3 Marketing Strategies Brands Need To Reinforce In 2022

2022 is just around the corner. Although marketing and content teams are preparing to welcome in the new year with a bang this year, the buyer journey is complicated.

It is not easy to reach B2B decision-makers. They are not able to navigate the buyer journey in a linear fashion. They are unpredictable and there are no patterns in their behavior. This makes it nearly impossible for tech companies and B2B businesses to reach these audiences with relevant content.

Don't worry. This isn't another prediction piece announcing the top 99 content marketing trends for 2022.

This blog post is all about getting back to basics. Marketers are constantly looking for the next big thing. But they don't know what is right in front them. They don't have to be complicated in order to see what is right in front.

Here are three marketing strategies to prioritize in 2022.

Influence B2B

B2B marketing isn't a shiny, bright object. It's not exciting, cool or fun. You won't see any TikTok videos of data centers or enterprise software viral anytime soon.

Influence is one of the most valuable assets that B2B companies can tap into. Understanding influence is more valuable than viral TikTok videos.

Influence is not just a verb or noun. When applied, influence can make a difference in the lives of brand leaders and those who follow them.

B2B influencer marketing is a way to start from zero. Programs like these can be managed in many different ways. Research and analysis are two of the most crucial steps in creating an influencer program. It's not common for influencers to appear overnight. They don't wake up one day with millions of followers. Even if they did, that wouldn't make them an influencer.

To identify the most influential voices, an analysis is necessary. An analysis should also reveal the themes and topics that influencers discuss and how it is spreading throughout the digital ecosystem. These insights are useful for content marketing. This results in brand relevancy and search engine visibility. This case shows that B2B influence can have a lasting benefit.

Building brands to familiar faces

It's easy and proven. It is easier and more cost-effective to keep existing customers happy than it is to find new ones. This is a great marketing lesson, yet many brands neglect to prioritize current customers. They are too focused upon customer acquisition.

It seems like the days of building customer advocacy programs are gone. It wasn't always this way. All brands with a Twitter account and a Facebook page were able to build customer communities in the early days.

It was simpler back then as the networks were smaller and organic reach was 100%. Those were the days of good times.

Customer advocacy must be both a mindset as well as a program. It's important to have a mindset in order for the company to build products, services, processes, programs and campaigns that are customer-focused.

Customer advocacy is now a part and parcel of the culture DNA. This will make it much easier to launch, manage, and scale a customer advocacy program.

Building a program is all about the familiar people, processes and technology. This perspective sees people as the marketing team responsible for the management of the program.

The process is about more than the actual program. It is about creating a process that explains how the program will function, how it will integrate into other marketing initiatives, and how it will measure up to the overall strategic plan.

Technology refers to the tool or set that can be used for managing the customer community. There are many options available.

Empowering employees to tell brand stories

People trust others. It is a fundamental part of human nature. B2B buyers can trust their colleagues, peers, influencers, and “people like them” when they are looking for purchase recommendations.

Trust is why Yelp reviews are important before making a reservation at a restaurant or looking up Amazon reviews before buying headphones.

This point has been supported by hundreds of research reports and studies over the past decade. This trust paradigm can be applied to B2B marketing to influence purchasing behavior.

This is why a program to advocate for employees is smart and strategic, especially for tech and enterprise B2B companies. Many of these companies have employee programs in place, but there is not much innovation in the way of deployment. They created the program, tested it and then moved on.

Employee programs work in the same way as customer programs. Each work stream is aligned to people, process, and technology. While the players may be the same, the process and the martech stack will differ.

What's next for 2022?

These 3 marketing strategies all share one thing in common: people.

In case you aren't sure, employees, customers, and influencers all have a common humanity. All of them have a voice. All of them have an audience, though some are smaller than others. They all have influence.

It is crucial to acquire customers. Yes, 100%. Content is gold. Marketing communications are dominated by storytelling, creativity and messaging.

It's the same marketing everyone ignores or calls spam, but without the human layer.

In 2022, activation is the next step. Brands need to prioritize these external and internal stakeholders and integrate them in existing marketing programs, campaigns, or initiatives.

Michael Brito, a digital strategist, is the Global Head for Analytics at Zeno Group. He is also an adjunct professor at San Jose State University and a TEDx speaker. Connect with him via social media, or visit his blog.