What’s in store for Marketing in 2022?

A quick round-up of Marketing predictions from across the web…

Starting off close to home with what’s coming up for Marketing Operations, Darrell Alfonso makes a number of interesting assertions in his 6 key marketing ops predictions for 2022. As well as an increasing number of senior MOps roles becoming part of Marketing teams, he sees more formal training for Marketing Operations specialists taking place. This can only be good for the discipline, as the self-taught and “fell into it” still tend to be very prevalent among our ranks. I also like his comment about MOps becoming the first or second marketing hire, a suggestion that seemed to raise a few eyebrows when I made it at last year’s B2B Marketing Get Stacked event! In a similar vein, Justin Sharaf, asking What Will 2022 Bring for Marketing Ops?, suggests that requests for additional MOps headcount will be a feature  this year. Justin also recommends putting some budget aside to cover unexpected requests for additional tools so that control remains with MOps.

Focussing on marketing technology, as he tends to do, Scott Brinker (aka @chiefmartec) highlights again, in his 3 Big Martech Innovation Themes in 2022, the rise of “Big Ops”, which “is about the volume, velocity, and variety of all the digital operations” in an enterprise. “Marketing ops teams should embrace this broader DataOps ecosystem,” he says, adding “this is a dramatic expansion of the scope…marketing ops professionals can engage in,” which sounds positive for us! He also talks about the rise of no/low-code solutions, as do Martech Alliance in their 2022 Marketing Predictions. Gartner, they report, estimates that, in two years time, 80% of tech products will be built by people who aren't tech professionals, which certainly points to a wholesale embrace of these tools. Martech Alliance also call out the growing importance of privacy to marketers, something that Darrell Alfonso also highlights. Finally on the martech front, David Raab, the world’s leading authority on CDPs, provides his thoughts on where the sector is heading in Game of Thrones Meets Big Bang Theory: Welcome to CDP Industry's Next Phase.

Moving into the realm of digital, both Business 2 Community in their  5 Technology Trends Every B2B Marketer Should Be Aware of and Forbes’ Five Digital Marketing Predictions For 2022 mention the importance of video and of course artificial intelligence, especially for improving customer experience this year. The B2C piece also makes reference to email personalisation, something I brought up myself in a conversation with B2B Marketing recently on the MOPs dos and don’t for 2022. Also mentioned by Forbes along with Martech in 2022 Predictions: Customer Experience & Digital Experience is the central role hybrid will be playing in events going forwards. A 2020 prediction that is very much starting to come true.

Perhaps inevitably, metaverse, blockchain and NFTs come up, not least by Martech in How marketers will use blockchain technology and NFTs in 2022 (and elsewhere) as well as in the Martech Alliance piece. Blockchain technology and NFTs have promise for tackling digital ad fraud they report, and the latter might have a place providing “virtual brand souvenirs”. Brands will also start making tentative steps into the metaverse it’s suggested, leading to questions over maintaining control over trademarks and avoiding getting stranded in new walled gardens. The reputational risk of the energy consumption of all this technology is also something that brands will need to consider, we’re told. One thing that requires no crystal ball is that there will be more predictions in this space next year!