If you’re a digital marketing enthusiast or want to become one, you must keep up with the trends. But sometimes it can become tiresome because digital marketing is dynamic. But don’t worry, we’re here with the digital marketing trends in Abu Dhabi!

Each year, we witness unexpected digital trends like Google’s new Search Generative Experience or SGE that affect the whole working of this system. And after the pandemic, the bar has been set higher. This year, the digital trends are more overwhelming than before.

But why should one keep up with digital marketing trends? Because if one possesses an understanding of the trends and the changed google algorithm or the power of reels, one can make the business strategies accordingly to achieve the goals.

Knowing the changing trends can help one to upskill or learn about the changes to tackle and adapt to remain in this cut-throat competition of today’s businesses.

In 2021, trends like Personalization, Chatboxes, NFT, and Crypto played a huge role. But this year has something more to offer. To help you understand the new trends to navigate better in this digital world, we have broken down these into six important trends that cover the essence of all.

Bonus Tip: Having an understanding of the trends is important, but what’s more important is to have a clear understanding of the nuances of digital marketing to have a better approach to the trends. So, you may check out the IIDE’s short-term certification course to have a strong base.

Now, let’s have a look at the Digital Marketing Trends in Abu Dhabi that will help you build your marketing strategies in the right direction.

Digital Marketing Trends in Abu Dhabi: 

Social Media Trends

1. TikTok Will Continue Booming

There are 1 billion active users of Tiktok in the world at the end of 2021, with 600 million daily active users only in China. So if you’re a brand and have still not included TikTok in your marketing strategy, now is the time!

According to Sprout Social, 68% of TikTokers remember a brand better if they feature a song they like in their videos. This offers the brands a golden opportunity to stay in the eyes and the minds of their users. 

(Source: Pinterest)

Because of its familiarity among the users, it has left behind Instagram and still is more liked by the youngsters and there are favourable trends towards it. Thus, brands can create short and engaging videos to create brand awareness and pitch for their services or products.

2. Podcasts Will Grab its Seat

While the video content keeps on trending, podcasts have joined the competition. While video content needs the attention of the users, podcasts don’t. Users can listen to podcasts while doing their work.

According to Statista’s 2020 study, Spotify with 25% of listeners and Apple Podcasts with 20% of the listeners are the top platforms for listening to podcasts. It is estimated that the podcast market will grow by $4 billion by the year 2023.

Surprising, right? And there lies the opportunity for the brands to grab. If you’re still not into the podcast industry, it’s the time! But as the competition is high, start by defining your USP and making user-generated and valuable content.

(Source: Podcasts Insights)

3. No Filter Feed is the New Trend

In today’s world, customers want more ‘’real’’ content than ‘’filtered ones’’. That’s why brands are giving more importance to authenticity than aesthetics. More than eye-pleasing content, real and non-filtered content is more acceptable now.

This is because, social media platforms, specifically Instagram, show the good and happy side of life than reality. This, on one hand, pushes the user into melancholy and on the other, makes him believe in the non-existence of a fairy tale life.

So, in 2022, content creators are expected to bring out the real and true version of themselves and show it as they are.  If you still don’t believe it, let’s have a look at the picture below and know which one you liked the more: 

(Source: NDTV)

Digital Marketing Jobs Trends

1. Employee Have More Power Than Employer

After the pandemic, the digital world has moved upside down. It has transformed how people work and working from home has perhaps become the new culture. The dynamics have changed now due to the increased demand for the skills.

That means, the more skills you have with having expertise in all, the better job opportunity you may get. The days when an employee used to look for a good salary have gone. Now, they also look for flexible work hours with career opportunities to grow and develop.

According to LinkedIn, there are 860,000 job openings for digital marketing specialists. It is one of the high-in-demand job opportunities available in today’s world. But do you know what the interesting thing about this is? That there’s a lack of skilled people to fill in the space and you have that chance!

2. Gig World is Too Compelling to Explore

If you’ve ever registered on freelance websites like Fiverr, Upwork, or Freelancer, you must have heard about the word ‘gig’ before. It simply implies the services that you offer. Unlike, in the past, now people don’t like mundane 9 to 5 jobs.

They want to explore and learn various skills while earning. This helps people to work at their convenience while moving forward. The gig economy is growing every day and is expected to reach 78 million by 2023.

While, one may think that the freelancers won’t earn much but according to Velocity Global, The average gig worker makes $5,120 per month. Therefore, the gig economy has a very bright future.

(Source: Thersa.org)

3. Competition for Talent is Insane

While due to the pandemic, some lost their jobs, and others started looking for them. And this year is no different. Every time, an employer hires a talent, he looks for the extra value one may add to the job, just like everyone looks and likes the extra cheese on their pizza.

Now, it’s not only the professional skills that employers look for in the candidate but also the soft skills like adaptability, critical thinking, time management, collaboration, and others. And since the demand for the skills is dynamic, it becomes often difficult for the candidate to keep up with the pace.

Skills like content marketing paid search, and social media are the most in-demand skills which are also tough to find. So, the earlier you cultivate these skills, the easier the journey of your career will be.

Digital Marketing Trends

1. AI and Machine Learning Is Too Difficult To Stop

Do you know that 77% of devices we use have used AI to build them? Or 20% of executives use machine learning in their business. Both AI and Machine Learning have made a strong impact on today’s technology and their existence cannot be ignored. 

Around 52% of the business will be incorporating AI into their business. This is because it helps in providing better customer service and speeds up the variety. This saves a lot of time and labour for marketers to execute their plans effectively.

(Source: Tech Target)

Automated Machine Learning (AutoML) can help in tasks like data labelling and in reducing human errors while Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can help in the repetitive process. But for this well-defined plan is necessary not to get fail.

2. The Growing World of Crypto

According to Business Growth Fortune, the crypto industry is projected to grow to 1902.5 million in 2028. This is due to the growth of technology and increased digital investments. Being popular and having made a good image, everyone wants to invest in crypto these days.

The increased use of digital assets such as Bitcoins and Litecoin will help in the growth of this industry in the coming months. This is mostly used in the integration of blockchain technology which offers the merits like safety, reliability, and transparency.

And do you know the most surprising part? The market of cryptocurrency is $1.09 trillion as of August 2022. There were 7,812 cryptocurrencies in the world as of January 2021, according to Finances Online.

(Source: FinancesOnline.com)

3. The World Of Genomics

The study of evolution, structure, function, and editing of genomes i.e., the complete set of DNA is what is referred to as Genomics. This technology will help in improving overall health by studying the DNA and fighting back diseases.

Not only that, but it will help in finding the diseases which may create big health issues in the future. But wondering how this is related to digital trends.

Having this technology will help us change or manipulate the material on the subatomic level. With this, one may create better batteries, self-cleaning fabrics, and bendable screens as well!

Customer Experience Trends

1. The Power of Customers

Customers are the base of any business. If the customer stays, the business flourishes. According to HubSpot, 66% of customers expect companies to understand their needs. Understanding customers’ ever-changing needs can be a complicated task.

But if you tackle this, then voila! You would be creating a good image of your brand in the mind of the customers. Think of yourself from the perspective of the customers, if you receive a heart-warming service, you’ll be eager to spend more. 

With that, as a brand, try as much as possible to stay transparent. Customers nowadays, like knowing the origin of the product, how it was made and if it’s eco-friendly. After the pandemic, customers have become more conscious, and if you win the trust of the customers, it will surely benefit you.

2. Importance of Story Telling

The method of telling the qualities of your new product with its benefits and believing you’re better than your competitor has become old. This monotonous way of promoting must be cut-off by adapting the storytelling method if you want to promote your goods.

For this, you first need to address the problems of the customer face, design or create a product or service accordingly and keep up the promise by meeting their needs and expectations.

This new way of marketing will push customers to think that they must possess the product too. This may not necessarily result in sales but by solving the issue they face, they’ll remember you and your brand.

(Source: Content Marketing)

3. The Magic of Personalized Services

According to the report of Mckinsey and company, 78% of customers repeat their purchases from brands that personalize whereas 80% refer to their family and friends. Adding the touch of personalization to your marketing campaign can produce more effective results.

Instead of trying your hands on all types of content, incorporate those which appeal most to your target audience. This will create more fruitful results as well as save you time. Personalization in terms of product, content, and email can yield good results.

(Source: HubSpot)

Bitmoji, an app introduced by Snapchat, allows users to create avatars that they can see on Bitmoji Stories. When they scroll down the bitmoji stories, they may come across the branded content and if found interested can interact with the same. Thus, this interesting and creative feature grabs the attention of the audience and drives traffic.

Search Marketing Trend

1. The Rise of Visual Search Optimization

Well, Voice Search Optimization is something you must have heard of but Visual Search Optimization is the new trend. According to InvespCRO, 74% of online shoppers have reported that the conventional text-based search is ineffective.

Visual search with the use of AI helps people better in finding what they are looking for. The app may provide the desired results when a user captures the image of the object or even by pointing the camera in the direction of the object.

As per Social Media Today, there were 5 billion+ visual searches on Pinterest per month in 2021. This may help you if you own an e-commerce store. Provide the complete details of the image of the product with the alternative text so that it may appear in the search engine when searched.

2. Obeying The Metaverse Rules

The combination of the world of Virtual Reality (VR) with that of Augmented Reality (AR) where people can connect is most popularly known as Metaverse. As Facebook has changed its parent company’s name to Meta, this has received great attention from marketers.

If it still is difficult to comprehend, then do you remember games like Pokemon or Roblox? These gaming platforms operate in the area of VR and AR. These technological changes enhance customer experience and in the end, it’s all about the connection of customers with the brand.

Around 100 million people have used Augmented Reality to make purchases in 2020 and perhaps, they will shop more often this way. Thus, it’s now very important to optimize your website by gaining deep insight into these worlds.

(Source: BeyondGames.biz)

3. Voice Search is Still in The Race

While Visual Search may rise, that doesn’t imply that Voice Search is out of the race. According to Blogging Wizard, 27% of the online population uses voice search for their queries. Now, just answering the search query with content is not enough.

A brand or company must optimize the content as answer based. This is because answer-based content especially answers the search query of the users, thus providing the desired results. This may be in the form of FAQs and thus, will add value to your content.

(Source: Digital Information World)

Content Marketing and SEO Trend

1. Optimizing for Video Search

When you search for ‘’How to make a smoothie’’ you’ll probably end up with the videos. These appear in the ‘’how-to’’ searches in the featured snippet of the search engines. These videos will help you step-by-step in making the smoothie.

To grab all the opportunities to rank in the search engines, you must optimize them for the search results. For this, add a closed caption to your video with adding a title, description, and the necessary tags. 

With all that, adding video to your content will increase engagement and help improve the bounce rate which will help in the overall performance of your content.

2. Be More Empathic and Don’t Forget the Basics

In this cut-throat competition to win customers, brands have forgotten to be kind and empathic towards the customers. Those are only seen as ‘’potential buyers’’ who can help generate leads and drive sales.

By putting themselves in the shoes of the customers, brands may understand the customers well, realize their problems, and as a result, create relevant and valuable content to build trust and gain credibility.

With that in mind, marketers must not forget the basics of content writing. By keeping the content real, engaging, and SEO- optimized, one can easily rank in the search engines. But these days, to stand out in the competition, we search for ‘tips’ and ‘tricks’ but if kept simple and close to basics can still yield the same results.

3. The Usage of Hyper-local SEO

The usage of Hyperlocal SEO can significantly help small business owners in their businesses. It is the new algorithm introduced by Google to give personalized results to certain search queries. These queries may include ‘’coffee shop near me’’ or ‘’park near me’’.

The most amazing thing about this feature is that it gives small and traditional businesses chances to grow and develop. These searches will help to get local traffic to the business, thus making a strong market among the businessmen right from his neighbourhood.

(Source: FinancesOnline.com)

B2C and B2B Digital Marketing Trends

This year will be full of new and exciting trends and if you want to tackle this, then tighten your seatbelt and buckle up. The digital marketing trend will you keep up with the changes to stand out in the competition.

Implement and make the changes accordingly in your digital marketing strategy to come up with the most fruitful results. This demands an investment of time and effort to clearly understand and then make a well-planned strategy.

From adding TikTok and podcasts to your brand strategy, working on a no-filter feed, incorporating AI, Machine Learning and Genomics, to optimizing your content for visual and voice searches, there is a long list for you to work on! So, on which trend, are you going to try your hands first?

FAQ –  Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Is digital marketing a good career in the UAE?

Ans. Digital marketing is the best and largest growing industry in the UAE.  As it is a developed nation with a high number of internet users and businesses, it’s a good career opportunity to grab.

Q. How much does a digital marketer earn in the UAE?

Ans. In UAE, the average salary of digital marketers is AED 4,398 per month. But, it may depend on factors like skills, experience, educational qualification, geography and others. The more skills and experience you have, the more salary you may get.

Q. Is digital marketing a hard job?

Ans. It depends on if you love and are passionate about it or not. Though a part of digital marketing is techy and if one goes into depth, it may get a little complicated but if you’re curious to work and are dedicated, then it’s not a hard job.

Q. Which skill is best for digital marketing?

Ans. The most in-demand digital marketing skills are SEO Specialist, Content Marketer, Social Media Marketer, Data Analyst, Web Developer, Email Marketer, and Copywriter.

Q. Is coding necessary for digital marketing?

Ans. No, coding is not necessary for digital marketing but if you want to become a web developer then it is. This is because it’s a technical field that needs a thorough knowledge of languages like HTML, CSS, and others.

Conclusion

Digital marketing is a universe in itself. But it’s very dynamic. Nobody knows when the Google algorithm may change or which reel you may be scrolling tomorrow. Every year newer and more exciting trends keep coming, which may affect your campaign and the way you work if you’re not ready for the change.

Keeping up with the trends can be a little difficult but not having an understanding of the basics can be more upsetting. For this, you may check out the online digital marketing course offered by IIDE. This will help you gain insight into the comprehensive detail of the field.

If you’re looking forward to making a career in digital marketing, you may check out the MBA-Level PG in Digital Marketing Program. This programme will help you understand the nuances of digital marketing.

We hope you had a great time reading this blog and it has enlightened you about the digital marketing trends in Abu Dhabi. If you have any queries or doubts, please let us know in the comments below.