Itâs not a trend. Itâs a distraction. Marketers shouldâve known better.
I have complicated relationships with trends and predictions. And days ago, I stumbled upon this Marketeers’ analysis on 10 Digital Marketing Trends in 2022 parts one and two.
I disagree. And I’ll explain why.
My stance on trends and predictions is clear.
- Be critical, smart, and sceptical when it comes to trends and predictions.
- Don’t take any “popular successful experts” words easily, let alone religiously.
- Question everything. Find your whys. If you can, don’t follow the trend.
- Instead, be the trend. Be different. Lead the pack. Champion your category.
David Abbott, the founder of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, said, “Shit that arrives at the speed of light is still shit.”
Whatever tactical tools your company uses, if it’s not creative, interesting, easy to understand, valuable, different, and remembered, all is of no use.
Again, do it in this order: diagnose, strategy, and tactic.
The video says in the opening, “I see there are 10 trends that must be used by brands and companies.”
Must they, though? The answer always depends on their marketing strategy, doesn’t it?
But, if you insist on jumping into the bandwagon of the new shiny things, be my guest.
Here are Marketeer’s 10 digital marketing trends 2022 I disagree with and why.
1. From Y to Z
It says that Millennials (Gen Y) and Centennials (Gen Z) have different mindsets, so brands must be careful in deciding which segment to target when deciding on a campaign.
And, there’s a shift of ‘young’ market segmentation from Y to Z. And this unhelpful generalization.
As a Gen Y, I can testify I’m for all Gen Z mindsets in seeing the world or buying products, except for the ‘success’ point. To me, it’s all purely fame and cash.
I’m sure boomers are fond of showing the worst version of themselves.
What is ‘young’, though? Three of the 50 richest people in Indonesia are 40 years young. They are the ‘youngest’ on the list. That’s where the money actually is, by the way.
But, it doesn’t sound trendy to target the oldies in 2022, right?
People don’t live in a box. We’re complex human beings mingling and consuming different random things.
If we’re willing to think more critically, we’ll have some other useful perspectives.
2. Short Form Video
It says, “Short-form video will fuel the audience’s short attention span with a quick and easy way to consume information.”
It also claims, “[…] brands and companies that don’t take advantage of this trend will be left behind.”
Now, the culprit was Microsoft Canada’s consumer insights report titled Attention Span (2015). They surveyed 2.000 participants and studied the brain activity of 112 others using electroencephalograms (EEGs).
It claims the internet has affected people to lose concentration after eight seconds, which is shorter than a goldfish’s nine seconds.
Interested in real facts? Here you go.
- Fish (are cool and) have a well-developed capacity for learning and good memory, namely more than 15 seconds, according to research by Dr Martina Quaggiotto and Prof. Felicity Huntingford of the University of Glasgow.
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the world’s best-selling book of all time, is +300 pages. People still read it for pleasure and generations.
- CoComelon, Netflix’s most-watched series in 2020 according to Forbes, has 55-64 minutes/episode. While the runner-up The Queen’s Gambit has 46-67 minutes/episode.
- Online gamers spent about eight hours and 27 minutes each week playing games, which is an increase of 14% over 2020.
- Quibi, a 5- to 10-minute/episode movie streaming platform for the so-called people with a ‘short attention span’ shut down just six months after going live.
The truth is our attention lasts as long as our interests.
3. Episodic Content
It says, “Long-form content with a shift into series and episodic formats allowing brands longer engagement opportunities.”
It basically encourages brands to produce video series and/or podcasts.
But, should you? Are you okay with missing out, on brands and companies?
It’s not merely about producing ‘long content’. It’s not only about making video series or podcasts amidst the tsunami of content.
It’s about making quality content that makes people care about what you do, makes them give a damn – no matter how long, short, or whatever the medium is.
4. Direct-to-Consumer
It claims, “Pandemic has made audiences and customers more digitally literate.”
Thus, making it possible for brands to make distribution networks efficient to be direct-to-consumer through direct-selling, e-commerce, and social commerce.
Has it, though? According to the National Digital Literacy Status 2020 report, the Indonesian digital literacy level hasn’t even reached the ‘good’ level. We’re somewhere around 3 of 5, and the good level is 4.
Digital literacy isn’t simplistic. At least, we must be familiar with UNESCO’s Global Framework of Reference on Digital Literacy Skills which has 7 (seven) pillars and 4 (four) sub-index.
5. Shoppable Content
It says, “Shorter customer journey means that brands should offer products in parallel with content consumption.”
The claim is also that customers want to enjoy content and buy stuff in one place because they’re reluctant to move platforms.
Is it really? What’s with the oversimplification of shortening customer journeys?
In reality, we research, compare prices, and specs at relevant platforms.
We decide to purchase in favour of our resources, which could be online or offline, and the entry points could be from anywhere
It’s tempting to see a linear customer journey. But, the reality is always weirder than you’d expect.
6. Conversational Commerce
The points are:
- WhatsApp is good for small-medium companies to sell their stuff as the pandemic (here we go again) ‘forces’ people to be digitally literate
- bigger companies better use chatbots on WhatsApp considering the size and complexities
It also says that brands and companies are ‘obliged’ to apply this trend in 2022.
But, which selling-buying process isn’t conversational in history?
How different is it from having an official store on e-commerce platforms which have a chat feature?
Do we have to bang on people’s phones through WhatsApp messages to sell our stuff? We have enough rhetorical questions to this point.
7. Livestream Commerce
It says, “With convergence between live content and e-commerce, brands can form deeper trusts and answer consumer doubts in real-time.”
But, home shopping has been invented in 1934 in the UK and prevails until today.
It allows consumers to shop for goods from their own homes as opposed to traditional shopping which requires one to visit brick and mortar stores and shopping malls.
Three types of home shopping: mail or telephone ordering from catalogs; telephone ordering in response to ads in print, TV, or radio; and online shopping.
What’s so trendy about Livestream commerce?
8. AI as a Service
It says, “Companies can outsource providers of AI as a service for their digital marketing without having to develop the system from scratch.”
But, what’s so trendy about automation?
Companies like Google, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, Honeywell, or SAP have used AI as a service for ages. Paid social media analytics tools have been around for decades, too.
Is AI as a Service aligned with your marketing strategy and budget? If the answer is ‘yes’, then go ahead and try.
If you’re doubtful about how AI as a service would be relevant to your marketing strategy, don’t follow the crowd, and it’s super fine.
9. Metaverse v1
It says, “It’s the convergence of the real and virtual world via mixed reality (Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality).”
Pokémon Go is fun. But, it’s a kid’s game, not the future of marketing.
Marketers have a lot of fundamental work to do, like the basic 4Ps.
Ask your heart: what do you want to accomplish from Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality with your marketing strategy?
If you’ve got the solid answers and found the relevance to those pivotal questions, I can’t wait to see how you go along with that.
10. Metaverse v2
It says, “It’s the Web3 decentralized autonomous world powered by blockchain (cryptocurrency and Non-Fungible Token).”
What? But, why?
Why on earth marketers must spend time thinking about this Metaverse v2 rather than perfecting their basic targeting, positioning, and objectives?
It’s not a trend. It’s a distraction. Marketers should’ve known better.
