When Ben Francis founded his company, he was a 19-year-old college student working at Pizza Hut by night just to earn a few dollars. Today, just 10 years later, his fitness apparel company Gymshark is worth over $1.3 billion. He didn’t grow up surrounded by billionaires or marketing geniuses. He learned sewing from his grandmother and started his business from his family’s garage. So how did this small business grow into a global activewear phenomenon?
Ben Francis’ reason for success can be boiled down to two things: hard work, and he also turned into a smart social media content creator and influencer. Gymshark was a frontrunner in digital content marketing, influencer marketing, and marketing through social media hashtags. Today, these strategies have fully entered the mainstream. But if you want your company to be on the cutting edge of marketing, you need to jump in on trends early on. So which new social media marketing strategies should you implement in 2022?
Micro-Influencer Marketing
Gymshark was one of the earliest pioneers of influencer marketing, when they began to send free samples of their clothing to bodybuilders who wore them in their videos. According to DMI, 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations to decide on their purchases. While big celebrity influencers will continue to have a significant impact, micro-influencers are increasingly affecting consumers’ purchasing habits, particularly Gen-Z. Micro-influencers have a kind of personal connection and engagement with their audiences that celebrities with millions of followers cannot attain. For small businesses, they are also a lot more accessible and cheaper than big name influencers, thus providing a much higher return on investment.
Personalized Content Marketing
Personalized marketing content is not all that new, but consumers expect it more than ever while also expecting it to be more refined. Personalized marketing is all about delivering content that is relevant to consumers. However, this type of marketing walks a fine line – according to a study by CheetahDigital, 52% of social media users find ads based on recent shopping done on other sites creepy. On the flipside, 61% of consumers expect companies to provide personalized ad experiences based on previous brand interactions. Companies that manage to straddle this line will do well in 2022.
Experts in the marketing field, Neon Ambition note that personalized content is one of the key factors to focus on. It’s also a tricky tightrope to walk, which is why seeking the advice of online marketing professionals is crucial. These professionals know the ins and outs of the industry like no-one else, and can give you detailed advice that can really help you grow your business. The key to a successful growth trajectory is placing your money in the right places and seeking advice from the right people. As digital marketing is the key form of marketing for small businesses, online marketing professionals can help you enormously.
Virtual & Augmented Reality
Virtual reality is increasingly becoming less of a bizarre gimmick and more a part of our lives, though it is still exciting enough to get consumers to sit up and take notice. A few brands have just begun to capitalize on this by offering virtual tours and interactions with products through augmented reality. One example of this is Ikea, which allows customers to use augmented reality to see how a piece of furniture would actually look in their living room. Not only do strategies like this boost engagement and excitement, but they also enhance their trustworthiness factor to build customer loyalty. For that reason, many experts have dubbed VR and AR the future of marketing.