big part of any digital marketing strategy. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for the most significant search phrases should be your first concern, and it can transform your company.
For its part, emails have been around for decades and are still the most effective direct marketing tool. Despite the glamour of social media, email’s utility and relevance have never waned. Real consumers with real needs continue to utilize it as their primary form of contact. This digital marketing trend will help you become more innovative and user-friendly. However, a word of caution: Spamming is the death knell of email marketing. If you spam your audience, they will never forgive or forget you. For the long-term benefits of email marketing, build a list, wow them with high-quality content, and then ask them to buy your products and services.
Conclusion
Digital marketing is an unstoppable force that is rewriting company rules all over the world. With millions of people using the Internet in Africa today, digital marketing trends are more important and relevant today than ever before. It has become even more significant as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. Businesses are beginning to recognize its significance as more people began to spend the majority of their time online.
Check out SME360 for other insightful articles on setting up and running a business in Africa.