If you are looking to grow or scale your business in the new year, there are 6 things that will have a big influence on your results in 2022.
- Going All In or All Out on Social Media
- Increased Organic Marketing vs. Paid Advertising
- Deepen Connection and Shorten the Buying Cycle
- Differentiate and Have a Bold Point of View
- Lean Out and Do Less But Better
- Focus on Customer Centricity and Value
In part 1 of this 2-part series, we will be focusing on the 1st 3 trends. Continue reading part 2 for the final 3 business trends and predictions for 2022.
Tune into Episode 54 of the Lean Out Your Business Podcast or keep reading below.
Going All In or All Out on Social Media
I am seeing a division when it comes to social media, like so many other things.
With an increased focus on mental health and more and more people taking regular social media detoxes, many people, including businesses, are choosing to stop leveraging social media entirely.
I saw this trend at Ali Brown's ICONIC event, and since then many businesses have announced that they are shutting down their social media accounts.
While you will have some companies exiting social media entirely, you will have others who will be doubling down on social media and fully optimizing the trending features on their platforms of choice, plus investing in paid advertising.
When leveraging video - short, educational or entertaining, and attention-grabbing is working best for both organic and paid.
Unless you have a huge team ready to master all aspects of social media, you will be better served choosing one or two platforms and fully optimizing them than you will spreading yourself too thin and scratching the surface on every platform.
Leveraging LinkedIn
If you serve other businesses or have a client base that leverages LinkedIn, 2022 is the year to go all in on LinkedIn and developing both an organic and potentially paid strategy. One of things that is still underutilized but seems to be working very well organically is publishing a LinkedIn newsletter.
Video will be a great way to stand out as well as exploring Creator Mode.
Leveraging YouTube
We all know how important video is and it is going to continue increasing in importance. If you are not already leveraging YouTube, this is a good time to start. To make the most of your content, one important tip is to think of YouTube as a search engine and choose your titles and write your descriptions with organic search in mind. Keywords are important whereas tags are no longer going to help you get found in search much.
Don't worry about things being polished and professionally edited. Your YouTube channel can be more raw, or you can leverage tools like Streamyard to give things a slightly upleveled look without having to get fancy. If highly polished fits your brand and your target market, then by all means go for it, but don't let that hold you back if it isn't critical.
Pro Tip: Regardless of what platforms you use, don't think of social media as just social media. Think of it as content marketing. It's not about posting every day to check a box, it's about being strategic and intentional with what, when, and how you leverage each platform and who you build and nurture relationships with.
Increased Organic Marketing vs. Paid Advertising
This takes us to a trend of increased organic marketing over simply paid advertising.
Paid Ad Strategies
Many businesses leveraged a paid Facebook ads strategy for lead generation and growth and invested minimally in organic marketing, but between iOS changes (which will expand beyond iOS in 2022) and increased privacy restrictions, paid ads are increasingly expensive and can be unpredictable.
While some have figured out how to get great results amidst the changes, none got there by continuing to do the same things in the same way. It took a commitment to rethinking their strategy and experimenting with different things until they found what worked. And almost everyone saw their ad costs rise.
Others have decided it's not worth it right now and just like with social media, some companies are opting out of paid Facebook and Instagram ads and will be experimenting with other platforms like Google, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, etc.
This creates an opportunity for those who double down and commit to staying the course and figuring out how to get the best results from paid ads.
Organic Marketing Strategies
Whether a business chooses to opt out of paid ads entirely, or evolve their approach, most businesses will be ramping up their organic marketing efforts in 2022 which can look like better leveraging social media, blogging and web content, SEO, podcasting and media, email marketing, etc.
Many others will also be focused on collaborations, partnerships, and referrals as a way to grow their business and expand their reach.
Collaborations: Look for other thought leaders and businesses that compliment yours and serve a similar market and find a way to work together.
Partnerships: Develop power partnerships with others you know, like, and trust to refer business to, and that can do the same for you. Your clients will appreciate the referral just as much as your power partner will.
Referrals: Ensure a solid referral strategy for your existing clients, who are your best source of new clients. Implement or uplevel your internal referral strategy and don't be afraid to ask for a referral. Take the time to make it as easy as possible for your clients to tell others about you and your offers by providing them with copy and graphics and specifying who the offer is for and who it's not for.
Deepen Connection and Shorten the Buying Cycle
Part of the reason video is so popular and in demand is the craving people have for connection. Today's buyer is looking for more than how-to information or inspiration, they want to know the people that they're considering working with and buying from.
Hiding behind your computer and cranking out bland and personality-free content isn't going to generate results - for your prospects or your business.
When you think about your prospects, consider how you can better connect with them and shorten the buying cycle, and then how you can deepen the connection once they are a paying client.
Can you offer more smaller circle or higher touch experiences for people? Maybe you add a VIP tier to some of your programs or services that create a small circle, intimate experience. Maybe you give people the opportunity to work with you or your team more directly instead of getting lost in a sea of other people.
Are there personalized touches and things that you can do? When new clients sign on to work with me, whether they work with me privately or whether they join one of my high-touch group coachin , I send a personalized handwritten note along with a;90-Day Lean Out Planner.
Sending an actual physical product as part of a welcome pack when they sign on goes a long way in creating an incredible and memorable onboarding experience. Think about if there is something like that that you can do in your own business, or if you already do something like that, is there a way you can step it up to deepen that connection?
As you look at your marketing calendar for the year and plan out your launches, think of connections. If in the past, you would have sent a bunch of emails and done some social media posts for a launch, maybe now you want to do something live by adding in a live training or challenge or Q&A to build that connection.
Maybe you send personalized videos or voice memos to your top prospects instead of an automated email.
You might have things well dialed-in in your business, but it's a good idea to think about connection and how you may be able to mix things up and bring more of that connection in 2022. That is going to be a big differentiator.
Continue reading the final 3 business success trends and predictions for 2022 in part 2 of this 2-part series here.
Which will you be focusing on in the new year?
Share in the comments below.
Ready to simplify and streamline how you scale your business?
- We are now accepting Visionary CEOs and their right-hand Ops Leads into our signature Simplify to Scale mentorship program. Learn more and join us at leanoutmethod.com/scale.
- Join us for our transformational in-person business retreats and masterminds each Spring and Fall at leanoutmethod.com/retreats.
- Have questions? Want to explore partnering together to scale your business? Book a FREE strategy call to explore working together.
by Crista Grasso
Crista Grasso is the go-to strategic planning expert for leading global businesses and online entrepreneurs when they want to scale. Known as the "Business Optimizer", Crista has the ability to quickly cut through noise and focus on optimizing the core things that will make the biggest impact to scale a business simply and sustainably. She specializes in helping businesses gain clarity on the most important things that will drive maximum value for their clients and maximum profits for their business. She is the creator of the Lean Out Method, 90 Day Lean Out Planner, and host of the Lean Out Your Business Podcast.
