Digital Marketing Trends for 2022 to Promote an Online Course

4 minute read

The digital marketing world is constantly changing and developing, especially since early 2020 with the start of the global pandemic.

eLearning is rapidly increasing in popularity. As a result, consumers are getting more and more used to seeing promotions about new online courses and competition is getting fiercer.

So how do you stand out from the crown in 2022? Keep reading below to discover our forecast for the most popular marketing trends in online education this year:

#1. Video Content

Our number one trend to look out for in 2022 is video content. This is not a new trend, as video has been used in promotional content for many years. However, lately we have been witnessing some new interesting trends when it comes to videos.

Videos are getting shorter, faster and more accessible. Social media platforms like TikTok made video creation easier for everyone, not only experienced creators. YouTube has created "Shorts" and Instagram adapted to the trend with "Reels".

These new types of videos are significantly shorter (15 seconds to 3 minutes) compared to more traditional marketing clips.

In 2022, 89% of global marketers will continue investing in creating short videos for their marketing promotions.

Does this mean that longer video content should be discarded? No. Longer, explainer or informational videos are still a great marketing tool and this trend is not going away.

However, as prospects are getting more and more sensitive to video length, short clips might work best with a cold audience, and you can offer longer videos to potential customers who want to learn more details about your brand.

What can you do as an online course creator to keep up with this trend?

Start sharing short clips on social media (Instagram, YouTube or TikTok), depending on where your ideal audience is. The same trend can be applied to online course content: try and keep your online course videos simple and get the point across to your students in the fastest way possible.

#2. Podcasts

Podcasts are also increasing in popularity in 2022. In the United States, people listened to nearly 15 billion hours of podcasts during last year, 25% more than in 2020. This number is expected to grow even more in 2022.

While videos are getting shorter, podcasts still last an average of 30-40 minutes as they generally offer more in-depth, detailed content.

What can you do as an online course creator to keep up with this trend?

Start a podcast! Or if you don't feel like putting all the effort to research topics, recording episodes and so on, join a podcast in your niche as a guest or get interviewed by your favorite podcast to get some exposure.

Heights Platform recently started an interview show for creators from all niches. Reach out to us if you want to share your story or simply check out our show The Creator's Adventure for new updates.

#3. Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing is a promotion strategy where "influencers" - social media users with a large following - review or promote a product.

This type of marketing strategy has been around in the past few years and it is forecasted to grow even more in 2022.

What makes influencer marketing so powerful is the fact that these social media users not only have a large audience but their followers tend to be extremely engaged with everything the influencer posts on social media.

Similar to paid social media advertising, with influencer marketing you are paying to showcase an ad of your product to a certain number of users. However, what differentiates influencer marketing from paid advertisement is the level of trust that the audience has towards the influencer.

For this reason, 46% of digital marketers plan to increase their budget for influencer marketing in 2022.

What can you do as an online course creator to keep up with this trend?

Look out for influencers (big or small) in your niche and reach out to them to propose them a collaboration.

#4. Tailored Experiences

Another important trend to keep in mind for 2022 is personalization. What we mean by this is tailoring your product to your audience's needs.

As many more people are selling online courses and starting their online businesses today, a powerful way to stand out from the crowd is to personalize your digital product according to your niche and ideal customer's needs.

Selling a too general product or online course might not work anymore in 2022. Instead, try tailoring your offering to match your customer's persona.

What can you do as an online course creator to keep up with this trend?

Find out who your audience is and identify their needs: then tailor your online course to their specific situation, starting from the name of your online course, to the content itself.

#5. Provide Value (Flywheel Marketing)

In 2022 providing value to your customers (old and new) is essential. This is what the new concept of Flywheel marketing is all about.

The goal of Flywheel marketing is to provide as much value as possible to customers, in order to make them happy and create a system of referrals and leverage word of mouth marketing.

As opposed to a sales funnel, where customers are guided from point A to B with the only goal of converting them into paying customers, the flywheel system "rotates" around the customers with the goal of keeping them engaged and providing value, whether customers have reached their lifetime value or not.

What can you do as an online course creator to keep up with this trend?

Keep providing valuable content to your audience and customers and do not stop once they have become paying customers, promote a referral program and incentivize students to spread the word about your business.

Conclusion

It is not too late to start implementing these 2022 trends to promote your online business.

Among the most popular digital marketing trends for this year, short video clips are a social media must and podcasts are growing in popularity. Consider trying out influencer marketing to reach more people in your niche, and remember to keep providing value and personalize your product offering according to your audience's needs.

If you are looking for more marketing ideas to promote your online course, check out this blog post where we list other (evergreen) promotion strategies for your online business: A Complete Guide on How to Promote Your Online Course and Boost Sales

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Post Topics: Build and Promote Your Course