A Strata YouTube Original Series

Digital advertising encapsulates most marketing that occurs online – including social media, streaming channels, display ads, and more. In our latest YouTube video, we sat down with Caitlin, Strata’s Marketing Manager, to go over some of the most frequently asked digital advertising questions. Here’s a snippet of just a few of them, below.

Why is digital advertising important?

Digital advertising gives you a high level of outreach and has a huge audience reach. And, within that outreach, it gives you full control over how you connect with them. Also, it’s so widely used because of the user’s ability to filter down an audience to specifics while still reaching tons of people.

What is the most important thing to keep in mind/remember when it comes to digital advertising?

Clear goals! It’s extremely important to understand exactly what you want out of your campaign before and while executing it. You can be more broad or very specific in your goals, just make sure you have them. Some of the most common goals are awareness, conversions, purchases, and sign ups.

How do I know who to target with my digital advertising?

To know who to target, you’ll need to do a lot of market research. Part of initial research is your own understanding of your business, audience, and simply your intuition. This understanding and intuition, plus additional research and industry statistics, will lead you in the right direction.

For more frequently asked digital advertising questions and in-depth answers, view the full video on our YouTube channel, here. Caitlin covers:

• What’s the best way(s) to get people to click?
• What’s the most common mistake you see made with digital advertising design?
• What’s the most common mistake made when managing digital ads and how can it be avoided?
• How long will it take until I start seeing results from my digital advertising?
• How do I figure out my digital advertising’s ROI (how do I check on the health of my campaign)?
• How do I decide on digital ad placement/sizing?
• What are the biggest measurements of long-term and short-term digital advertisement success?

Click the image below to view the full video!

The Strata team is available and ready to answer any additional digital advertising questions you may have, or, if you’re ready to make smart happen, get in touch with our experts.

Understanding Consumer Values and Behaviors

We’ve previously talked about using marketing personas to enhance the buyer journey, and we’ve touched on the basics and benefits of geographic and demographic data in several blogs. However, there’s one more (key) piece of the puzzle to incorporate if you’re going to stand out from the crowd, or should we say, pick the right crowd: psychographics. Using psychographic segmentation can help your company connect with the right audience at the right time. Let’s break it down together.

What exactly is “psychographics”?

Psychographics, simply put, is the psychological study of humans, focusing on our emotional needs and values. It supplys insight into why people make decisions. “Psychographics seek to understand the cognitive factors that drive consumer behavior.” With that in mind, psychographics can strengthen your existing quantitative data (demographics)and produce a better picture of your market – a picture of what the public wants and needs and how often they’ll be buying goods and services to fulfill those needs.

When you know how people wield their purchasing power, you can structure and prioritize your messaging to appeal to their values, remove what doesn’t resonate, and tailor your approach to the individual platforms they use. This includes being specific with the types of personalization, imagery, and voice you use in your marketing campaigns.

Activities, Interests, and Opinions (AIO)

An important psychographics acronym to remember is AIO, which stands for activities, interests, and opinions. Activities are what people like to do, interests are their inclinations and affinities, and opinions are their beliefs.

These three areas combined give you a better picture of what’s going on beyond the collected demographic data. As digital privacy has become more top–of–mind, people are selecting and sharing information with you on their terms – whether that’s via surveys, forms, or other platforms. These forms may ask them questions related to not only their demographics, but their psychographics. Are they paying attention to their fitness? Does your company care about similar social causes? How much do they invest in their pets? All this information can help you craft the perfect audience and reach them with relevant messaging. The more questions you ask, the better understanding you’ll have of who they are, why they do what they do, and, of course, their As, Is, and Os.

An Example…

Let’s say you’re opening a gym, and you’re looking into how you want to market to your community. We can look at two women who, while similar, have some key and distinct differences. Let’s name them Janine and Kerry.

JANINE

Demographic Profile	Psychographic Profile
Female	Remains active
Age 25-34	Up-to-date with millennial trends
Single, no kids	Flexible schedule
Household Income $55K+	Conscientious buyer, yet flexible budget
City dweller	Enjoys going out with friends
Dental assistant	Typically free on weekends

KERRY

Demographic Profile	Psychographic Profile
Female	Remains active
Age 25-34	Up-to-date with millennial trends
Married, one child	Tighter schedule
Household Income $110K+	Budget savvy
City dweller	Participates in child-centered activities, occasionally goes out with partner
Nurse	Varying weekend schedule

With Janine, you can see she stays active, is averse to high spending (yet will spend on certain things, it seems), and has a somewhat flexible schedule. Perhaps you send Janine a postcard with a trial pass to visit and try out your facilities. Or, you advertise one free trial week with a discounted first month with the completion of the trial. You could also showcase one-on-one personal training! She may be interested in the personal training if she finds your gym worth the cost. Lastly, since she’s free on weekends, showcase some of your weekend yoga or meditation classes with group discounts – maybe she’ll bring her friends along!

On the other hand, let’s look at Kerry. With her tighter schedule, and one child under the age of 18 at home, switching up the messaging is key. Since she doesn’t seem to have as much time to be social with friends, you may want to showcase some group fitness classes, while also noting that their times often line up with in-gym childcare. Perhaps there’s a weekly mommy-and-me class your gym offers. Whatever the case, make sure you’re supplying messaging that makes sense with her lifestyle and needs, that’s tailored to acknowledge her busy schedule. Generally, the possibilities are only amplified by the psychographic data you’ve collected – and you’re likely to make both potential customers feel seen and understood.

We highly recommend using geographic, demographic, and psychographic data as well as quota sampling to help inform your marketing tactics. If you’re not sure where to start, no problem. You can contact us today to get started on your next marketing campaign, and we’ll work with you every step of the way to ensure it’s a success.

And How Can Digital Enhance Them?

In our last blog on large format printing, we went over the top current large-scale print trends. Today, we’re diving a bit deeper, and giving you our knowledge on large-format print options (from poster board to metal) and explaining how digital aspects can enhance them.

The Variety of Large-Format Print Options

There is virtually an unending list of products, finishes, and printers when it comes to large format printing. This means a ton of options (which can seem overwhelming) but also a lot more room for creativity, more ways to think outside of the box and stand out, more options for meeting your goals, more levels of weather durability, and a wider range of budget possibilities. It’s important to think through your business’ needs, wants, and goals when it comes to large-format printing. What size will work best to catch your audience’s attention? What material will be both budget-friendly and effective? Where will be best to use large format prints?

While this is the exciting part of large format printing, it can also be the most daunting. So, it’s always helpful to work with a marketing team or partner to plan ahead and choose wisely. Since there are so many options out there, today we’ll give you a brief understanding of the ones we know well and provide often to enhance the marketing of our very own clients.

Options Strata Provides

Strata uses our HP Latex R2000 printer to create the following large format materials, although our services are never limited and always expanding:

• Decals
• Banners
• Posters
• Indoor Signage
• Outdoor Signage
• Menus
• Commercial Signage
• Seasonal Signage
• Stationary Signage
• & More

And we primarily offer them in the following finishes and materials:

• Vinyl
• Semigloss Poster Stock
• Corrugated Plastic
• Foamboard
• Ultraboard
• Coloplast
• PVC Board Stock
• Metal
• Adhesives

Like we said before, it’s always important to know and understand your needs and audience before deciding on a printer, print format, print materials, and finish. Even the little details matter when you go big!

How and Why You Should Pair Large Print with Digital

Wide-format printing can bridge the gap between the digital and physical. How? There are several ways – but here are just a few. The first, which you may be familiar with, is to include digital aspects on your materials, such as social media icons and usernames and URLs. The second, recently emerging digital touch, is the QR code. These are great for leading people to digital touchpoints from your signage – whether that’s to a website, form, menu, or another avenue. We believe that the more your customer can interact with your large-scale signage, the better.

Interested in exploring Strata’s large format services? Feel free to reach out.

Prior to Campaign Launch

Prior to launching your marketing campaign, it’s important to know who your audience is and what your audience wants and needs. Understanding the various methods of sampling – and which option will work best for your campaign – is key to increasing your ROI. There are two main categories of sampling: Probability and Non-probability. As probability sampling is used to determine the outcome of many different scenarios, it isn’t the most cost-effective method for exploring your consumer base. We recommend focusing on non-probability sampling, instead. We’ll lightly explore both kinds of sampling methods, but we’re honing in on two specific methods today, specifically: Stratified and Quota. From there, we’ll talk more about why it’s so important to test your audience prior to launching your campaign.

A Quick Recap: Understanding Your Audience

As we’ve mentioned before, knowing your audience and why you’re targeting them is a great way to avoid frustration when communicating with and advertising to your market. When you properly use your audience data, you can make better choices for your marketing plan. Here are some key areas you’ll want to assess when determining who and where you’ll sample from.

• Consumer Behavior: How are people buying and using your goods and services?
• Demographics: Who exactly is your target customer? Characteristics to narrow down include age, gender, race/ethnicity, household income, education level, marital status, and geographic location.
• Psychographics: Introduced in 2016, psychographics is the study of consumers based on their activities, interest, and opinions.

With these three areas identified, you can identify your market(s). Then, it’s time to select the best method of sampling for your audience.

Probability Sampling

Probability sampling follows two rules. Everyone within the population you’re pulling from must have an equal chance of being selected, and it’s imperative that you know what the chance of any one person being selected is.

With those basics set, here is a brief overview of 4 types of probability sampling you may encounter.

• Simple Random Sampling is as it sounds. It’s a sample where anyone in the population has an equal chance of being selected.
• Systematic Sampling uses a predetermined interval to choose members of a population to represent a sample.
• Cluster Sampling divides the population into smaller portions – clusters – to make a random selection within each.
• Stratified Sampling divides the population into mutually exclusive subgroups – referred to as strata – based on previously acquired data.

Non-Probability Sampling

On the other hand, non–probability sampling uses specific criteria – such as availability or geographic information – to identify a population before narrowing down the population size. Unlike probability sampling, each person within the target population doesn’t have to have an equal chance of being selected. With non-probability sampling, you take a small portion of your target audience and see what they like and dislike based on laid-out parameters.

• Convenience Sampling is done at the convenience of the researcher. Some example factors for identifying your sample group include location, ease of access, and existing contact within the population of interest.
• Snowball Sampling, also known as chain/network sampling, is defined by the way new units are added to the sample by referrals from a base group of participants.
• Purposive (Judgmental) Sampling runs a high risk of running into research biases. The population sampled only includes those characteristics that you are inherently looking for.
• Quota Sampling is, of all the sampling methods we’ve laid out, the one we’d recommend . We’ll explain this in more detail in the paragraph below.

Quota vs. Stratified

It’s important to define the distinction between stratified sampling and quota sampling because – at face value – the two are extremely similar. Both focus on dividing the population into subgroups and then selecting a certain number of units from each. However, the key difference is that stratified sampling relies on an additional random sampling technique like cluster or simple random. While – put simply – quota sampling involves selecting a predetermined number prior to evaluating your sample population. We advise quota sampling because it’ s more time- and cost-effective. When used, it provides a great deal of insight into how an overall market will perform (and at a fraction of the cost of sampling an entire population).

Why Sample?

With 74% of consumers annoyed by irrelevant marketing, it’s important to make sure your campaigns remain fresh and relevant to your target audience. Analyzing the data you received from sampling allows for creative optimization based on your key demographic. Knowing what your audience is looking for, what they like to see, and where they’re coming from “tells stories about customer intentions and motivations. Consumer insights are key to building creative campaigns that speak to and resonate with your audience and potential customers.” There’s also the element of personalization that allows you to address the specific inquiries or needs of your potential and current customers.

How Does it Work?

Let’s say, for example, that you’re a grocery in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and you’re seeking to connect with new movers. In theory, you could get the demographic data for your region and make assumptions based on the information provided. The marketing team could then send out two print mailers – a brochure and a postcard, to everyone in the market, and gauge which piece received better feedback through tracking coupons or QR codes. However, not only would that be a large amount of collateral, but the cost could also be exorbitant to get all those pieces in front of customers without really knowing if they’d respond to either at all.

This is where quota sampling comes in handy. Defining your subgroup (for example, moved into the zip code within the last 6 months, age 21-65, median income), and selecting the number of units to mail out before launching your campaign is key.  As those groups begin to shop at your stores, you can track how they found you, using coupon redemption or QR codes, and once this data is received, you can determine which mailer had the better ROI. With all of this information, you can begin a more informed rollout for the rest of your campaign.

We highly recommend quota sampling to help better inform your marketing tactics. If you’re not sure where to start, no problem. You can contact us today to get started on your next marketing campaign, and we’ll work with you every step of the way.

To Keep an Eye On

2022 was quite a year – and the changes it had on the marketing industry have not gone unnoticed. We’re finally (at least somewhat) out of the pandemic and back to (mostly) normal life, so some post-pandemic trends have stayed, some have shifted, and some new trends have been on the rise. For 2023, there are quite a few forecasted marketing trends that we’ll be keeping an eye on, and that you should look out for, too. We’ve compiled this shortlist of upcoming print and digital marketing trends so that you don’t have to go searching.

Agile Marketing

As the word sounds, agile marketing is a form of marketing that’s not set in stone. It ebbs and flows as needed – as new things are learned, customers change, and goals adapt. Agile marketing has a lot of benefits. Providing flexibility in your campaign allows for a sharper focus on the customer and what they want and need in real time. With additional breathing room, you can ensure your decisions are data-driven and impactful. Adjustments become a collaborative process with your team(s) to ensure there’s a true understanding of what’s really going on and track the metrics of how your campaign is performing. With the constant increase in competition and the need for customer-focused marketing, this one is sure to not only boost in popularity but become a necessary tactic.

Influencer Relationships

We’ve seen the rise of influencer marketing for quite a few years now —but we’ll see it continue to grow in 2023. 93% of marketing professionals utilize influencer marketing to build trust, increase brand awareness, drive conversions, reach a target audience, generate new leads, set trends, and connect to a wider market. The latest change in influencer marketing is that brands want to make their influencer’s connection to (and their engagement with) the brand more organic, more so now due to regulations on disclaimers, endorsements, and sponsorships. We’re seeing influencer marketing evolve from simple things, like unboxing videos and product placement, to larger scale relationships, part ownership contracts, and brand ambassadorships. However, this also puts heavier weight on the alignment of who that celebrity is and the brand itself. As people get more and more used to seeing celebrities – widely known or on the rise, showcasing their use of particular products, new and more trustworthy ways of influencer marketing will need to be explored.

More Live & Recorded Video Content

Globally, people consume around 84 minutes of video per day. With that in mind, videos, live or recorded — will be even more trend-setting and valuable this year. Videos “…should jump straight into the action. With only 10 to 60 seconds of available ad time, there’s no need to set up a premise or establish a storyline with lots of extra context.” Shorter video means that you don’t have to hire a production team or a marketing agency. You can learn how to utilize a smartphone, some affordable editing software, and give it a go. Research done by Cisco “found that video accounts for 82% of all online traffic. Videos are 53x more likely to generate first page SERP rankings than other SEO tactics. Today, 84% of consumers have been convinced to purchase a product after watching a video.”

Social Responsibility & Inclusivity

More now than ever, consumers are picky about what brands they buy from and work with (for several reasons – some of them being market saturation, an abundance of choice, and the expansion of digital marketing). So, it’s more important than (possibly ever) before and becomes increasingly important to have a voice — from social responsibility to inclusivity, and all that lies between. Ensure that your company has clear and powerful values, a solid mission statement, and isn’t afraid to speak on those that are important to them, because “66% of consumers are willing to pay more for goods from brands that demonstrate social commitment.” Communicating these values and opinions allows customers to connect with not just your product, but your brand and the humans behind it, too.

Consumer Privacy

Cyber-crime is on the rise, and many of us are a bit worried about our data and privacy. In 2023 and beyond, companies need to ensure that those they’re working with feel comfortable and secure. Build trust with your customers through increased security measures because “…increased data security allows customers to sign up for services, demos, white papers, etc., without worrying about data leaks or identity theft.” Customers are trusting you to protect the data they provide to you and want to feel comfortable with how it’s being utilized. That being said, this need for security is going to require your business to “…create alternative strategies and pivot plans in case (it) lose(s) access to crucial data points.” But don’t worry — Google won’t be doing away with third-party cookies on Chrome until 2024, so, there’s still time to prepare and explore alternative data and targeting solutions. This year, you can also expect an increase in form building. The goal is to gather “intel through various practices,” and form building is at the top of the list. 43% of those who experience bad privacy management will switch to another brand, so while you may not always associate it with marketing techniques, consumer privacy is something your marketing team or partner, and your team, should plan to stay ahead of.

Partner Approach

Brands will be looking to streamline and consolidate partnerships – so they’ll be more likely to work with just one-two marketing partners rather than a plethora. Along those lines, customers continue to want (maybe now more than ever) real data behind their marketing successes. What does that mean for us here at Strata? We’re expanding our services while ensuring that we’re still honing in on what we do best. We know it’s important that, if you do keep us on or choose to partner with us, we provide value and are a good team to work with. And – as we always have, we’ll continue to provide you with the data and understanding you need to rest assured your marketing budget is being put to good use.

Personalization & Personalized Experiences

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, customers have so many options these days when it comes to brands to choose from. Personalization – which will become increasingly popular in 2023 – may be one of – or the reason a customer selects your product or service. Psychologists have shared that people love to “hear their name and see it in print,” and with today’s technology, digital marketers are able to take customer information provided and identify what messages will help each unique customer find the right solutions. For these reasons and more, we’re really seeing a turn towards personalized marketing messages to connect brands with their target markets.

Wrapping it All Up

Want to make sure you’re meeting the mark and staying ahead of the curve this year when it comes to your marketing practices? Contact us – we’d be happy to make smart happen (and keep smart happening), together, or check out some of our services, here.

A Strata YouTube Channel Original

In our last few blogs (and their corresponding YouTube videos), we’ve gone over the basics of new mover marketing, the best workflows and incentives, and how to choose the right partner – as well as steps to get you started. Finally, as we know not everything always goes smoothly, we’re going over some of the most common issues that arise for new mover marketing campaigns, and how to fix them.

A Brief Review of New Mover Marketing

To give you a brief refresher, new mover marketing is a specific, niche marketing tactic that’s designed to reach new residents in your area. It’s one of the most effective ways to bring in new customers that have just recently entered your specific target market. When it comes to new movers, they’re nobody’s customer, yet – so it’s an effective tactic to make a good first impression at the same time they’re looking for your product or service.

A Quick Note

When you hear that there are issues with your campaign, your first reaction might be to think that your campaign wasn’t a success, but we’re here to tell you that campaign issues aren’t always bad. They’re absolutely normal, and can even be good for the future success of your current and additional campaigns! Even when you research and prepare as much as possible for your new mover campaign, problems can, and likely will, still arise throughout the process. Issues are typically seen as “stepping stones” that help to enhance and optimize your campaign. If you’re able to properly think through them, problems can help you get a better understanding of your audience and make the necessary adjustments for success. Overall, it’s better to know and understand these issues, than to not know about them at all. If you’re working with the wrong partner, not knowing about issues could be the case. You could think it’s just “all going smoothly”, and that “no news is good news” – but be aware that no news could mean no tracking. Be sure to pick a new mover marketing partner or program that can provide quality data and reporting so you can stay on top of your campaign and see how it’s doing, in real time.

Two Common Issues & Their Solutions

The first common issue you may run into with your new mover campaign is a radius that’s too small or in an ineffective area. Depending on where you’re located, your immediate area may not be actively adding new residents. This can make having a successful campaign difficult because, if there arn’t enough new movers in your target area, you won’t have a substantial audience to send your marketing piece(s) to. In addition, double check your lists and data. You may be accidentally targeting someone who recently moved but within the same area (we call these “same zip movers”). Since they’re already set in their routine, these residents won’t be on the hunt for a new place to visit or try out.

Another issue you could run into? Accuracy and reliability of your list(s). With an inaccurate list, you may be targeting the wrong people. These could be people who don’t want and/or need your service, so sending them your campaign would not only be a waste of their time, but also yours. As long as you have the right new mover marketing partner, there’s a good chance you won’t run into this problem. Remember, new mover marketing’s all about quality (data) over quantity, so pick a company who has access to the best data, not the most.

What’s Next?

Now that we’ve provided you with knowledge on two of the most common issues that may arise when it comes to your new mover marketing campaigns, feel free to head on over to our YouTube channel and check out the full-length video where Caitlin, Strata’s Marketing Manager, will go over additional issues and solutions. If you’re ready to start your next new mover marketing campaign with Strata, contact us today.

Key Takeaways from SHSMD Connections 2022

Back at it Again!

It was great to see everyone at SHSMD 2022 in National Harbor, MD! With our new, brightly lit and eye-catching booth backdrop, we were able to meet new contacts – as well as catch up with current clients! The light and inviting atmosphere of our booth made it a great space to discuss marketing goals and showcase some of what we do here at Strata.

With SHSMD 2022 wrapped up, we’re excited to see how our connections grow, and how we can continue to help healthcare marketers and others with offerings beyond just new mover marketing. Whether it’s patient acquisition, talent acquisition, or promoting your service lines – we’re here to take your marketing to the next level. With that said, here are a few of our key takeaways in case you missed the show or didn’t get to stop by our booth this year.

The Conference in Review

At the beginning of the show, the team first joined other SHSMD attendees at Monday morning’s keynote — delivered by Suneel Gupta, a bestselling author, host of an American Express docuseries and podcast, and Visiting Scholar at Harvard Medical School. He spoke on the importance of long-term successes coming from short-term embarrassment, and explained that by gathering people who will challenge, encourage, work alongside and coach you, you’re becoming “backable.” He also emphasized that putting yourself out there only helps you get better at what you do – and that it’s important to be “backed” by the team you’ve assembled.

From there, the team moved to breakout rooms to learn a bit more about the needs and challenges that healthcare marketers currently face. We attended sessions surrounding digital and AI learning, nursing acquisition and retention, media buying innovations, and more.

A big topic was the idea that – as we’re continuing to traverse the digital age, it’s important that healthcare providers meet their potential patients and talent where they are. Whether someone is looking for an urgent care center, a primary care provider, or employment, the goal is to remain end-user focused. When marketing healthcare services to people in your area, it’s vital (no pun intended) to utilize demographic and psychographic data for the targeted population that your healthcare center serves. Because of this idea and the rise of ethical marketing, we’re seeing just how tactful marketing campaigns – both print and digital – need to be in order to be successful and worthwhile. Strata is well versed in this notion, and the atmosphere and chatter at SHSMD 2022 simply reiterated and expanded upon what we know to be true. Whether you need marketing that will facilitate patient acquisition, talent acquisition, or service line promotion, we’re here to make smart happen. We can help streamline your marketing to reach the talent you need and the customers you want. Right where they are.

Some Final Thoughts

Last but not least – the conference reinforced the importance of good design to reach and engage your target audience! We’re glad that, here at Strata, personalized, eye-catching campaigns are right up our alley – and we have the experience and design talent to make them happen. Using demographic and psychographic data, as well as eye-catching imagery and layout, we create compelling pieces of print, direct and digital mail that follow branding specific to our clients and incorporate unique touches that help your system stand out among competitors.

Didn’t get to discuss your healthcare needs with us at SHSMD 2022? No worries. We’re happy to have a quick chat or set up a call. Contact us today!

A Strata YouTube Channel Original

Creating a personally relevant multichannel campaign can be difficult without proper preparation and guidance. Luckily, in this blog, featuring our most recent YouTube video of our Multichannel Marketing series, we go over some marketing personalization statistics, how to create a personalized, cohesive, and seamlessly relevant journey across multiple channels, and ways to better know who your buyers are. 

The key to starting is to understand who your audience is and their specific buyer journey. Once you collect this data, it’s time to personalize and make sure the content you’re putting in front of them is relevant.

Map Out Your Customer Journey

When creating the perfect multichannel campaign for your audience, take a look at who your buyers really are and then work backwards to figure out how they became a customer. What high-value acquisition channels did these customers use? Which customers have strong LTV (lifetime value)? Talk to your customer service team and your customers. Once you organize and map that out, you’ll have a much easier time figuring out where the problems are, and where objections are coming from. And finally, discover where customers dropped off in the funnel. Put all of this together, and you’ll have a clear look at the journey your customers take and how you can improve your connections with them.

Establish Your Data

When we say establish your data, we’re talking way more than first names and company names. While those are important – that’s not the personalization customers are looking for these days. You’ll want to start partnering with a company (or using software) that can help you gather info like real-time, on-site behavior, online and offline conversion history, geographic location, product affinities, and device activity. All of this will help you develop a strategy that’s consistent and relevant from one channel to the next.

Ultimately, there’s no one-size-fits-all personalized experience – that’s why customers crave it so much. To see what steps are next in establishing your personalized approach, click on the video below. You’ll hear our Marketing and Social Media Coordinator, Bridget, go through best practices. Or, if you’d like to discuss this concept with one of our multichannel experts, contact us today to get your next (or maybe even your first) multichannel campaign started.

To Keep an Eye on

As a marketing solutions company with lots of interest in innovation and change – we’re big on knowing what’s trending and what’s to come. 2021 was filled with a ton of new trends, some – because of changing times and innovation – others, because of big events and worldly occurrences. To stay ahead and prepare for the new year, we’ve looked into the top marketing trends – within design, print, and digital, to keep an eye out for in 2022.

2022 Design Trends

Visual Inclusion

Recent movements around the nation, and even the world, have sparked a broader portrayal of diversity and inclusion in visuals. When crafting your marketing, think about how you can show diverse people in a variety of ways – in your photography, graphics, and iconography. And, even more, think about including imagery of people that your target audience(s) can relate to.“The default for people icons and images are no longer white, male, and able-bodied. There is more representation from marginalized groups in marketing visuals.” The more open, inclusive, and inviting your marketing is, the more likely you’ll bring in a diverse range of interested (and trusting) customers.

Bold Backgrounds

Bold and bright backgrounds and backgrounds with patterns are on the rise. These types of backgrounds attract attention and stand out from the pack, among otherwise modern – and primarily dull, gray, or white – busy feeds and mailboxes. Try using a brighter, bolder background to stand out among other marketing materials. This tactic can be “quite stunning when paired with more simple typography or other design elements,”but, to make this trend work for you and your brand, “ensure that everything has a place and there’s good eye flow between elements.”

Unique & Fun Typography

The year 2022 will be all about typography that “breaks standards”, such as “one single letter…upside down, bigger or smaller, in a different font, or completely missing.” Forecasters expect “lettering that pushes the bounds of easy legibility, creating forms that are expressive in and of themselves.” This unique and rising design tactic can also make for more internationally understandable text and imagery that can be read from culture to culture.

Authentic Imagery

Authentic, realistic imagery that your audience can connect with is always important – but will be increasingly popular in 2022. People don’t want to see fake stock families and disingenuous product photos. They want to see real. “Even commercial photography is shifting to look more like snapshots for these projects” instead of planned, posed imagery. This tactic may be a little less polished and intentional, but it works, because it’s relatable. “More authentic imagery is not amateurish; it’s just a different style.” Yet, this doesn’t mean taking blurry or “thrown together” photos. It means shooting high-quality photography that’s just a bit more casual and realistic to real, day-to-day life.

2022 Digital Marketing Trends

Conversational Marketing

This will be a big one for 2022, as it’s already been on the rise for quite a few years. Why? People want to connect with, and relate to, real people. And, they want fairly immediate responses from those real people. Customers feel more connected with and trusting of companies that tell their story, as well as the stories of their products. They want to hear and see real life examples of what the product has and does, and what sets it apart.

A recent study found that 41.3% of consumers use conversational marketing tools before making purchases. “Unlike traditional strategies, this form of marketing is now available across multiple channels, allowing brands to meet customers on their terms: on the devices, platforms and time schedules that suit the customer best.”

Read more about customer communication and relatability, here.

Video Marketing

This trend isn’t new, and is likely to continue in popularity for the next 5-10 years. It’s no surprise to us (and likely not a surprise to you) that 61% of marketers see video as a “very important or extremely important” part of their marketing strategy. It’s a useful tactic not only because of its visual appeal and high rate of easily digestible content, but because it can be republished on several platforms, and cut and manipulated for repurposing. A recent study recorded that “84% of consumers have been convinced to purchase a product after watching a video.”

To read more on video marketing, click here.

Interactive Content

This year, there will be a noticeable marketing shift from “traditional text-based content toward dynamic, engaging content” like quizzes, augmented reality, polls, 360-degree videos, and more. These tools give customers a more memorable connection with both the product and the company, and get them involved with the brand – not just get them to see it. In fact, 91% of customers are interested in seeing more content they can interact with.

First-Party and Zero-Party Data

We’ve talked a bit about this topic before in a fairly recent blog post, and this trend is sure to skyrocket into 2022. This year, “first-party cookies will force marketers to be mindful of the data they collect and how they use it,” primarily because companies can now only use their own collected data. This also means that companies will need to be much more authentic and transparent with their customers. Along with first-party data, zero-party data – data given to a brand or company directly from the consumer, will also be a key focus. Some examples of ways to acquire this data are through surveys, forms, or email.

2022 Print Marketing Trends

Combining Print & Digital

This particular trend – we’re very well-versed in. Combining print and digital can do wonders for your campaigns, meeting your customers with mulitple touches on and offline. A great example of this combination is using a personalized URL and QR code on a printed piece. QR codes on print marketing not only give customers an easy way to get to know your company better, but can be vehicles to get customers to purchase or sign up for a program – immediately. These types of combination tactics are flexible, dynamic, and cater to many differing age groups.

Creative Customer Personalization

Also, a great online or offline tool? Personalization. When your company caters to a specific type of audience, or even specific customers rather than a blanketed group, you’re more likely to meet customer’s needs and turn them into loyal ones. Additionally, personalization can be cost effective. Why’s this? In order to personalize, you can’t target everyone – just the right ones.

Direct Mail

Lastly, not a new or surprising trend to us, direct mail will continue to grow in popularity in 2022. “With the content marketing boom and remote working becoming the new normal, many consumers have become ‘numb’ to digital marketing campaigns.” So, if you haven’t, why not give direct mail marketing a go? Trying out this re-emerging marketing trend could bring a ton of new customers to your site, as 70% of people engage with a brand online after receiving their direct mail.

Read more on why direct mail is so impactful, here.

Interested in ramping up your marketing in 2022 using one or more of these solutions? We can help! Contact the experts at Strata, today.