Digital marketers and consumers alike are ready for a new year and a new vision. And there’s no better time than January to dig in and begin making the changes that can help dreams become reality.
This issue of NYCU looks ahead at the coming year, back at the previous year, and encourages all of us to pay some special attention to the work before us right now.
Find out what’s hot and what’s not, where we’re headed and where we’ve been, and why there’s one gift we’ve all been given that trumps them all.
Welcome to 2022.
2022 MARKETING JOBS MOST IN DEMAND
Topic: Digital Marketing | Job Outlook
Key Point: HubSpot’s senior SEO strategist, Braden Becker, combined information from 2021 studies by both HubSpot and LinkedIn to compile a list of the 15 most in-demand marketing jobs for 2022 and how each dovetails into a total digital marketing strategy.
Find out which marketing positions companies are looking to expand, which is the job least understood, and which will be the lowest priority for new hires in 2022. Becker cites all 15 most in-demand job categories, describes the functions each performs, and throws in stats to back up his assumptions.
DISCUSSION IDEAS: Should digital marketing students aim for the most in-demand jobs, or is it best to follow your strongest interests — no matter what the surveys say?
TOP GLOBAL SEARCH ENGINES: NEW STUDY
Topic: SEO
Key Point: Is Google still the top search engine on the planet? How do global search engine stats differ from searches performed in the United States? Is voice search on the rise, or is anyone really using it that often?
PracticalEcommerce pulled data from StatCounter to create two graphs and a map to help digital marketers better understand the trends in how online searches are performed.
The report may convince previously skeptical digital marketers to pay a little more attention to Microsoft. Get it here: Top Global Search Engines.
DIGITAL MARKETING SKILLS ARE DECLINING DUE TO THE PANDEMIC
Topic: Digital Marketing | Marketing Skills
Key Point: For many people, the pandemic provided extra incentive to boost their digital skills. Work-from-home mandates forced them to become comfortable with Zoom and other digital conferencing platforms. Sales teams found new ways to communicate with prospects and customers without traveling to conduct face-to-face meetings. We needed to adapt, rethink, and innovate.
According to a recent study in the United Kingdom by Target Internet and the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), though, digital marketing skills moved countertrend — they went down, not up. Consequently, recruiters are hard put to find candidates with the right skill sets.
Commenting on the situation, CMI’s director of marketing had this to say:
The risk of getting left behind needs to be highlighted on the basis that technology isn’t going to wait, and the need to continue upskilling in order to just stand still was apparent before the pandemic, the risk now is that it will only continue to grow and the skills gap could become unmanageable.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: There’s never been a better time for digital marketers — whether still in school or already working — to get prepared for the demands ahead.
DISCUSSION IDEAS: Do you agree with the findings in the CMI study? If so, why do you think digital marketers are losing ground? How can skills be recovered?
BIG TECH ANNUAL REVENUE PUSHING $1.4 TRILLION
Topic: Digital Marketing | Technology
Key Point: Many businesses have lost ground during the pandemic, but not “Big Tech” (Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook/Meta). Expectations are that the final tally for 2021 will show $1.4 trillion dollars in revenue for the five giants and perhaps $500 billion in total profit.
Trung T. Phan gathered the data and speculated on why Big Tech is flourishing despite COVID and in the face of legislative action to limit their powers. You’ll also discover which of the giants pulled the most profits, and you’ll get the one sure Big Tech prediction for 2022.
GOODBYE ALEXA.COM, HELLO CLOUDFLARE: IS TIKTOK REALLY ON TOP?
Topic: SEO | Ecommerce
Key Point: In light of Amazon’s decision to close the shop at Alexa.com, Cloudflare says it’s time for their internet traffic tools to step up to the plate. Given that desire and the company’s capabilities, it appears that claim is all fact, not wishful thinking.
For instance, did you know TikTok.com overtook Google.com as the most visited domain in late 2021? Are you aware that Netflix can pull more visitors than Amazon and Apple during Christmas week? And do you have any idea why YouTube was the traffic leader on February 2, 2021?
This report from the Cloudflare Blog isn’t only interesting, it’s a mother lode of information. If you can study the results without getting a bucketful of ideas . . . take your pulse. Cloudflare is on the move.
2022 ECOMMERCE PREDICTIONS
Topic: Ecommerce
Key Point: Martech’s 2022 predictions for marketers is out, and the future sounds rosy indeed: ecommerce evolves and simplifies, personalization takes the lead, artificial intelligence gets even more powerful . . . and more.
Behind it all: the push for a higher return on investment and the buy-in from digital marketers. Whether you agree with Martech’s take on the new year or not, the predictions are well worth considering.
DISCUSSION IDEAS: Which points in Martech’s article are particularly surprising? Are there any? What other predictions would you add to the mix?
2021 GOOGLE ALGORITHM UPDATES (REVIEWED)
Topic: SEO
Key Point: While it’s certainly good to look ahead to the coming year, many marketers fail to look back to the year that was.
This Search Engine Land review of Google algorithm updates in 2021 can not only help you review your own checklist, but may hold a lamp to what’s coming in 2022.
It’s the perfect partner to the Martech predictions above and well worth the time investment for today’s digital marketers.
THE MOST VALUABLE POSSESSION OF ALL
Topic: Digital Marketing | Productivity
Key Point: We’ll close out this issue of Stukent’s News You Can Use with a timely tip from Seth Godin: Time doesn’t scale . . . and that’s why it’s the most valuable commodity of all.
The pandemic brought sickness, fear, lost wages, and untold turmoil to many of us during the past couple of years, but it has also provided a reminder of both the value and the fragility of our lives and our plans.
May 2022 be the best year ever for you and yours. Together, we’ll get past the sickness and into the healing. Together, we’ll overcome.
Will You Grow Or Will You Not?
“Entropy” is the push/pull toward disorder, towards losing our grip on predictability. And according to the second law of thermodynamics, entropy increases with time.
Entropy is always at work — breaking down systems, creating confusion, and causing once powerful companies to go bankrupt.
The only thing that counteracts entropy is energy. How much energy will you put into your digital marketing ambitions this year? How much time will you set aside for study, for practice, for working out both mentally and physically?
At Stukent, we’re determined to keep growing and learning. We’re nowhere near ready to throw in the towel and give up the dream.
How about you? Will you join us?
BONUS CONTENT
2022 Predictions: CTV and cross-channel advertising
How assumptions about Android and iOS audiences trigger missed marketing opportunities
PepsiCo’s in-house content studio head on preserving brand trust as demand soars
