Digital marketing in 2026 is moving at a speed that’s honestly tough to keep up with. If you want to win this year, you don’t just “do marketing”—you adapt fast, you work smarter, and you stay visible in a world where AI is now part of how people discover brands.

That’s why keeping up with Digital Marketing Trends 2026 isn’t optional anymore. The landscape is noisier, competition is tighter, and attention is more expensive. If you’re not using the right tools and the right strategy, you’ll get drowned out, no matter how good your product is.

Author’s Note: If you want deeper data-backed insights on current market behavior, I recently published our Digital State of the Philippines report. It includes updated statistics, search trends, and consumer insights shaping the Philippine digital landscape in 2026. It’s free to download!

What are the Key Digital Marketing Trends for 2026?

If I had to summarize digital marketing in 2026 in three words: automation, personalization, and AI. Technology isn’t just “support” anymore. It’s now an active partner in strategy, content, and customer experience.

Here are the biggest Digital Marketing Trends 2026 you need to pay attention to.

AI-Powered Search Results

People still “search,” but the experience has shifted. Instead of scrolling through 10 blue links, users increasingly get direct answers from AI-powered search experiences.

That means fewer clicks… and a bigger fight for visibility.

Your goal now is not just to rank—it’s to become the source that AI pulls from when it generates an answer. And AI tends to favor content that’s:

• Clear and specific
• Authoritative
• Structured for direct answers
• Backed by real-world experience

If your content is vague, fluffy, or written like you’re trying to impress a college professor, AI will ignore it. In 2026, being useful beats being “wordy.”

The Power of AI Agents

Artificial intelligence has evolved from basic chatbots into advanced AI agents capable of managing complex tasks. These agents can handle multi-step tasks and manage parts of the customer journey.

AI agents can help with:

• scheduling and lead qualification
• customer support (24/7, without burning out your team)
• personalized product recommendations
• real-time data analysis to predict customer needs

Marketing teams use AI agents to automate repetitive tasks and focus on high-level strategic planning. These tools analyze customer data in real time to predict needs and deliver timely recommendations, helping brands engage buyers at the right moment.

AI agents also resolve customer service issues independently, freeing teams to focus on creative and strategic initiatives. 

When implemented well, AI agents often increase efficiency, improve personalization, and raise customer satisfaction—because the experience feels faster and more “intent-aware.”

Collecting Customer Data Directly

Privacy laws are now much stricter, making it harder to track users online. Companies are focusing on data that customers share willingly and directly with the brand. 

So smart brands are leaning into data customers willingly share—also known as zero-party data.

This includes:

• Surveys
• Quizzes
• Preference forms
• Interactive content (polls, calculators, assessments)

Here’s the win: you get deep personalization without violating privacy.

Brands that win in 2026 are the ones that build trust. Because when customers feel safe, they share real preferences—and that allows you to create offers that actually match what they want.

That’s a win-win: better experience for them, better conversion for you.

The SEO Blogging Comeback for AEO

In recent years, many people claimed that SEO was dead because of AI. And every few years, SEO keeps paying the bills.

The shift in 2026 is this: blogging isn’t just for SEO—it’s for AEO (Answer Engine Optimization).

While some lost traffic, others continued to succeed quietly by focusing on Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). AI models like ChatGPT love to cite blog articles that offer real, lived experience.

AI models like ChatGPT and other answer engines tend to cite content that feels like it came from:

• real practitioners
• real experience
• real expertise

So modern blog optimization is no longer about chasing high traffic volume with broad topics. You now need to write hyper-specific, bottom-of-funnel content—the kind that answers the exact question someone asks right before buying.

This approach emphasizes quality over quantity. By offering original insights and clear expertise, your blog becomes a trusted source for both traditional search engines and AI-powered platforms. Providing genuine value to a specific audience is a winning strategy for 2026.

Ethical and Transparent AI Use

Consumers are getting smarter. They care about how brands use AI—and they expect transparency.

Ethical AI practices include monitoring for bias, protecting user data, and clearly labeling AI-created media when appropriate. Brands that prioritize transparency build stronger customer relationships and long-term trust.

In a landscape increasingly filled with automation, honesty helps your brand stand out. Companies that communicate openly often enjoy greater loyalty and stronger reputations.

At a Glance: Key Marketing Shifts for 2026

Why You Must Follow These Digital Marketing Trends

If you want your business to survive (and win) this year, you need to move with the market. The digital space is crowded, and people have zero patience for irrelevant marketing.

Following Digital Marketing Trends 2026 helps you stay visible, useful, and competitive.

Meeting Higher Consumer Expectations

Modern consumers expect fast, accurate, and personalized digital experiences. They quickly leave websites that feel outdated or inefficient.

Implementing current trends—such as AI personalization and automated support—demonstrates that your brand values user experience. A smooth, intuitive journey increases engagement and repeat visits.

A seamless customer journey ultimately converts more visitors into buyers. If the process is complex or frustrating, customers will choose competitors instead. User experience should always remain central to your marketing strategy.

Staying Ahead of the Competition

The competitive gap between companies using AI and those who do not is growing. Businesses that ignore these trends will find it harder to reach audiences effectively. Competitors who embrace new tools produce more content for much less money.

Staying relevant requires a constant eye on how technology changes media consumption. If you fall behind, it becomes very expensive to catch back up later. Early adoption gives you a significant advantage in a very busy marketplace.

Being first to use new tools allows you to set the standard. Your brand becomes a leader that others try to follow every day. This position in the market is very valuable for long-term growth.

Key Takeaway

The businesses that win in 2026 are the ones that learn fast and execute well.

Embrace the digital marketing trends for 2026 with a clear head: use AI wisely, build trust through direct relationships, and focus on content that’s genuinely helpful—especially content that answer engines can cite.

Because at the end of the day, marketing still works the same way: Serve people well. Be credible. Be consistent. And stay visible.

The post The Biggest Digital Marketing Trends Defining 2026 appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Sharing your message in only one format is no longer enough to succeed in the digital world. Building a strong Multimodal Content Strategy helps you grow your brand and connect with many more online customers. This approach, combined with an AEO-focused strategy, ensures you reach people whether they prefer reading articles, watching videos, or listening to audio. 

What Is a Multimodal Content Strategy?

A multimodal strategy is the process of turning one high-quality asset into many different media formats. It means using text, video, and audio to share the same message across your digital channels. This method ensures your brand connects with people no matter how they like to learn new things. It is about creating a system where every piece of content supports your core brand message.

The Different Modes of Content

The word multimodal describes the different ways we use our senses to share and understand new information. These include the linguistic mode for words and the visual mode for images and helpful charts. There is also the aural mode for sound and the spatial mode, which focuses on page layout. A complete strategy combines these elements so they work together to deliver a powerful and memorable experience.

Multichannel vs. Multimodal Marketing

Many people confuse a multimodal approach with a multichannel approach, but there is a big difference between them. Multichannel marketing is simply posting the exact same piece of content across many different social media platforms. A multimodal strategy is about creating unique formats of the same message to reach people differently. You are not just reposting a link; you are transforming the content into something entirely new.

Why You Need a Multimodal Approach for Your Content

The way people use the internet is changing, especially with the rise of new artificial intelligence search. Modern search engines now pull information from videos, images, and text to answer complex user questions. If you only provide text, you might miss the chance to appear in these helpful search summaries. A multimodal strategy gives your brand multiple ways to win and be seen by many potential customers.

Meeting Different Attention States

People move through different attention states throughout the day, and their content preferences change with those states. Someone might skim a short article during a busy morning but prefer a deep-dive video later. During a commute, they may choose to listen to a podcast rather than look at a screen. This strategy ensures your brand stays present no matter how your audience is currently engaged.

Maximizing Your Content Value

Creating high-quality content takes a lot of time and creative energy for any modern marketing team. A multimodal strategy increases the value you get for every single asset you choose to produce. By adapting one core idea into several formats, you extend its life and reach many more people. You can turn one successful webinar into a blog post, social media clips, and emails. Therefore, learning how to structure content for multi-turn AI conversations is essential. 

How to Build a Multimodal Strategy

Building a successful content strategy requires a clear system that expands your content without creating too much extra work. You should focus on building a predictable process that can be repeated for every major content piece. The following five steps will help you transform your existing assets into a powerful marketing machine. Following this framework ensures that your team remains organized and focused on what truly drives results.

Step 1: Audit Your Content

A strong strategy starts with identifying the best content that already exists within your current digital library. Look at your top-performing blog posts, reports, or case studies from the last year of your business. These pieces are your anchor assets because they have already proven to be valuable to your audience. Choose the assets that are most detailed and can easily be broken down into smaller parts. 

Step 2: Map Your Formats

The next step is to decide which formats and channels best match how your audience likes to engage. Look at your data to see which types of content your audience likes to watch or read most. If your blog posts perform well, use written text as your hub and create videos from it. If your audience loves video, start there and then use the transcript to create helpful articles. If you want to step up your game, here’s a guide on how to structure your content for AI extractions.

Step 3: Design a Multiplication System

You need a predictable system that expands every piece of content across multiple channels and various modes. Plan your paths based on the primary format you choose to create first for your specific audience. For example, if you start with video, your path could include creating podcasts and capturing social clips. If you start with text, you might convert step-by-step sections into short and helpful video tutorials.

Step 4: Build a Production Workflow

Map out your current creation process and find where multimodal tasks can fit in naturally and efficiently. Schedule your repurposing tasks immediately after a major piece of content goes live to keep the momentum. It is often helpful to group related tasks, such as dedicating one day to creating social graphics. Using checklists for each format ensures that your team maintains high quality and consistent branding.

Step 5: Set Up Meaningful Tracking

Tracking helps you discover which specific topics and formats are performing the strongest for your business goals. Use tracking codes for each version of your content so you can see where your traffic starts. Define simple success metrics for each format, such as view time for videos or click rates. Review this data regularly to adjust your priorities and focus on the formats that drive results.

Key Takeaway

Every modern brand needs to adapt to the way audiences and search engines consume digital information today. Knowing how to make a strong multimodal content strategy will help you grow your brand and connect with many more customers. By turning one anchor piece into text, video, and audio, you maximize your reach and improve memory. Start small by auditing your best work and building a system that multiplies your impact across the web.

The post How to Build a Multimodal Content Strategy for Maximum Reach, Engagement, and Visibility appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Whether you run a small business or a big one, a good marketing strategy is never cheap. You have to put money into putting your brand out there, making its name known, and convincing people to buy what you’re selling. The real-world problem is not a lot of people can afford it.

This problem becomes more complicated knowing that spending big money on marketing doesn’t always equate to good results. Some entrepreneurs with a bigger marketing budget would think that having multiple channels to advertise their business would mean higher chances of winning. 

However, using your budget wisely for marketing is what any logical entrepreneur would do. This means only choosing the channels and strategies that best fit your business model and marketing needs. 

What about SEO and SEM?

Digital marketing is a good marketing strategy because it can meet expectations in terms of effectiveness and cost flexibility. And when it comes to digital marketing, SEM and SEO are arguably the best options you have.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) are both very popular among modern marketers. This is mainly because the search engine giant, Google, remains to be the most used and visited website today. According to Oberlo, Google gets over 89.3 billion visits worldwide in just one month. 

This overwhelming number just shows how popular Google is for people around the world. Consequently, it has become a powerful platform for businesses and marketers to reach a broader audience.

While both operate in search engines, SEM and SEO have stark differences. And if you’re wondering which one you should use for your business, here’s what you need to know:

Keywords

Keywords are the common ground for both SEO and SEM. Since both strategies work in search engines, they cater to what people are searching online to be visible. 

Keywords: SEM

For SEM, the keywords that are usually used in campaigns are based on two things: search volume and bidding cost. When using keywords for platforms like Google Ads, it’s important to use those that have a high demand in terms of search queries and those whose cost is within your budget. 

Keywords with a higher cost are more competitive in keyword usage and bidding. Since you will be paying per click in SEM campaigns, bidding for the right keywords is important to get your desired conversions.

Keywords in SEM are also categorized per ad group. Ad groups are used to represent the specific product that you’re selling. So, if you’re selling multiple products, it’s best to have multiple ad groups for each one and then select the keywords that best represent your product for each category for variation.

Keywords: SEO

For SEO, searchability is one of the most important factors to consider in starting a solid SEO strategy. You wanna make sure that enough people are searching for your chosen keywords to give you the visibility you need for your website. 

Another element you should look into in choosing keywords is the search intent. This just means that you have to put yourself in your target market’s shoes and think of what queries they might be using on Google’s search box. 

If you’re running an e-commerce website, you should be gunning for ranking for transactional keywords. You can read more about search intent here so you can understand which types of keywords would best suit to represent your website, your business, and the content you want your visitors to see. 

Optimizations

Optimizations: SEM

For SEM, optimizations are commonly made based on factors like budget and how you want to present your ads. SEM is all about making your ads relevant and eye-catching for users to engage with. So, your goals are to make your ads show up on top of the search results AND get people to click them.

To optimize your SEM ads, you need to have engaging headlines, trust-worthy descriptions, and informative extensions – these include images, pricing,  call extensions, and other product details a buyer should know about. 

Here’s an example of our optimized ad on Google search results page (SERP):

The headlines I’m using for SEO Hacker’s ads, just like what’s shown above, are direct and simple. The description shows why we are good because we are, in fact, ranking number 1 among all the SEO agencies in the Philippines for the keyword seo philippines. Lastly, from our ads, the visitor is just a click away from our offerings, free website audit tool, and client testimonials. This gives them the most amount of information with just a few clicks.

Optimizations: SEO

SEO requires similar optimizations to SEM, but it would require much more effort and strategic thinking to make it effective. How your webpage shows in the SERPs is also important because it contributes to its clickability. 

The thing with SEO is aside from considering how users see your page in the search results, you should also take note of how Google crawls and understands your website.

Google continuously refines its ranking factor through algorithm changes, but some factors are fundamental standards for optimization. These include a bunch of technical factors including your meta tags such as the slug, title tag, and meta description.

On top of the technical health of your website, Google also looks at the quality of your content and your off-page status to rank well. This means that you have to have content that utilizes your keyword in a way that you’re giving the information the users need.

Here’s an example of how we do it for the same keyword – seo philippines:

Aside from the content, your website should also have to be visible and linked to other websites to establish authority.

Therefore, the approach in SEO is more holistic and definitely requires more work. Authority, insightfulness, and user-friendliness are the major factors that help you rank in SERPs, so be prepared to go the extra mile if you’re starting with an SEO campaign.

Results

Results: SEM

Any business that wants an instant result from their marketing efforts would choose to do SEM rather than SEO. SEM ranks your website on the first page of search engines as soon as you start running your campaign. If your ads are optimized well, you can also get a good number of conversions from your website. 

What’s important to note for SEM is that your rankings will be gone as soon as your campaign is over or you run out of budget because you are basically paying for your slot at the top of the search results. 

Results: SEO

SEO does the opposite. SEO is a marathon and not a sprint. It takes months or even years for new businesses to see results from it and make their website rank high in search engines like Google. This is because you’re doing it organically.

If you’re thinking long-term, SEO is gonna give you a better outcome. If you constantly build content and keep your SEO factors in check, you will see your website dominating the search results for a lot of keywords relevant to your industry. 

This means that brand awareness, credibility, and online presence are being established slowly but surely all at the same time, not only for users but for Google as well.

Key Takeaway

SEO and SEM are two different digital marketing strategies that require different efforts to improve. While SEM is better for paid traffic and instant results, SEO is best for organic traffic and long-term recurring visitors, leads, and sales.

Both are going to get you to the same place, but one might be better suited for your marketing and business needs. 

If you’re interested in one over the other, keep in mind that both are very important. Choosing only one between the two because of budget constraints is normal. But, combining both strategies is actually possible and would give you the best outcomes in terms of traffic, engagement, and most importantly, conversion.

Here’s an article to read to help you get the most out of your SEO and SEM strategy.

So which of these have you tried? SEO or SEM? Or both? Share your experiences in the comments section below!

The post SEO vs SEM: Choosing the Right Approach for Your Business appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Ever lost at least $1,000 in an SEM campaign? You probably have but you may not have realized it until today. Here you will learn how much money you’re leaving at the table – unrealized – and what you can do about it.

Add Negative Keywords

One of the things that will ultimately help make sure you are not spending your hard-earned money needlessly is using negative keywords in your SEM campaign. Negative keywords are a list of keywords that you do not want your ad to appear in.

For example, let’s say that you’re doing SEM for a mobile phone brand such as Samsung. However, you find out through the Search Terms that your ads are appearing in keywords related to your competitor’s brands such as “apple mobile phone price” or “huawei mobile phone price”.

The problem with this is that those people searching for your competitor’s brands likely won’t click on your ad at all. Or if they do, it’s probably by mistake because they are not interested in you but in the other brand – because they literally searched for the specific brand!

If that’s the case, you may want to set up the following negative keywords:

• [apple mobile phone price] – as an exact match
• [huawei mobile phone price] – as an exact match
• “Apple” – as a phrase match
• “Huawei” – as a phrase match

Besides excluding the keywords found above, you can also set the brand name as a phrase that matches the negative keyword. This will help ensure that your ads will never appear in any keywords that contain these terms.

Make Your Ad Copy Engaging

One of the first things searchers will see is your ad copy. It should be able to reflect on their pain points and provide them with a solution. The more that they feel that you understand what they’re going through, the higher the chances of them clicking on your ad versus your competitors.

In order to do just that, first, you have to understand who your target market is. Who are they? What do they look like? How much is their spending power? Are they the decision makers or simply the purchasing agent? Where are they from? How old are they? And what type of tone would they best react to?

Take a look at some of the headlines I created for a supplier of walk-in tubs. I chose to highlight their ADA certification, residential services, and their installation services. Based on my research, I found that these are terms that customers would use when searching for accessibility solutions.

Then, research your keyword’s intent. What are people there to look for? Do they want discounts or maybe free installation? Make sure you showcase these benefits in your headlines and descriptions. Take a look at the features I highlighted in the descriptions below.

Optimize Your SEM Landing Pages

Next, let’s discuss how to optimize your SEM Landing Pages. Similar to what was mentioned above, it’s crucial that your landing page contains content that can help solve your customer’s pain points. Ideally, it should be a separate page that includes a “noindex” tag so that its content does not compete with organic traffic.

The landing page should also contain a Call-To-Action mentioned multiple times throughout the page. This can be in the form of brochure downloads, contact forms, or even newsletter signups. Ensure that these Call-to-Actions lead to another page such as the brochure page or a Thank You page so you can set up Google Analytics to track those conversions as goals.

Set Ads To Appear Only To Relevant Locations

Besides your content matching your customer’s needs, it’s also important that you optimize your Google Ads campaign to target the right people. One of the first ways that you can do this is through the Locations feature.

Do you service certain provinces or areas? Ensure that these are featured in your Locations so that your ads appear to the right people in the right places. If you cater nationwide, it would help to save your spending budget if you specify which cities you’d want to focus on instead of targeting the entire country at the get-go.

Revisit Your Ad Schedule

You can also set your ads to appear on certain days of the week and on certain hours. For example, if you’re a B2B company, you may only want to show your ads during the country’s business hours. Or if your customers are seniors aged 60 and above, you can set your ads to appear from the morning until their estimated sleeping hours, such as the one set below.

Get to know WHEN your target market is most active online, and adjust your ad schedule accordingly.

Exclude Irrelevant Age Groups

If you’re a business that targets specific age groups, then ensure that you make use of the exclusion tool on Google Ads. Here are age groupings you can choose from:

Exclude age groups that are not relevant to your business. This is also done per ad group, so make sure to take note of it.

Key Takeaway

These are just a few tips and tricks on how to optimize your SEM campaign. By improving these factors, you will be able to more accurately target your customers, saving you loads of money, increasing your Click-Through-Rate, and increasing your leads and sales.

Do you have any other go-to ways to optimize your SEM campaign? Let me know in the comments below.

We can check your current SEM campaign and analyze how you can improve it. Simply click here.

The post Tactical Ways To Optimize Your SEM Campaign That You Might Have Missed appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Here’s our most comprehensive list of digital marketing statistics and trends this 2022. 

I’ve made sure that every number provided in this post is current and up-to-date. 

Even if we’re almost halfway through 2022, you can still make use of and incorporate the following data to improve your performance and update your marketing strategies.

SEO Stats 2022

81% of shoppers do their research first online before they purchase. In this case, every important information about your business must be visible online. 

Here are some statistics that will encourage you to optimize your website for search engines now:

• Google tops its competitors as the most used search engine with an 85.55% market share in Feb. 2022. (Datareportal)
• Google receives over 102,123 searches per second. (Internet Live Stats)
• 70% of search users never scroll past the search engine’s second page. (Hubspot)
• Google Chrome has the highest share of web traffic by browser with 64.06%, followed by Safari at 19.22%. (Datareportal)
• Google ranks second for a mobile share of 58.1%, while Instagram takes the top spot at 63.3%. (Datareportal)
• There are over 200 ranking factors used by Google’s search algorithm to rank websites. (Backlinko)
• 65% of Google searches ended without any click. (Sparktoro.com)
• Web pages that take 5 seconds to load have an increased bounce rate to 38%. (Website Builder Expert)
• Web pages with low bounce rates rank higher in search engines. (Backlinko)
• The average number of words to get to Google’s average first-page search result is 1,440. (Backlinko)

Also Read: Learn SEO: The Complete Guide for Beginners

Podcast

Over the years, we see more and more content creators, brands, and entrepreneurs jumping on the podcasting bandwagon. The podcast has become a fascinating platform for advertisers as well.

But before you delve into podcast advertising, take this advice from Ahref’s UX Writer, Rebekah Bek:

• The number of podcast listeners around the world is estimated at around 424 million people (Insider Intelligence)
• 94% of podcast listeners are multitasking a.k.a. doing household chores, driving, running errands, exercising, etc. This makes these listeners more receptive and engaging. (BBC)
• 40% of podcast listeners choose to discover new podcast channels via their listening app’s directory. (The Podcast Host)
• Apple is the most popular podcast directory, with 38.7% of podcast listeners around the world. (BuzzSprout)
• The top podcast listeners are from North America and the Asia Pacific. (BuzzSprout)
• Podcast listeners refer to podcast channel descriptions to check what it is about. (The Podcast Host)
• 45% of podcast listeners have an annual income of $250,000. (Small Biz Genius)
• 73% listen to the podcast on their smartphones. (Edison Research)
• 69% of podcast listeners say podcast ads helped them become aware of brands, products, and services. (BuzzSprout)
• Advertisements read by podcast hosts are 3.5 times more effective than scripted third-party ads. (DigiDay)
• Millennials and Gen Zs dominate the podcast listener demographic. (PRCA)

Social Media 

There is no denying that social networks have significantly changed the way we do our marketing.

Here are some important figures that will help improve your social media marketing and strategies:

• YouTube streams 694,00 hours of video per minute. (Statista)
• The average amount of time internet users spent on social media is 2 hours and 27 minutes per day. (Statista)
• There are 4.62 billion social media users worldwide in January 2022. (Datareportal)
• Social media platforms in the Philippines last year 2021 saw an increase in the number of influencers led by Facebook (67.06%), Instagram (37.42%, and YouTube (35.96%). (Datareportal)
• Number of users per social media platform (early 2022) (Datareportal)
  Facebook- 83.85 million users
  YouTube- 56.50 million users
  Instagram- 18.65 million users
  Tiktok- 35.96 million users
  Facebook messenger- 55.15 million users
  LinkedIn- 11.00 million users
  Snapchat- 10.60 million users
  Twitter- 10.50 million users

• Facebook Live videos receive 10 times as many comments as regular videos. (99 Firms)
• Tiktok has approximately 650,000 new users every day or more than 8 new users per second. (DataReportal)
• 73% of users feel a stronger connection to brands on TikTok than they do on other social media platforms. (Newsroom.TikTok)
• TikTok has the highest 5.96% engagement rate compared to other social media networks. (Social Insider)
• Instagram Stories is used by 500 million accounts every day. (Hootsuite)
• 70% of customers go to Instagram to make their next purchase. (Instagram for Business)
• In 2022, short-form videos will last an average of 3 minutes and 23 seconds. (ReelnReel)
• Instagram Reels content receives 22% higher engagement than typical Instagram videos. (EarthWeb)

Also Read: Social Media: A Comprehensive Guide

Mobile Marketing 

More than half of web traffic and two-fifths of email opens come from smart phones or mobile devices. This means your search and email strategies must be aligned with your mobile marketing strategies.

Here are some important data you will need to take note of for your mobile marketing strats:

• A typical mobile phone user spends 4 hours and 48 minutes per day on average. (Datareportal)
• There are 3.5 billion smartphone users worldwide. (Website Builder)
• More than half (53%) of US shoppers prefer to use their mobile device to research deals and offers before buying than speak with an associate in-store about promotions. (Retail Me Not)
• Social commerce in the Philippines is predicted to expand 30.4 percent each year, reaching US$681.6 million in 2022. (Research and markets)
• 80% of internet users own a smartphone. (Smart Insights)
• The global revenue growth of mobile applications is expected to reach $925 billion by 2023. (Digital Examiner)
• TikTok motivated 67% of its users to purchase even when they weren’t looking to do so. (TikTok Newsroom)
• 62% of marketers believe that TikTok content creators are the best communicators with their customers. (TikTok Newsroom)
• Instagram is important to 68% of marketers for influencer marketing initiatives, down from 80% last year. (Influencer Marketing Hub)
• 37% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a mobile-optimized site. (Website Builder)

Video Marketing

Video marketing is growing because it captivates the audiences’ emotions and stimulates the consumers’ psyche with effective storytelling. 

If you want to invest your time and energy in video marketing, here are some of its important statistics:

• 96% of users watch explainer videos to learn more about a product or service. (Wyzowl)
• 59% of executives would rather watch a video than read texts. (Forbes)
• About 70% of millennials often watch company videos when shopping online. (Animoto)
• 76% of millennials follow brands on YouTube. (Animoto)
• YouTube content creators (such as reaction videos, instructional films, and anything of public interest) thrived during the pandemic. (Adobo Magazine)
• Short-form video marketing will be more prevalent than ever before, with more than 70% of marketers utilizing it. (ReelnReel)
• Marketers that utilize video generate revenue 49% quicker than those who do not. (WordStream)
• Companies produce a wide variety of videos. 42% prefer live-action videos, 33% prefer animated videos, and 15% prefer screen recorded videos. (Wyzowl)
• 60% of YouTube videos are watched on mobile devices. (Inc.)
• 88% of people would like to see more videos from brands in 2022. (Wyzowl)

Paid Search (PPC)

If you’re looking to Pay Per Click advertising for your business this year, here are some statistics you might want to keep in mind:

• 59.7% of search users can’t tell the difference between paid and organic search results. (Varn)
• Over 50% of paid ad clicks come from mobile. (Web FX)
• Google, Facebook, and Amazon hold a 64% share of total ad spending. (eMarketer)
• 33% of search users click on paid ads because they directly answer their search query. (Clutch)
• Over 90% of mobile search users will likely click on the first two or three search results. (Search Engine Land)
• 42.7% of internet users around the world use ad blockers. (Backlinko)
• The top three ads at the top of the first search engine results page get all the clicks at 40%. (Techjury)

User-Generated Content

Many customers turn to user-generated content (UGC) in the form of peer reviews and recommendations before they make a purchase from brands.

• 92% of consumers around the world trust the reviews and recommendations from friends and family over advertising. (Nielsen)
• 86% of companies use UGC in their marketing strategy to make them trustworthy.
• 78% of millennials say they prefer customer photos over professional photos shared by a brand. (Social Media Week)
• 57% of marketers say their biggest concern when it comes to UGC use is copyright issues. (Social Media Week)
• 60% of consumers would love brands to tell them what type of UGC to use and create. (State of User-Generated Content)

• 77% of shoppers are more likely to buy from brands that provide a personalized shopping experience. (State of User-Generated Content)
• 64% of users have used a hashtag or tagged a brand on their social media. 
• Emails that contain user-generated content increase click-through rates up to 73%. (Salesforce)
• 48% of customers discover new products through user-generated content on social media feeds. (Taggbox)
• 78% of Millennials find a photo and video user-generated content extremely helpful when it comes to their purchasing decisions. (BusinessWire)

Metaverse statistics

Metaverse is a shared virtual environment in which users interact via avatars. In other words, it merges reality with the virtual world. Some data you might need to take note of:

• Metaverse is a network of virtual worlds in 3D that people can connect through Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). Some AR and VR games include Minecraft, Roblox, Pokemon, and Fortnite.
• Virtual reality experts claim that the number of VR users in the US is 57.4 million, while the number of AR users are 90.9 million. (eMarketer)
• Metaverse’s target audiences include young Millennial to Gen-Z professionals and C-level executives. (Statista)
• 11.3% of the Metaverse demographics are men, and 8.3% are women. (Statista)
• 35% of customers will do more shopping online if they can virtually try on a product. (BigCommerce)
• Virtual influencers are computer-generated characters that have almost been trending at the same rate as real-life influencers. To date, Lilmiquela, a virtual influencer has 3 million followers on Instagram.
• 35% of respondents have bought a product or service promoted by virtual influencers. (The Influencer Marketing Factory)
• Many brands are taking virtual and augmented experiences outside mobile phones already. (Smart Brief)

Take a look at Pepsi’s bus-stop campaign on Talon’s YouTube channel:

• The official YouTube Virtual Reality Channel has 3.4 million subscribers to date. (Finances Online)
• Dimension studio made $6.5 million in revenue from their experimentation with metaverses for fashion brands. (Vogue)

Cryptocurrency statistics

Do you want to understand the state of the cryptocurrency market? If you are a crypto enthusiast, here are some figures that you might find interesting to note this year:

• Market segments for cryptocurrencies include banking, real estate, the stock market, and virtual currencies. Over $500 million of transactions took place in the stock market and the virtual currency sectors in 2019. (Facts and Factors)
• Vietnam has the highest 28.6% adoption rate of cryptocurrency. (Finder)
• Bitcoin has gained 136,260% between 2012 to May 2022. (Young and Invested)
• The price of bitcoin went from $6,000 to $60,000 in 12 months after the pandemic hit in March 2020.
• More than 14,000 posts related to cryptocurrency appear on Twitter every day. (Reuters)
• The social media landscape will play a big role in driving traffic to crypto-driven ad content. (The Wise Marketer)
• Almost 30% of US crypto owners had bought something online with their digital assets last March 2022. (eMarketer)
• The industry with the highest 26.3% rate of BitPay acceptance is prepaid debit/gift cards. (Statista)
• 67% of millennials (ages 24-35) like cryptocurrency so much that they prefer it over gold as an investment vehicle. (Finder)
• In terms of energy use, Bitcoin mining consumes more than Argentina and slightly less than Norway. (BBC)

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing just keeps on growing and shows no signs of slowing down. Check out the numbers below:

• As of 2021, the global influencer marketing market size is at $13.8 billion, growing 711.76% from $1.7 billion in 2016. (Statista)
• 43% of respondents to a Statista survey in Brazil have bought products because of celebrity or influencer endorsement. China and India followed at 34% and 33% respectively. (Statista)
• As of July 2021, 75% of internet users in the United Arab Emirates follow one or more social media influencers. This is closely followed by Indonesia and India at 73% and 71% respectively. (Statista)
• There are between 3.2 million and 37.8 million influencers worldwide on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. (EarthWeb)
• With 49% of sponsored Instagram posts coming from the United States in 2017, it is the world’s leading country for Instagram influencer marketing. (Statista)
• With 12.71% of TikTok influencers coming from the United States in July 2020, the United States again leads in TikTok influencer marketing. (Statista)
• Charli D’Amelio has the highest follower count at 140.6 million, followed by Khabane Lame at 138.1 million.
• Brands spent $603.9 million on YouTube influencer marketing in 2021, with the top spenders being Honey, Express VPN, and GFuel. (Influencer Marketing Hub)
• India is leading the charge with the biggest YouTube audience size of 467 million as of April 2022. (Statista)
• 111 million subscribers make PewDiePie the top non-corporate YouTube account as of March 2022. (Statista)

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a type of online marketing in which businesses promote and sell products through third-party publishers. Here are the data you need to know:

• Global affiliate marketing spending is forecasted to grow to approximately $13 billion this year and $15.7 billion by 2024. (Influencer Marketing Hub)
• Affiliate marketing spending in the United States is projected to be at $8.2 billion this year, 2022. (Statista)
• £627 million is projected to be spent on affiliate marketing in the United Kingdom this year. (Statista)
• Mobile devices drive more than 50% of affiliate-referred traffic. (SaaS Scout)
• A survey in 2016 by Rakuten found that 80% of advertisers and 84% of publishers had an affiliate program. (Rakuten)
• Amazon Associates dominates the market with a 21.65% in market share. (Influencer Marketing Hub)
• The United States is currently leading in Amazon Associates usage with 12,982 websites, closely followed by Germany with 12,595 websites. (SimilarTech)
• The Amazon Associates website got 2.9 million visits in April 2022, 7.83% less than the 3.1 million in February and March of the same year. (Similarweb)
• 48.61% of Amazon Associates website’s views came from the United States, with India trailing behind at 6.65% and Pakistan at 5.40%. (Similarweb)
• The average affiliate link conversion is anywhere from 1% to 10%. (AffiliateWP)

Digital Marketing Trends in 2022 to Watch Out For

Consumer Data Privacy

Apple’s goal with the iOS 14 security update was to ask iPhone users whether they wanted their data collected or to track their browsing habits to help third-party apps display relevant ads.

This move done by Apple prompted many tech companies and Google to make similar changes when it comes to data privacy.

However, Google did say that its move won’t be disruptive; in essence, it will give existing companies at least two years to adapt to Android software’s forthcoming changes.

What this change means for you is that you will need to aim your efforts at persuading your customers in the form of more personalized experiences on their end.

Create genuine relationships with your customers by providing real value and identifying the optimal channel through which you can offer your product or service.

Zero-click searches

The zero-click search claim has created a slight divide between some webmasters and search industry practitioners.

According to Similarweb and Sparktoro, a zero-click result is a search result that does not generate a click-through to a website.

When people usually search for answers online, Google shows an instantaneous answer in the form of featured snippets, Knowledge Panel, and People also ask features.

While Similarweb and Sparktoro have provided well-thought-out research to support the claim, Google’s David Sullivan published a detailed post that overrule the zero-search clicks claim.

Sullivan said Similarweb’s report did not properly account for how people use Google search and that their report was misleading.

As a search industry practitioner myself, I only want to lay emphasis on building your online presence.

And to build your online presence, you still need a website.

If you want to show up on any of Google’s featured snippets, the Knowledge Panel, and People also ask, you need to optimize your website.

And lastly, your ultimate goal is to provide the most relevant content to your web visitors, and to Google.

Want to optimize your website and make your content relevant to people and to Google? Read: Technical SEO: The Complete Guide for Advanced Users (with Checklist)

Short-form videos

In 2013, Vine rose to popularity as its users were allowed to create entertaining 6-second short-form videos. Not long after, many social networks found short-form video content’s potential to captivate their users, including musical.ly (now TikTok).

Short-form videos have become a crucial part of many social media channels and can be created, posted, and viewed across most platforms by 2016.

Furthermore, short-form videos have played a significant role to gain brand exposure and build customer loyalty.

For brands, posting their recent post on Instagram and Facebook stories can help them reach and engage their customers.

Online gamers are showcasing their expertise in playing specific games by streaming live videos. Streaming live videos attract their audience to buy and play the game.

Even small home-based businesses now do live-selling on different social media and e-comm platforms to interact with their customers.

When considering short-form videos, aim for authenticity. Find and gather data and analytics that will help you create campaigns effectively.

Seamless omnichannel experience

If your business provides consistent and seamless experience to your customers, you’re on the right track. Interacting with your customers across multiple channels has now become the norm.

Customers have now become digital-savvy, so it’s no surprise if they’re looking for seamless shopping experience online. A report done by McKinsey showed that 60 – 70% of consumers are shopping the omnichannel way, with Instagram and Facebook acting as the virtual window shopping platform.

Positive impacts of an integrated omnichannel experience include enhanced customer experiences and higher levels of engagement.

Key Takeaway

I rounded up these digital marketing statistics and trends with the aim of helping out small and medium-sized businesses to either jumpstart or improve their marketing efforts and strategies this 2022.

While this guide required great effort, I enjoyed and learned a lot from it at the same time.

If you have any questions or suggestions on how we can make this guide more all-inclusive, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.

The post Up-to-Date Insights: Digital Marketing Statistics and Trends for 2022 appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.