The 2022 prediction you haven't read about yet

Here we are again: almost at the end of another year. 

In many ways, it’s been another year full of uncertainty – a trend set to continue judging from the current news headlines. But there have also been many highlights.

The data shows that the shift to ecommerce accelerated in 2020 is here to stay, prompting more businesses to invest in martech stacks that serve seamless customer experiences. In turn, the martech ecosystem has become even more collaborative – a trend we were fortunate enough to see first-hand as part of SAP.io’s consumer engagement accelerator programme. And, of course, we’ve seen incredible marketing campaigns from Oddbox, Bloom & Wild and other brands.

Looking more specifically at Mention Me, my highlight undoubtedly has to be finally reuniting with the teams to mark hitting our milestone of delivering £1bn in revenue for clients earlier this year. Nothing beats celebrating with the people who have helped grow Mention Me into what it is today – especially when there’s a spot of welly-wangling thrown in (kudos to our social team for that!). 

The end of every year sees plenty of predictions circulating, but in our current times, these predictions can feel even less certain than usual. That’s partly why we decided to go against the grain for our official blog, instead publishing four anti-predictions for 2022. 

For this article, rather than publish a series of predictions you may have already read, I’ve chosen to focus on just one – and it’s one I fervently believe will become a reality next year. Here it is.

In 2022, marketers will focus on earning growth rather than buying it.

Marketing has changed drastically over the past few decades. In the noughties, it was all about offline spray and pray – targeting the masses with out of home advertising and PR. Brands have relied less on offline over the twenty years since, with this channel now accounting for about 45% of marketing spend. The remaining 55% goes into online channels, primarily paid search and paid social. 

But, as many marketers are all too aware, these digital channels are costing more and delivering less.

That’s not to say they’re not important – they are. But rather than focus so heavily on these channels, brands should look to other, more sustainable ones that can amplify them.

This is something Mention Me has been saying for years, so I was thrilled to see it articulated so eloquently in this article co-authored by Fred Reichheld of Bain, where I started my career, who created the NPS score 20 years ago. To quote the piece: “Firms today undervalue referrals. They treat them as icing on the cake rather than an essential (perhaps the most essential) ingredient for sustainable growth.”

Rather than ‘buying’ customers through advertising or other paid means, marketers will focus on ‘earning’ new customers through referral and reputation in 2022. Growing customer advocacy will be the number one priority. As well as driving cost-effective, long-term growth, this will instil a truly customer-centric approach that inspires every team to serve experiences that encourage customers to come back for more – and bring their friends with them. 

With that shift in mindset, I anticipate more marketers realising the power of referral and implementing it as a critical marketing channel within their growth strategy next year.

Of course, there will be plenty of other trends to look out for in 2022, especially around the importance of gathering zero- and first-party data. You can read more about that in this blog.

For now, though, I’ll wrap things up (pun intended…). 

To everyone who has supported Mention Me this year: thank you. Whether you’re a client achieving incredible results (like Bloom & Wild increasing referrals by 800% in the pandemic); a partner helping to  make referral an integral part of the martech stack; or a Mentioneer constantly striving to do more with referral, I’m honoured to be alongside you on Mention Me’s journey. 

It’s been a remarkable year – here’s to even bigger and better achievements in 2022.