In 2022, online advertising is likely to be more competitive than ever as the pandemic continues to affect consumer behaviour, companies increase their online marketing spend, and ‘Googleflation’ becomes a factor in budget planning.

Wait, what’s Googleflation? 

This is a rare event when Cost Per Click (CPC) goes up dramatically as competition for search spikes.  

This year, advertisers have enjoyed a relatively low CPC, averaging around 24p, but we anticipate that will increase in 2022. In fact, one of our clients in the travel sector is budgeting for it to reach £1.20 over the coming year. 

With this increase on the horizon, businesses will need to be realistic about the reach of their budgets. Don’t be surprised to find a monthly ad spend of £10,000 won’t get you as far in 2022 as it has done previously.

Our advice? Focus on what you can control. It’s vital that you work closely with your agency to ensure you’ve got the right budget and strategy to achieve your aims and keep your advertising effective.

Customer behaviours are still in flux

Another thing to be hyper aware of is how the pandemic continues to influence customer behaviours. We are still very much navigating a ‘new normal’ that hasn’t quite settled, and with audiences constantly adapting to changes, they’re not behaving as predictably as years gone by.

Take the travel sector, an industry we’ve worked alongside for years. There are typical booking periods, proven techniques, and expected behaviours at different times of year. Everyone knows all too well the impact Covid has had on global travel – but if we thought we were through the woods, the Omicron variant is likely to change that.

Companies just cannot reliably predict as they once would have. Flexibility is the name of the game and expectations need to be managed as travellers are likely to be more wary, have less confidence to book far ahead, and potentially look again at staycations. 

All of this is to say that what once worked is not guaranteed to work again. From property, to travel, to retail – consumer behaviours have shifted dramatically. The only certainty is that while the pandemic continues, these priorities will continue to be in flux.