September 21, 2021
In 2021, we learned that we don't need our offices, a bloated travel budget, or fancy clothes to get our work done. The meteoric impact of the pandemic is changing business and consumer behavior forever. Now that budgets are loosening up in the recovery, what can we expect in 2022? Here are the big ten we've identified.
- Content is King + Queen again. Now that Google's MUM update serves up translated results from 75 countries, your competition is now international. This calls for even more focus with your site and rich media content with depth. Google's E-A-T philosophy says it all: Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness. Google will banish mediocre content from search results.
- Tradeshows and meetings become hybrid events. We don't think medical tradeshows will go away anytime soon, but they will be different. Some will go totally or partially virtual. And others will combine both the in-person experience with online tech. For example, one or more of your KOLs could zoom in from another country for a Q&A virtual event at your booth.
- Marketers will inject Artificial Reality (AR) and Virtual reality (VR) to improve a customer's online and in-person experience. For instance, it's difficult to show many medical devices or equipment on the floor of a tradeshow, but a customer could interact with a machine or process using VR.
- Build credibility with Content, SEO, and Public Relations. Once you get a solid base of authority on different topics, then work to gain added credibility by adding the PR element, where others are quoting or mentioning your content
- Tweak the content you already have. Test different versions of the design, copy, and SEO wording against each other, use A/B testing to determine which combinations are the most effective. Tweaking in some cases may be as important as fresh content.
- Work with Non-Profits. Over the past year or two, we've seen more healthcare and medical companies participate in advocacy programs. "Giving back" is a battle cry of Gens X, Y, and Z. Done correctly, it can expand a brand's appeal to new audiences and instill brand preference.
- AI in action. Whether we are aware of it, Artificial intelligence (AI) is already one bedrock of marketing. Expect more of the same in 2022. The ability of AI to crunch millions of data points to elicit predictive analytics, answers to your customer's questions through chatbots, and purchase patterns that suggest consumer behavior. You're most likely to bump up against AI with Voice Search Engine Optimization (VSEO) and chatbots that use NLP, natural language processing software.
- The Looming Death of Cookies. Google has postponed the retirement of web cookies until 2023, which gives you just enough time to plan for it. Cookies, little bits of programming that capture user behavior, are one of the critical strategies web developers use to personalize websites, so back off your cookie habit ASAP.
- Privacy. Issues around privacy have come to a boiling point. The huge data-sucking companies, like Facebook and Instagram, are under fire. And, users want more control over their online data and how it's used. How dare they! For starters, privacy policies need to be on your site and jargon-free and posted next to web elements like forms that receive user data.
- Geofencing is a digital fence that surrounds a specific location. It could be a city, state, town, or neighborhood. When a user enters a geo-fenced, it triggers an ad online in an app or a social media service. For example, a web ad could be launched for a medical device on Facebook when a customer enters the Moscone (convention) center in San Francisco. It's a great way to build relevance for your brand and streamline your budget.